The Salep And The Orchid

Türkiye is one of the richest countrries on middle zone orchids species. There are approximately 160 species of orchid in Türkiye. There is a serious decrease both in orchid population and number of species every passing year. Furthermore, some species are close to extinction. The main reason for that is that people pick the tubers of many species to produce salep. Salep is our traditional drink which we prefer to drink during the cold winter days in Türkiye. Besides this salep flours is one of the ingredients of the ice cream. Especially in traditional ice cream production it uses as a thickener substance.