Artificial intelligence will determine which plants honey is obtained from

Realized in cooperation with Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara University, and Hacettepe University, the "AutoPol: Development of Automated Pollen Identification and Flora Tracking System" project is supported within the scope of the TÜBİTAK 1001 Program. Thanks to the project, it is aimed to prevent counterfeiting by automatically analyzing the pollen in honey samples with the help of artificial intelligence.

In the study, which also involves researchers from the METU Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Technologies Application and Research Center (ROMER), collected pollen samples are imaged using a microscope system equipped with automatic scanning and focusing features, and transferred to a digital environment. With this developed system, it is aimed to determine the plant origins of honey samples and to verify these features, especially for honeys claimed to be produced from specific plant species.

Project coordinator and METU ROMER researcher Dr. Babür Erdem stated that Turkey ranks third in honey production in the world. Stating that adulterated or fake honey can be found on the market and that the most definitive solution to this problem is conducting pollen analysis, Erdem noted that they aim to automatically determine the pollen species and count under the microscope by using artificial intelligence and mechanical systems together. In addition, a national digital pollen database is planned to be established within the scope of the project.