Authentic honey meets DNA technology EIP-hanke, Innovaatiotori

We developed a honey DNA-based test for producers and distributors. Our innovative approach analyzes all DNA traces from nectar and honey production environments – plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, and viruses. This comprehensive picture of honey enables producers to get proof of authentic honey composition and origin for fair and transparent competition in the honey market.

Honey is one of the most fraudulent food products. The price of synthetic or fake honey is significantly lower than that of authentic honey. Beekeepers initiated the project to overcome the limitations of existing analytical methods. The common challenges are related to adulterations that may remain undetected, limited sensitivity of tests, and a low number of studied markers that only cover part of the picture of complex honey.  

Our honey DNA metagenomic method, the test, analyzes the whole spectrum of all organism groups represented in honey. The test analyzes tens of millions of DNA sequences from thousands of species, creating a unique, natural, inimitable DNA fingerprint profile for every honey. The highly complex and naturally honeybee-created profile allows us to detect the authenticity and origin of honey. 

EIP Operational Group related to the development of DNA-based methods was funded by the Estonian Rural Development Plan (RDP) 2014-2020.