There will be a new honey testing lab opening its doors this summer, as The Experiment Company (TEC) moves its kanuka (Kunzea ericoides) honey project to the next level. With an interim chemical definition for both mono and multi-floral and even a potency rating (sound familiar?...) unveiled for the New Zealand native honey, emphasis now moves towards beekeepers and packers to support TEC and PAQ Laboratories as they strive to add value to kanuka honey.
Half a decade in the making, TEC chief operating officer Sri Govindaraju says the opening of PAQ Laboratories in Auckland for the coming honey season, and the kanuka honey testing that it provides, is an important step in their journey to highlight the unique attributes of New Zealand native honeys and add value to them.

“It’s essential to us that our beekeepers continue to be passionate about the honey, the industry, the bees, and the vital role bees play in the broader agricultural system,” Govindaraju says.
“Beekeeping solely for the pursuit of mānuka honey is unsustainable in the long term. Having the ability to offer standardised kanuka honey testing to the industry, to demonstrate its true value, is perhaps our way to give another reason to the beekeepers to remain in their profession, tend to their bees, to harvest kanuka, and keep doing what they do with love and passion.”

TEC is a startup company, founded by Govindaraju and husband Sunil Pinnamaneni, which has led a science-based programme to better understand the attributes of kanuka honey. After five years of work between labs in Auckland and Dubai (where Pinnamaneni is now based, following 10 years in the New Zealand honey industry) they are now confident in their testing method to both define kanuka honey and rate its immunostimulatory properties.
High-Performance Liquid Chromatography, Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Triple Quadrupole), and DiffuZone Imaging methods of analysis have been used in the research, which TEC calls “the most advanced instruments for the project”.
The Potency Provider
The research stepped up a gear in 2023 and 2024, following submissions of honey samples, which were determined to be kanuka by the beekeepers who provided them. All up, 75 samples spanning seven regions (Auckland, Northland, Gisborne, Waikato, Wairarapa, Marlborough, and Canterbury) were analysed. That background has provided the confidence to proceed with both an interim kanuka honey definition and a method to measure a glycoprotein which they claim provides immunostimulatory benefits – Arabinogalactan proteins. Like methylglyoxal in mānuka honey, which is marketed as “MGO”, these glycoproteins also lend themselves to a three-letter acronym: AGPs.
TEC research has found that, while AGPs are present in all honeys, they are more highly represented in kanuka. PAQ will test for AGP level in honey, offering results as milligrams per 10 grams of honey.
As for a rating system on which AGP levels can be marketed, that is some ways down the road, TEC’s chief operating officer says.
“In our opinion, the rating system should be based not only on the authenticity, but also the potency of kanuka honey. The data insights from phase two of our research will give us better understanding of how that rating system could look. It is going to be a work in progress, and we ask the beekeepers who harvest this honey to bear with us for a while longer.”
The word Arabinogalactan Protein on its own cannot be trademarked, as it is plant molecule occurring not only in honey, but also food sources. In that regard, it is akin to MGO in mānuka honey, which also cannot be trademarked.
Mono & Multi Definitions

The path towards both a monofloral and multifloral definition to provide authenticity of a native New Zealand honey is one travelled before, with Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) having required four chemical and one DNA markers to define mānuka honey for export under the two categories since 2018. TEC’s definition for kanuka does not have that level of clout to drive uptake, but they are confident in their “interim” definition, which they will “fine tune” as more samples flow into their lab in the coming years.
For both definitions 3-phenyllactic acid (3-PLA) and 4-Methoxyphenyllactic acid (4-MPLA) must be present in the honey at a level equal to or greater than 10 mg/kg. If 3-PLA is more than 10 times more abundant than 4-MPLA in the honey, it fails both mono and multi definitions (ie. 4-MPLA/3-PLA ≥ 0.10). Completing the chemical markers similar to both mono and multi kanuka definitions, Methylsyringate (MSY) must be present at ≥5mg/kg.
Key to differentiating mono and multi-floral kanuka honey, according to TEC, are the combined total of the two markers used in the ratio equation. If 4-MPLA and 3-PLA combine to be equal to or greater than 200 mg/kg, then the honey may qualify as monofloral kanuka, between 20 mg/kg and 199 mg/kg – multifloral.
“A great deal of effort has gone into designing the marker criteria, and we’ve taken a unique approach in their selection. The combination of markers, along with the sum of 3-PLA and 4-MPLA and their ratio, creates a distinct and reliable standard,” Govindaraju says.
Lastly, lumichrome (LM) completes the set of four chemicals which make up the definition. At 0.5mg/kg or higher the honey is potentially monofloral kanuka. Below that level it still qualifies as multifloral kanuka because, in New Zealand, lumichrome has only been determined as present in kunzea (kanuka) species’ honey. Alone it shouldn’t be used as a definition for kanuka honey though, Govindaraju explains.
“Lumichrome is specific to kanuka honey amongst honey from New Zealand, though it has also been found in a few other honeys, such as cornflower, ghaf honey from the United Arab Emirates, and Dalmatian sage honey from Croatia. A definition should function like a fingerprint, and the combination of selected markers serves as a unique identifier for the authenticity of kanuka honey.”

MPI’s decision to set both a mono and multi-floral definition for mānuka honey exports has been controversial. Many claim the multifloral definition undermines the value of higher MGO monofloral mānuka honey. Despite this, TEC has chosen to embrace a similar philosophy.
“As kanuka honey gains recognition and its value rises over time – which could take several years – the industry tends to blend it to optimize batch production. This makes distinguishing between mono and multi-floral honey crucial. While, like mānuka honey, this distinction may not be flawless, we will continue to refine the multi-floral definition as we gather more data,” Govindaraju says.
A New Kid on the Block
PAQ Laboratories plan to open their doors for testing in November. They won’t be operating on the scale of some of the longer-serving honey labs, but alongside their testing methods for kanuka honey markers and AGPs, they will also offer HMF, diastase, moisture, colour, and microbiology testing (such as APC and yeast and moulds). Govindaraju says it is their goal to be “a comprehensive, one-stop solution for kanuka honey testing” off the back of their innovative methods.
While a rating system for AGPs might not be in place yet, it is TEC’s hope that the industry can band together to take advantage of “phase one” of their research, while they head into the multi-year “phase two” of further kanuka nectar and honey analysis.
“We encourage the beekeepers to normalise the new nomenclature surrounding kanuka honey. The more we keep using it in our day-to-day, the concept and understanding will only increase with time,” Govindaraju says, adding “AGP and chemical marker test results that PAQ Laboratories provides, should be a starting point for beekeepers and brands to use this info in their own marketing and educating their existing, and to attract new, consumers.”
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