The first discovery of purple anthocyanin in natural nectar

Recently, researchers from Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of sciences have isolated a kind of purple anthocyanin from the colored nectar of the Labiatae woody plant rice flower, and reported this compound in the natural nectar for the first time, confirming its key role in causing the nectar to produce color The research results have been published in the international famous magazine New botanist Most of the nectar in nature is colorless liquid At present, there are only 68 species of known colored nectar plants in the world, most of which are distributed in tropical and subtropical areas of the southern hemisphere There have been few reports on the chemical substances, ecological functions and mechanisms that cause nectar coloration According to reports, the rice ball flower is the only plant known to present colored nectar in China Himalaya region The team carried out an in-depth study on pollination and chemical ecology of rice floss Zhang Fengping, a member of the research team, said: "we also found that rice ball flowers attract bird pollinators through the color and dynamic changes of nectar, which affect their behavior That is to say, through the 'palatability' of nectar in different stages of flower development, the change of nectar secretion and color presentation as accurate feeding signals, they effectively improve the pollination efficiency in the process of nectar feeding." According to the editor in chief and reviewers of new botanist, this study has a very high scientific value for the study of ecological function and mechanism of colored nectar, and has opened a new way for the study of visual attraction, feeding signal and evolutionary significance of nectar coloring to effective pollinators.