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Fermentation Atlas

Soft drinks from Turkey

Şalgam suyuşalgam suyu

Şalgam is a sour, purple-red Turkish drink. Bulgur flour, sourdough and salt are first fermented as a dough and washed out with water, then the extract ferments for about a week with chopped black carrot, a little turnip and rock salt until it reaches at least 6 g of lactic acid per litre. Made in 5 steps over 11 days – 13 days. The longest step, carrot (second) fermentation in a closed tank, takes 8–10 days (Sengun I 2025) and runs at 15–35 °C (Sengun I 2025). Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, the dominant lactic acid bacterium in both fermentations and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei, the next most important do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step8–10 daysMeasured[sengun2025]Carrot (second) fermentation in a closed tank
Temperature15–35 °CMeasured[sengun2025][cirak2022]Carrot (second) fermentation in a closed tank
AciditypH 3.3–3.8Set[sengun2025][erol2024]Strain, bottle and keep cold

Recipe

Amounts from a sourcePer litre of finished drink, from a 2024 laboratory run of the traditional two-stage method (Tanguler et al.). Producers use no standard carrot amount.
30 g/LBulgur flour (setik) · For the first, dough fermentation[tanguler2024]
2 g/LRock salt · In the dough[tanguler2024]
2 g/LSourdough · Baker's yeast is also used[tanguler2024][mujdeci2023]
100–200 g/LPurple carrot, sorted and chopped · Added to the dough extract for the second fermentation; the amount is not standardised[tanguler2024]
10 g/LRock salt · Added with the carrots[tanguler2024]
1 % (w/v)Sliced turnip · Optional; some producers leave it out[sengun2025][tanguler2024]
Drinking water · To dough consistency, then to dilute the extract[tanguler2024]
Starterother: sourdough or baker's yeast in a bulgur dough; the carrot stage is spontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 11 days – 13 days

Start
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SugarAlcoholCO₂25 °Cshapes, not to countYeastsLactic acid bacteria

What changes: Bulgur flour, salt and sourdough are kneaded with water and ferment as a dough

Step 1 of 5
Knead and ferment the bulgur dough
Time
3 days
Measured
Temperature
25 °C
Measured
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts
Lactic acid bacteria
L. plantarum

Output: fermented bulgur dough.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

yeasts and lactic acid bacteria multiply in the dough

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Şalgam is a two-stage ferment. Unlike Indian kanji, which ferments black carrot with mustard in water alone, şalgam first ferments a bulgur and sourdough dough and uses its extract to start the carrot fermentation.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Direct methodCarrot, turnip, bulgur flour, sourdough and salt go into the drum together with no dough stage; 12 days at 25 °C in one study.
  • Acılı (hot) şalgamHot chilli is added; TS 11149 lists powdered hot pepper as an ingredient.
  • Starter-culture şalgamAdded lactic cultures reach 6 g/L lactic acid in about 6 days instead of 8.

Safety

Turkish standard TS 11149 sets the finished drink at pH 3.3–3.8 with at least 6 g lactic acid per litre. Unpasteurised şalgam is perishable; keep it at 4 °C, because spoilage yeasts can grow in the acid drink and form a film.

Hazards the sources name: Film-forming spoilage yeasts that cause colour change and off-taste in stored şalgam.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Şalgam is made at home and in factories across southern Turkey, mainly Adana, Mersin and Hatay. Larger plants are replacing small ones as exports to Europe grow, and producers still use no standard method.

  1. [tanguler2024] Tanguler H., Sen K., Dinc S.O. 2024, Aroma profiles of shalgam, effect of purple carrot (Daucus carota) amount, Food Science & Nutrition 12(7):5162–5175, doi:10.1002/fsn3.4164paper
  2. [sengun2025] Sengun I., Kendirci P., Kirmizigul Peker A., Kilic G., Ozturk B. 2025, Assessment of microencapsulated and free form presumptive probiotics in fermented black carrot juice (shalgam) production, Journal of Food Science, doi:10.1111/1750-3841.70297paper
  3. [tanguler2012] Tanguler H., Erten H. 2012, Occurrence and growth of lactic acid bacteria species during the fermentation of shalgam (salgam), a traditional Turkish fermented beverage, LWT 46(1):36–41, doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2011.10.026 (abstract)paper
  4. [mujdeci2023] Mujdeci G., Tanguler H., Macit H., Kabak B. 2023, Effect of three different preservatives on the microbiota of shalgam, a traditional lactic acid fermented beverage, Foodspaper
  5. [cirak2022] Cirak M.A., Agirman B., Erten H. 2022, The chemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics of şalgam during fermentation process, Journal of Food Processing and Preservation 46(6), doi:10.1111/jfpp.15440 (abstract)paper
  6. [erol2024] Erol K.F., Kutlu G., Baslar M., Tornuk F. 2024, Effects of heat treatment and ultraviolet radiation on physicochemical, microbiological, and bioactive properties of shalgam juice, Food Science & Nutrition 12:8441–8453, doi:10.1002/fsn3.4445paper