El reservorio de ácido acético en el cerumen de potes de miel vacíos de Tetragonisca angustula se esterificó parcialmente con alcoholes formando los acetatos correspondientes

Six plant resin-beeswax-based materials of the Venezuelan Angelita Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille, 1811) were collected from a nest in Merida: Entrance tube, involucrum of the brood, pillars by storage pots, empty honey pots, plant resin deposit, and indoor cover propolis. The abundance of volatile organic compounds (VOC) was studied by head space-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The cerumen of empty honey pots was a reservoir of acetic acid that esterified with alcohols into acetates. Methyl acetate was found only in the entrance tube, with isopropyl acetate, and 3-methyl-butyl acetate. A set of acetates characterized the empty honey pots: Ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, 3-methyl-butyl acetate, ethyl benzene acetate, and 2-phenetyl acetate. Ethyl acetate was the most abundant ester formed with the ethyl groups of the ethyl alcohol and the acetic acid in the cerumen of empty honey pots (32.63) and the plant resin deposit (17.21), and varied between 2.69 and 4.50 in other nest materials. Ethanol was the most abundant alcohol in the cerumen of empty honey pots (17.61) and the plant resin deposit (10.85) compared to lower values (2.47-6.43) in the involucrum, pillars, and propolis from the indoor cover. The highest abundance of acetic acid (108.79) possibly originated by acetic acid bacteria and alcohols originated by fermentation in the cerumen pots explain the formation of the acetates. The VOC profiles may have compounds of botanical, entomological, and microbial origin