In the spring edition of the NAHA Aromatherapy Journal 2021.1, my article “The Making of Bee Bread,” highlighted the science behind why pollination is really plant sex. Plants have adapted over millions of years to find the perfect recipe to attract their reproductive aid, their pollinators, by their means of communicating through a blend of odoriferous compounds. The perfect recipe often comprises of hundreds of compounds. “Rose (Rosa [×] damascena) flowers contain over 300 essential oil compounds that contribute to the attraction of pollinators.”[1] The “recipe” greatly affects success in pollination. “1,8-Cineole, present in 60% of the scents of orchids analysed by Dodson et al., 8 was found to attract the greatest number of pollinator bees (70%). In comparison, eugenol, methyl salicylate and methyl cinnamate attract fewer species.”[2] This intimate relationship between pollinator and plant relies heavily on specific formulations and can easily be disrupted by varying factors and leads to many questions. Have you ever wondered if pollution affect our pollinators?
