Balparmak Research and Quality Control Laboratory for Honey and Other Bee Products (APILAB) was established in 1986 as part of Balparmak’s Research & Development and Quality Department. An expert research team and their decades of experience have made APILAB the most comprehensive honey and bee product-specific laboratory in Turkey, and one of four such leading laboratories in Europe.
Balparmak’s Quality Standards and Research & Development Power
Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the laboratory can perform sensitive analyses at high capacities, examining 92 parameters using organoleptic, chemical, instrumental, microscopic and microbiological methods in order to ensure the quality and purity of the honey and other bee products we procure from Turkey’s many different regions. APILAB implements ISO 17025 Laboratory Quality Assurance Systems APILAB, and is endowed with the ISO 17025 international accreditation certificate.
APILAB is capable of examining the honey’s chemical and physical characteristics, such as moisture, acidity, conductivity, color, HMF, proline, enzyme activity, antioxidant activity, phenolic compounds, and sugar profile, in order to assess its quality and purity. The lab can detect any kind of additives by performing a C4 sugar analysis using the Isotope–Ratio Mass Spectrometry System (IRMS).
APILAB’s broad residue analysis capabilities allow it to detect naphthalene and antibiotics with a sensitivity of one part per billion. The laboratory can also determine which plant and which region the honey came from. To this end, the lab is able to examine the taste, smell, and texture properties using the descriptive sensory analysis technique and an aromatic compound analysis, methods developed for the first time in Turkey for use on honey. And by applying microscopic methods, the lab can identity the pollen content from the flowers the bees have visited.
“APILAB can perform sensitive analyses at high capacities, examining 92 parameters using organoleptic, chemical, instrumental, microscopic and microbiological methods in order to ensure the quality and purity of the honey and other bee products we procure from Turkey’s many different regions.”
A 20-person team of experts interprets and reports on the results obtained at APILAB. This team is comprised of food and chemical engineers, specialist chemists, biologists, and technicians who have received training abroad. Any kind of malpractice, such as manipulation, additives, or residues is detected at the procurement stage.
The Balparmak Research and Quality Control Laboratory for Honey and Other Bee Products publishes the data it obtains in scientific articles, and brings its findings to the attention of the scientific world at both national and international conferences and symposiums.
The Process Underlying the Balparmak Guarantee
Every year during honey season, Balparmak collects preliminary samples from beekeepers’ harvests in each of Turkey’s seven regions. The samples arrive at the APILAB, where a series of analyses check for any malpractice. If the analysis results determine the honey is natural and pure, we buy honey from those beekeepers using proper honey production methods. When the purchased honey arrives at the Balparmak facility, we conduct the same analyses to make sure they are consistent with the preliminary samples that were sent earlier. If any discrepancy is detected, we do not buy the honey. The honey we purchase is checked again after it is homogenized. We subject every batch of honey that arrives at Balparmak to one more analysis before packaging it for sale, fully documenting the contents of every batch of product. We therefore subject all Balparmak products to analyses at four stages, ensuring consistent quality before they reach the consumer.
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