Cucurbita maxima (Cucurbitaceae) is an edible, medicinal and vitamin-rich species. In Cameroon, although this plant is among the edible crops, knowledge about the relationship between this crop and pollinators is scarce. This study aims to describe the floral biology of C. maxima and the relationship between this crop and A. mellifera for their optimal exploitation. Observations were carried out at two sites (Torok and Vogzom) during the 2022 agricultural season. The growth stages of flowers buds and their daily appearance rate were recorded. Four treatments were defined at each site to assess the effectiveness of bee visits on pollination and fruit yield. The number of male flowers exceeded that of female flowers, with a sex ratio of 5:1 (♂/♀). The impact of climate factors on bee visits, fruit mass and diameter, and the number of mature fruits from the different treatments was evaluated. High temperatures decreased bee visits, as did rainy days. Flower visits for nectar collection were more frequent than those for pollen. Bees effectively promoted the pollination of female flowers during their foraging trips. There is a correlation between the number of bee visits received by female flowers and the fruit set rate per treatment. The production of good-quality fruit and seeds from this plant depends on optimal bee pollination activity. It is to Maintain climatic factors at a level favorable to pollinator activity by combating climate change.
| Published in | Medicine and Life Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 1) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.mls.20260201.13 |
| Page(s) | 23-36 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Floral Biology, Cucurbita maxima, Apis mellifera, Pollination, Pollinator Efficiency, Resilient Farming
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APA Style
Sanda, H., Hyacinthe, A., Menkamla, A. T., Haman, Z. O., Benoit, M., et al. (2026). Knowledge of Floral Biology, the Variation of Climatic Factors and the Role of Pollinators Significantly Improve the Yield of Cucurbita maxima Cultivation in Cameroon. Medicine and Life Sciences, 2(1), 23-36. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.mls.20260201.13
ACS Style
Sanda, H.; Hyacinthe, A.; Menkamla, A. T.; Haman, Z. O.; Benoit, M., et al. Knowledge of Floral Biology, the Variation of Climatic Factors and the Role of Pollinators Significantly Improve the Yield of Cucurbita maxima Cultivation in Cameroon. Med. Life Sci. 2026, 2(1), 23-36. doi: 10.11648/j.mls.20260201.13
AMA Style
Sanda H, Hyacinthe A, Menkamla AT, Haman ZO, Benoit M, et al. Knowledge of Floral Biology, the Variation of Climatic Factors and the Role of Pollinators Significantly Improve the Yield of Cucurbita maxima Cultivation in Cameroon. Med Life Sci. 2026;2(1):23-36. doi: 10.11648/j.mls.20260201.13
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Download@article{10.11648/j.mls.20260201.13,
author = {Hebri Sanda and Angoni Hyacinthe and Albert Tchopwe Menkamla and Zephirin Oumarou Haman and Maralossou Benoit and Tchobsala},
title = {Knowledge of Floral Biology, the Variation of Climatic Factors and the Role of Pollinators Significantly Improve the Yield of Cucurbita maxima Cultivation in Cameroon},
journal = {Medicine and Life Sciences},
volume = {2},
number = {1},
pages = {23-36},
doi = {10.11648/j.mls.20260201.13},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.mls.20260201.13},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.mls.20260201.13},
abstract = {Cucurbita maxima (Cucurbitaceae) is an edible, medicinal and vitamin-rich species. In Cameroon, although this plant is among the edible crops, knowledge about the relationship between this crop and pollinators is scarce. This study aims to describe the floral biology of C. maxima and the relationship between this crop and A. mellifera for their optimal exploitation. Observations were carried out at two sites (Torok and Vogzom) during the 2022 agricultural season. The growth stages of flowers buds and their daily appearance rate were recorded. Four treatments were defined at each site to assess the effectiveness of bee visits on pollination and fruit yield. The number of male flowers exceeded that of female flowers, with a sex ratio of 5:1 (♂/♀). The impact of climate factors on bee visits, fruit mass and diameter, and the number of mature fruits from the different treatments was evaluated. High temperatures decreased bee visits, as did rainy days. Flower visits for nectar collection were more frequent than those for pollen. Bees effectively promoted the pollination of female flowers during their foraging trips. There is a correlation between the number of bee visits received by female flowers and the fruit set rate per treatment. The production of good-quality fruit and seeds from this plant depends on optimal bee pollination activity. It is to Maintain climatic factors at a level favorable to pollinator activity by combating climate change.},
year = {2026}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Knowledge of Floral Biology, the Variation of Climatic Factors and the Role of Pollinators Significantly Improve the Yield of Cucurbita maxima Cultivation in Cameroon AU - Hebri Sanda AU - Angoni Hyacinthe AU - Albert Tchopwe Menkamla AU - Zephirin Oumarou Haman AU - Maralossou Benoit AU - Tchobsala Y1 - 2026/02/09 PY - 2026 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.mls.20260201.13 DO - 10.11648/j.mls.20260201.13 T2 - Medicine and Life Sciences JF - Medicine and Life Sciences JO - Medicine and Life Sciences SP - 23 EP - 36 PB - Science Publishing Group UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.mls.20260201.13 AB - Cucurbita maxima (Cucurbitaceae) is an edible, medicinal and vitamin-rich species. In Cameroon, although this plant is among the edible crops, knowledge about the relationship between this crop and pollinators is scarce. This study aims to describe the floral biology of C. maxima and the relationship between this crop and A. mellifera for their optimal exploitation. Observations were carried out at two sites (Torok and Vogzom) during the 2022 agricultural season. The growth stages of flowers buds and their daily appearance rate were recorded. Four treatments were defined at each site to assess the effectiveness of bee visits on pollination and fruit yield. The number of male flowers exceeded that of female flowers, with a sex ratio of 5:1 (♂/♀). The impact of climate factors on bee visits, fruit mass and diameter, and the number of mature fruits from the different treatments was evaluated. High temperatures decreased bee visits, as did rainy days. Flower visits for nectar collection were more frequent than those for pollen. Bees effectively promoted the pollination of female flowers during their foraging trips. There is a correlation between the number of bee visits received by female flowers and the fruit set rate per treatment. The production of good-quality fruit and seeds from this plant depends on optimal bee pollination activity. It is to Maintain climatic factors at a level favorable to pollinator activity by combating climate change. VL - 2 IS - 1 ER -
Department of Plant Biology, University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Bamenda, Bambili, Cameroon
Department of Plant Biology, University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon
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