A New Era in Plant Extracts with Domestic R&D

Global demand for plant extracts, used in dietary supplements, cosmetic products, functional foods, animal health and agricultural applications, is growing rapidly. The plant extract market, which reached approximately USD 33.9 billion as of 2024, brings with it investments in production technologies and high-value-added raw materials. Despite Turkey's rich plant diversity, it has long been dependent on externally sourced production models for many plant extracts. Talya Bitkisel, after approximately 3.5 years of R&D, developed one of the few 360-degree integrated production models in Turkey that brings together plant extraction, powder extract production and process infrastructure under one roof.

FROM IMPORTED PRODUCTS TO INTEGRATED PRODUCTION MODEL
As demand for plant-based ingredients increased, the need for standardized and traceable raw materials with high active substance content became a priority for the sector. With the system developed by Talya Bitkisel, processes related to subjecting plants to specific procedures, isolating active compounds and obtaining high-purity powder extracts began to be managed in-house. The plant extracts obtained at the end of this process can now be used as raw materials in various fields including dietary supplements, functional foods, cosmetic products, aromatherapy applications, animal health solutions and agricultural ingredient development processes.

FIELD EXPERIENCE TRANSFORMED INTO KNOW-HOW
Pointing out that domestic sources and technical knowledge in plant extraction and powder extract production are limited, and therefore the process has been shaped largely by R&D work, trial applications and field experience, Talya Bitkisel founder M. Halis Ertaş stated that the investment cost of only the process unit of the developed system has reached approximately USD 3 million today, and that the total investment value including knowledge accumulation, R&D processes and technological infrastructure has reached USD 5-6 million levels. He further commented: "Domestic sources and technical knowledge in plant extraction and powder extract production were quite limited. For this reason, the process was shaped largely by R&D work, trial applications and field experience. Over the approximately 3.5-year period, we worked on many different plants. For example, within the scope of a project supported by TÜBİTAK with the Western Mediterranean Agricultural Research Institute (BATEM) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, we are currently conducting work on turmeric. High-yield extract development processes in plants such as turmeric, which stand out for their active substance structure, rank among the strongest examples of our know-how. Today we can say we have built not just a production line, but also knowledge, experience and technological infrastructure."

MORE THAN A PRODUCTION LINE
Ertaş, noting that they have invested not only in the final product but also in the knowledge behind it and the production infrastructure in plant production, and stating that the experience gained in the field over the approximately 3.5-year period now forms the foundation of a structure serving different sectors, explained: "At this point, we are not just developing our own products. We have reached a position where we supply raw materials to different sectors ranging from cosmetics to food, animal health to agriculture. Creating domestic production capacity in many contents that were imported for many years has been an important gain for us. You can establish a production facility, but it is not easy to build processes and knowledge accumulation in a short time. For us, the real investment was in knowledge, R&D and production experience."