Abstract

Serapias vomeracea is a tuberous plant that belongs to Orchidaceae family. Salep is obtained by exposing the successive processes these tubers include drying. Salep is consumed as a traditional hot beverage, especially in Turkey, and it is used as a raw material of the drugs due to its therapeutic properties on the cough, headache, flu, intestine, and sexual problems. It is also an indispensable stabilizer for Maras ice-cream due to certain qualities like relative delay in melting and improved taste. These qualities depend on the chemical composition of salep, especially the glucomannan level. Other important quality indicators of salep are the moisture level and ash content.

The drying process is the main step for the production of salep and the sun-drying method is utilized in the conventionally producing of it. In this study, the effects of drying methods on quality parameters of salep were investigated. For this purpose, Salep was obtained from Serapias vomeracea with sun-drying, hot-air drying, and freeze-drying methods, and they were compared for the moisture level and physical appearances.

Keywords: Drying, Salep, Serapias vomeracea
Acknowledgements: This study was supported by The Scientific and Technical Research Council of

Turkey,TUBITAK (Under 1002 Program – Project No: 119 O 893)