There is considerable debate as to whether foraging bees are able to assess the 'quality' of pollen they collect, and if so whether such a discrimination would be based on crude protein content and/or other nutrients. I wondered if there are any examples of other organisms being able to sense pre-ingestively (i.e. 'taste') differences in the protein content of food items?
Dear Elizabeth,
sure! This review may be a good starting point (link below).
Best!
Article Do wild carnivores forage for prey or for nutrients?
There are many examples of animals using taste (and related mechanisms) to assess the nutritional quality of foods. For an overview of the mechanisms and their influence on feeding and its consequences see my book with Steve Simpson The Nature of Nutrition: a Unifying Framework from Animal Adaptation to Human Obesity.
Maybe check out: Mayntz et al. 2005, Science: Nutrient-Specific foraging in invertebrate predators. Though not on pollinators I believe it shows that invertebrates asses the protein content of their food (based on their own nutritional state)
Hi all, thank you very much for your prompt replies and for pointing me in the right direction of some relevant and interesting literature regarding pre-ingestive detection of protein/amino acids. It has been very helpful.
Here is a nice publication, Bumble bees prefer plants with nutrient-rich pollen.
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