The concentration and energetic content of floral nectar sugars: calculation, conversions, and common confusions
The sugar concentration of floral nectar is a key metric for describing nectar composition and a major factor influencing pollinator visitation to flowers. Across pollination biology research there are multiple approaches in use for describing nectar sugar concentration. With these different approa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Enviroquest Ltd.
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Pollination Ecology |
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| Online Access: | https://pollinationecology.org/index.php/jpe/article/view/821 |
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| author | Jonathan Pattrick Jennifer Scott Geraldine Wright |
| author_facet | Jonathan Pattrick Jennifer Scott Geraldine Wright |
| author_sort | Jonathan Pattrick |
| collection | DOAJ |
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The sugar concentration of floral nectar is a key metric for describing nectar composition and a major factor influencing pollinator visitation to flowers. Across pollination biology research there are multiple approaches in use for describing nectar sugar concentration. With these different approaches there are several potential sources of confusion which, if not accounted for, can lead to errors. Further potential for error arises if researchers wish to make comparisons between the energetic content of nectars containing different ratios of sucrose, fructose and glucose. Regardless of whether concentration is measured per mole or per unit mass, the energetic content differs between the hexose sugars (glucose and fructose) and sucrose. Appropriate conversion is needed for direct comparison. Here we address these two issues with the following aims. We consolidate the literature on this topic with examples of the different methods for reporting nectar sugar concentrations, provide insight into potential sources of error, and derive equations for converting between the different ways of expressing sugar concentration for the three primary nectar sugars: sucrose, glucose and fructose. Second, we discuss the relative energetic content of sucrose, glucose, and fructose, and rationalise adjustment of ‘energetic value’ rather than reporting concentration directly. In this way, we hope to harmonise ongoing work in pollination ecology.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c6d3cf0fd81d4a6ba0d6914dae5be4b2 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1920-7603 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Enviroquest Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Pollination Ecology |
| spelling | doaj-art-c6d3cf0fd81d4a6ba0d6914dae5be4b22025-08-20T02:37:02ZengEnviroquest Ltd.Journal of Pollination Ecology1920-76032025-06-0110.26786/1920-7603(2025)821The concentration and energetic content of floral nectar sugars: calculation, conversions, and common confusionsJonathan Pattrick0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6587-5500Jennifer Scotthttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5714-0106Geraldine Wrighthttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2749-021XUniversity of Oxford The sugar concentration of floral nectar is a key metric for describing nectar composition and a major factor influencing pollinator visitation to flowers. Across pollination biology research there are multiple approaches in use for describing nectar sugar concentration. With these different approaches there are several potential sources of confusion which, if not accounted for, can lead to errors. Further potential for error arises if researchers wish to make comparisons between the energetic content of nectars containing different ratios of sucrose, fructose and glucose. Regardless of whether concentration is measured per mole or per unit mass, the energetic content differs between the hexose sugars (glucose and fructose) and sucrose. Appropriate conversion is needed for direct comparison. Here we address these two issues with the following aims. We consolidate the literature on this topic with examples of the different methods for reporting nectar sugar concentrations, provide insight into potential sources of error, and derive equations for converting between the different ways of expressing sugar concentration for the three primary nectar sugars: sucrose, glucose and fructose. Second, we discuss the relative energetic content of sucrose, glucose, and fructose, and rationalise adjustment of ‘energetic value’ rather than reporting concentration directly. In this way, we hope to harmonise ongoing work in pollination ecology. https://pollinationecology.org/index.php/jpe/article/view/821sucrosefructoseglucosemolarity% w/w% w/v |
| spellingShingle | Jonathan Pattrick Jennifer Scott Geraldine Wright The concentration and energetic content of floral nectar sugars: calculation, conversions, and common confusions Journal of Pollination Ecology sucrose fructose glucose molarity % w/w % w/v |
| title | The concentration and energetic content of floral nectar sugars: calculation, conversions, and common confusions |
| title_full | The concentration and energetic content of floral nectar sugars: calculation, conversions, and common confusions |
| title_fullStr | The concentration and energetic content of floral nectar sugars: calculation, conversions, and common confusions |
| title_full_unstemmed | The concentration and energetic content of floral nectar sugars: calculation, conversions, and common confusions |
| title_short | The concentration and energetic content of floral nectar sugars: calculation, conversions, and common confusions |
| title_sort | concentration and energetic content of floral nectar sugars calculation conversions and common confusions |
| topic | sucrose fructose glucose molarity % w/w % w/v |
| url | https://pollinationecology.org/index.php/jpe/article/view/821 |
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