The Turkish Food Codex Honey Communiqué (Communiqué no: 2012 / 2012) was published by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock in 58. This Communiqué covers the principles governing the production, preparation, processing, storage, transportation and placing on the market of honey by suitable techniques and hygienic conditions and includes flower honey, secretion honey and mixtures thereof produced by the honey bee.

According to the Turkish Food Codex, honey is the substance that honey bees collect after flower nectars and secretions of plants and living things on plants, adding a number of substances and storing them in honey combs. The sugar, which is secreted by the nectar glands around the flowers, especially the flower dust bags, is called nectar. It is also nectar in the sugary liquid secreted from the leaves and stems of the plants.

The chemical composition of honey varies according to different factors. Nectar and the natural composition of the outbreak are the most important of these factors. In addition, climatic conditions and the ability of the bee to make honey are also effective in the chemical composition of honey. Honey is a dark and sugar aqueous solution with lots of fructose and contains a small amount of sucrose, nitrogenous substances, enzymes, essential oils, organic acids, waxes and pollen grains. In the chemical composition of honey, the total carbohydrate content is around 80 in nectar honey and 72 in secretion honey.

Pollen, that is, flower powder occurs in the male organs of the flower. The main food source of bees is pollen and its composition is very rich. It contains plenty of protein, fat, carbohydrate (sugar, starch), minerals, vitamins, enzymes and pigments. In recent years, more importance is given to pollen bee nutrition. Qualitative pollen analysis is used for determination of local origin of honey and quantitative pollen analysis is used for determination of botanical origin.

In laboratories, determination of pollen count in honey is carried out. In these analysis studies, methods of analysis accepted in our country and foreign countries are followed. The standard used to determine the number of pollen in honey is:

 

• TS 3036 Honey