Kafkas Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi 2020 , Vol 26 , Issue 3
Detection and Molecular Examination of Pathogens in Honey and Bees in the Northern Marmara Region, Turkey
Gülay Merve BAYRAKAL1, Gözde EKİCİ2, Hayrettin AKKAYA3, Funda Hatice SEZGİN4, Emek DÜMEN1
1İstanbul University - Cerrahpaşa, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Food Hygiene and Technology, TR-34500 İstanbul - TURKEY
2İstanbul Kultur University, Faculty of Health Science, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, TR-34192 İstanbul - TURKEY
3İstanbul University - Cerrahpaşa, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology, TR-34500 İstanbul - TURKEY
4İstanbul University - Cerrahpaşa, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Industrial Engineering, TR-34528 İstanbul - TURKEY
DOI : 10.9775/kvfd.2019.22845 Honey, which has many positive health effects, is fondly consumed in our country and in the world. Although honey is considered to be a micro-organism-free food because of its antimicrobial and bacteriostatic effects, studies refute this idea. In addition to primary contamination, personnel, tools and equipment used in beekeeping and honey production is a potential source of secondary contamination. In addition, honey, which can carry many microorganisms as a result of cross-contamination, is among the important foods and can threat public health. Therefore, it is thought that screening of pathogens that may be present in honey would contribute to the studies. Due to the geographical location, the diversity of climate and vegetation, Turkey is located in the upper row of honey producting countries. In this study, 900 samples examined in Kırklareli province in Northern Marmara Region. Kırklareli region has been chosen as the research area since it is considered as an important province in honey production and is a border province located in the industrial zone. The aim of the study was to investigate the presence of parasitological, bacterial, fungal and viral parameters which are important for the quality of the consumer, bee, larvae, colony and honey. According to the obtained data, positive results were found in many parameters and statistically significant results were obtained. Keywords : Honey, Bee, Larvae, Microbial quality, Pathogen