Published: 31st May, 2021
On the occasion of World Bee Day and in the auspicious context of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Ministry launched the project of setting up of a honey testing laboratory at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi.
Context
On the occasion of World Bee Day and in the auspicious context of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Ministry launched the project of setting up of a honey testing laboratory at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi.
About the Honey Testing Laboratory Project
- The project aims to establish a regional honey quality testing laboratory at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) for quality testing of honey and other products of beekeeping.
- It has been initiated under the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission.
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World Bee Day
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- It will also be helpful in the development of scientific beekeeping and achieving the target of "sweet revolution".
- Recently, 10 out of 13 honey brands fail ‘purity test’- The initiative would also support the quality improvement.
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National Beekeeping and Honey Mission
Sweet revolution
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Methods of Honey Testing
Test under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
- Key adulteration parameters are tests for C4/C3 sugars, foreign oligosaccharides, Specific Marker for Rice (SMR) i.e. 2-acetylfuran-3-glucopyranoside (AFGP).
- C4 sugars are those derived from C4 plants (plants using C4 photosynthetic pathway) such as corn, sugarcane
- C3 sugars are those derived from C3 plants (plants using C3 photosynthetic pathway) such as rice, beet root
- Trace Marker for Rice syrup (TMR)
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) profiling. NMR is an advanced test to check for adulteration and confirmation of origin of honey.
- These two tests are not part of the current FSSAI standards.
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