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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Nutr.

Sec. Nutrition and Sustainable Diets

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1573821

This article is part of the Research TopicBioactivity and Health Benefits of Bee Products: Emerging Technologies and Consumer InsightsView all 3 articles

Phytochemicals and Nutraceutical Potential of Stingless Bee Nest Biomaterials: The Emerging Role of Female Stingless Bee Keeping in Global Food Security and Pharmaceutical Development

Provisionally accepted
Patricia VitPatricia Vit1*BAJAREE CHUTTONGBAJAREE CHUTTONG2*Ingrid AguilarIngrid Aguilar3Ortrud Monika BarthOrtrud Monika Barth4Cleofas CervanciaCleofas Cervancia5Anna LocsinAnna Locsin5Jessica Baroga-BarbechoJessica Baroga-Barbecho5KEMILLA SARMENTO REBELOKEMILLA SARMENTO REBELO6Favio VosslerFavio Vossler7Thanh LeThanh Le8Prakash KarmakarPrakash Karmakar9Ujjwal LayekUjjwal Layek10Gina MecciaGina Meccia11Elia Ramírez-ArriagaElia Ramírez-Arriaga12Favian MazaFavian Maza13Claus RasmussenClaus Rasmussen14Sammy KimoloiSammy Kimoloi15Megan HalcroftMegan Halcroft16Carmen Lucía Yurrita-ObiolsCarmen Lucía Yurrita-Obiols17Silvio LoayzaSilvio Loayza18Jesús InfanteJesús Infante19Alfonso PérezAlfonso Pérez20Amelia NicolasAmelia Nicolas21Wahizatul Afzan AzmiWahizatul Afzan Azmi22Maria Cristina MarcucciMaria Cristina Marcucci23David Silva NogueiraDavid Silva Nogueira24Elizabeth Ortiz-VázquezElizabeth Ortiz-Vázquez25Christopher MdudaChristopher Mduda26Zhengwei WangZhengwei Wang27Maria AraqueMaria Araque28Breno Magalhães FreitasBreno Magalhães Freitas29Vassya Stefanova BankovaVassya Stefanova Bankova30
  • 1Department of Food Science, Apitherapy and Bioactivity (APIBA), Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela
  • 2Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Meliponini and Apini Research Laboratory, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
  • 3Centro de Investigaciones Apícolas Tropicales (CINAT), National University of Costa Rica, Heredia, Heredia, Costa Rica
  • 4Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, Brazil
  • 5Bee Program, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Los Baños, Philippines
  • 6Department of Agricultural and Soil Engineering, Federal University of Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
  • 7Technological Research Center, National Scientific Council, Diamante, Argentina
  • 8National Institute of Medicinal Materials, Haboi, Vietnam
  • 9Department of Botany & Forestry, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, West Bengal, India
  • 10Department of Botany, Rampurhat College, Rampurhat, West Bengal, India
  • 11Research Institute, Apitherapy and Bioactivity (APIBA), Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela
  • 12Institute of Geology,, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
  • 13Faculty of Agricultural and Livestock Sciences, Universidad Tecnica de Machala, Machala, El Oro, Ecuador
  • 14Department of Agroecology, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Aarhus University, Slagelse, Denmark
  • 15Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kakamega, Bungoma, Kenya
  • 16Bees Business, Hampton, NSW, Australia
  • 17Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala
  • 18Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería, Piñas, El Oro, Ecuador
  • 19Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrícolas INIA, Puerto Ayacucho, Amazonas state, Venezuela
  • 20Asociación Cooperativa de Meliponicultura Warime, Paria Grande, Amazonas state, Venezuela
  • 21College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Central Bicol State University of Agriculture, Bicol, Philippines
  • 22Research Management Office, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
  • 23Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil
  • 24Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Amazonas, Cachoeirinha, São Gabriel da Cachoeira, AM, Brazil
  • 25Tecnológico Nacional de México-ITMérida, Mérida, Mexico
  • 26University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
  • 27Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
  • 28Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela
  • 29Bee Unit, Department of Animal Science, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
  • 30Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria

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The stingless bee nest (SBN) is a source of biodiverse metabolites in the Tribe Meliponini with 605 extant species, representing food security and healthcare potential. Chemical components and biological activities supporting medicinal uses of SBN biomaterials were briefly reviewed here. The female role was considered in programs of sustainable stingless bee keeping to promote food security and nutraceutical uses of stingless bee products. A bibliometric review revealed only 22 documents on nutraceutical stingless bee products, in the period 1979 to 2023. Illustrated evidences showcase differences and similarities in the meliponine nest entrance and structures inside the nest, activities revolving around stingless bee keeping, pollination of crops, harvesting their biomaterials, meliponitourism, conservation, and the current presence of pot-honey, pot-pollen, cerumen, and propolis in Brazilian pharmacies available online. Female programs were conducted in Mexico,

Keywords: global food security and sustainability, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical developments, pot-honey, pot-pollen, stingless bee biodiversity, stingless bee nest materials, sustainable meliponiculture female programs, global food security, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical developments, Pot-honey, Pot-pollen, stingless bee biodiversity, stingless bee nest biomaterials, sustainable meliponiculture

Received: 26 Feb 2025; Accepted: 09 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Vit, CHUTTONG, Aguilar, Barth, Cervancia, Locsin, Baroga-Barbecho, SARMENTO REBELO, Vossler, Le, Karmakar, Layek, Meccia, Ramírez-Arriaga, Maza, Rasmussen, Kimoloi, Halcroft, Yurrita-Obiols, Loayza, Infante, Pérez, Nicolas, Azmi, Marcucci, Nogueira, Ortiz-Vázquez, Mduda, Wang, Araque, Freitas and Bankova. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Patricia Vit, Department of Food Science, Apitherapy and Bioactivity (APIBA), Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela
BAJAREE CHUTTONG, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Meliponini and Apini Research Laboratory, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material