Abstract: At temperature between 25℃ to 45℃ ,the shear stress was determined and a rheological model was established under increasing and then decreasing the shear rate in a rotating viscosimeter.The regression analyses demonstrated that the royal jelly was a pseudoplastic flow.From the figures tested,which described the relationships between apparent viscosity and shear rate at 25℃～ 45℃ ,results could be concluded that the shear－ rate thixotropic curve became a significant hysteresis loop and the apparent viscosity decreased clearly after the royal jelly was sheared at a low temperature.With the increase of temperature,the hysteresis loop would become small and the apparent viscosity would drop a little.These results showed that the royal jelly exhibited a thixotropic behavior which was affected by the temperature.In addition,as the royal jelly was sheared at a fixed shear－ rate,its apparent viscosity would descend with increasing shear time and an index equation could be used to describe the relationship between apparent viscosity and shear time.

Key words: Royal jelly Thixotropic properties Viscosity Pseudoplastic behavior