| Summary: | Sahlep
is obtained from tubers of orchids which grown in Mediterranean countries,
especially in Turkey. As hydrocolloid, it is used for preparing hot drink and
ice cream. However, orchid plants are damaged and sold with high priced.
Therefore, searching of alternative production methods of sahlep are in
progress. The products of the project, growing possibilities of sahlep orchids
at farm conditions (cultivation) were researched in this study. The naturally grown sahlep which belongs to Serapias
vomeracea and Orchis sancta species compared with that of cultivated
products. Physicochemical and structural characterization analyses were
performed for the samples. The tubers were obtained from Serapias vomeracea
exhibited higher similarity in physicochemical properties with naturally grown
one than Orchis sancta. Samples have Newtonian flow behavior. FTIR
experiments which provide knowledge about chemicals bonds in structure revealed
that cultivation studies have no effect on sahlep chemical structure. Amorph
structure was determined with the XRD experiment for all samples. The variation
of surface morphology of sahlep was observed with the cultivation by SEM. DSC
and TGA analysis exhibited that samples had similar thermal stabilities. The
results obtained showed that sahlep with the same physicochemical and
structural characteristics with naturally grown could be achieved by
cultivation. The development and widening in this production method provides
both protection of wild orchids and cheaper sahlep production.
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