Salep orchids of Turkiye

Although the global trade of wild orchids is typically associated with ornamental plants there are also large commercial trades in some orchids as edible plants. This is especially true for terrestrial orchid with starchy tubers used to make, among other foods, salep.

The trade in wild orchids for salep, notably to make ice cream, is a growing conservation challenge affecting wild populations in countries including Turkiye and Greece.

Orchid Specialist Group member, Dursun Kurt, and Prof. Dr. Ömer Çalışkan have just published The Salep Orchids of Turkiye. It presents the many different orchid species harvested from the wild to make salep, discusses related conservation issues, and provides insights into efforts to cultivate these species for more sustainable commercial production.