EFFECTS OF APILARNIL AND QUEEN BEE LARVAE ON LARVAL MORTALITY AND LONGEVITY IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Abstract

The basic mechanisms of ageing and longevity are not yet fully understood. More studies are needed to correlate this situation with functional foods and food supplements that have been used frequently recently. Bee products are in the first place in the use of natural products and food supplements. It has been reported that drone larvae (apilarnil) and queen bee larvae, which have become popular in recent years, support the protection of health due to their high nutritional value, but no studies have been conducted on their life-extending efficacy. For this purpose, the efficacy of these two bee products on life span and mortality was investigated in our study. Apilarnil and queen bee larvae lyophilisates added to Drosophila melanogaster medium at different concentrations (0.5; 1.0; 2.5 and 5.0 mg/ml medium) were studied separately in male and female populations for treatment and control groups. As a result, apilarnil at 5 mg/ml concentration showed the best effect in terms of larval mortality compared to the control group, while the most effective group in terms of mean life span was determined as queen bee larvae with 83.1 ±3.53 days. In general, both bee products increased the life span of flies in parallel with the increase in concentration in both female and male populations. These results were statistically significant at p<0.05 level compared to the control group. In our study, it was concluded that apilarnil and queen bee larvae lyophilisates can be used in terms of life-length increasing activity, but the underlying mechanisms should be elucidated by detailed studies. © 2024 Bursa Uludag University. All rights reserved.