Patent for Pelemir Plant Transferred

Patent for Pelemir Plant Transferred to Ziya Organik Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi, which supported entrepreneurship and R&D efforts to bring the pelemir plant – once as valued as wheat in Anatolian lands – back into production, transferred the patent rights for a cosmetic composition made from pelemir oil to Ziya Organik.   Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, who attended the event, described the work conducted on the pelemir plant as "added value that will serve humanity." The pelemir plant, once an indispensable element of old Anatolian cuisine and now nearly forgotten, regained attention through an entrepreneurship story. Research conducted on the plant through TÜBİTAK University-Industry cooperation showed that when pelemir is used particularly in bread-making, it lowers the glycemic index and extends the shelf life of flour products.   Additionally, it was found that the oil obtained from the pelemir plant, when used in the cosmetics sector, has very high anti-aging and cell renewal properties. Following the discovery and curiosity of Ziya Organik A.Ş. Board Member Hava Demir, work on the pelemir plant was supported by academic researchers from Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi's Food Engineering Department, who added scientific research and projects, leading to a patent application. After obtaining positive results, the university, with support from the YTÜ Yıldız Teknopark Patent Department, transferred the obtained patent to Ziya Organik A.Ş. through a launch ceremony. The event, held at the Historic Bath building on the YTÜ Davutpaşa Campus, was attended by Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, YTÜ Rector Prof. Dr. Tamer Yılmaz, YTÜ Yıldız Teknopark General Manager Orhan Tanışman, Fırat Plastik and Ziya Organik A.Ş. Board Chairman Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nevzat Demir, Ziya Organik A.Ş. Board Member Hava Demir, Turkish Patent and Trademark Office Acting President Cemil Başpınar, as well as academics, students, and representatives of Teknopark companies.

We have seen a significant increase in the number of technopars

Patent ceremony speaker Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır said that patent applications continue to increase year-on-year as a result of R&D activities, emphasizing that the ministry always stands behind such work. Mehmet Fatih Kacır stated, "Turkey has essentially built an R&D and innovation ecosystem from scratch over the past 20 years. Twenty years ago, there were only 5 technopars in Turkey, today the number of technology development zones has reached 92. In these 92 technopars, we have more than 7,000 companies focused on R&D and innovation. In the early 2000s in Turkey, our R&D workforce was approximately 30,000, now this number has exceeded 200,000. This shows that a very large capacity has been built. Particularly in the private sector, the number of our R&D centers has exceeded 1,500. Turkey is today on the threshold of making a leap in producing concrete results and added value from this large capacity."

Patent applications increased 250-fold

Noting that R&D workforce increased from 30,000 to 200,000 and that annual patent applications reached 8,439 in 2021 from 414 in 2002, Kacır said, "The role of our universities in this process has also reached a very different point. In 2002, the number of patent applications made by our universities to Turkish patents was only 4 in an entire year, now this number has increased approximately 250-fold to 987. In 2002, among the patent applications made by Turkish universities, only 1 patent was registered by the patent office in one year. Now this number has reached 366. We know that we have much more distance to go, more ground to cover. However, such initiatives, with the contribution of entrepreneurs like yourselves, will ensure that these patents do not remain only in documents and transform into concrete products and added value, and will push these numbers to much further points year after year through wider use for the benefit of humanity."

YTÜ Yıldız Teknopark ranks first

Noting that Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi's statistics are also quite significant, Mehmet Fatih Kacır said, "Since I'm here, I wanted to take a look at these statistics. From 2002 to 2021, of the 157 patent applications made at Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi, 47 were made last year. That is, there is great momentum. Over the last three years, Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi's Teknopark ranks first in the technology development zones index," he concluded.

Academics are now creating their own entrepreneurship ventures

YTÜ Rector Prof. Dr. Tamer Yılmaz thanked the Food Engineering Department specifically for this work and said that it is very important for academics to take steps in entrepreneurship. Prof. Dr. Tamer Yılmaz stated, "As a university, we have ambitions to be leaders in R&D, education, technology, patent acquisition, and entrepreneurship. We are fighting hard for this. I thank Zeki Hoca from Food Engineering very much. Because an academic publishes scientific papers and produces projects but also creates their own entrepreneurship ventures and companies and produces patents. As a result of these efforts, such wonderful examples come before us. We also thank Ziya Organik for collaborating with us and believing in the power of the university, science, and technology."

We can become a country exporting pelemir products

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammed Zeki Durak, Faculty Member of the YTÜ Food Engineering Department who led all work on the project from the start, provided information about the pelemir plant in his remarks. Stating that export could be supported by adding pelemir, a national plant, to the contents of products in both the food and cosmetics sectors, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammed Zeki Durak said, "The story of pelemir began in 2014 as a TÜBİTAK project. We set out thinking about how to use it in bread production, how to adapt the modern version of pelemir – a natural and national product – to today's conditions, instead of gluten addition and imported product substitutes, as it was used historically. A patent was obtained from this work. As another matter, we thought about what to do with the oil of the pelemir product. When examining this oil, we found it had very different properties. We particularly saw that it has very strong sun protection properties and cell renewal. However, it was not a known product in the cosmetics sector. But we hope that we will become a country that uses pelemir oil more in the cosmetics sector and exports these products. I am very happy about the step we have taken in bringing such a valuable product to our country and introducing it to the world as a result of the work we have done on this path we started with Ziya Organik." In his remarks at the ceremony, Fırat Plastik and Ziya Organik A.Ş. Board Chairman Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nevzat Demir stated that the value of the pelemir plant was rediscovered thanks to scientists and conveyed his thanks to everyone who contributed to the work. The ceremony concluded with the signatures exchanged for the transfer of the patent.