CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONS OF TRADITIONAL TARHANA HAVING DIFFERENT FORMULATIONS

Cereal‐based fermented foods play an important role in the diets of many people in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and some parts of Europe. Containing cereal and animal‐based nutrients, richer with fermentation products, produced with yeast and lactic acid bacteria, tarhana is a type of soup having a delicious and desired taste. It is a good source of protein and vitamins and therefore is used largely for feeding children and the elderly. Because there is no standard production method, the nutritional properties of tarhana strictly depend on ingredients and their ratios in the formulation. In this research, the compositions of 21 tarhana samples collected from different locations in Turkey were examined. Moisture, ash, salt, protein, crude fat, acidity degree and reducing sugar values of the samples changed between 9.35 and 66.4, 1.36 and 9.40, 0.62 and 9.01, 6.77 and 28.55, 0.43 and 15.78, 1.7 and 40.7, and 0.22 and 1.85%, respectively. The nutritional importance of tarhana is the improvement of the basic cereal protein diet by adding dairy protein in a highly accepted form. Like tarhana, indigenous fermented foods that enhance health properties should receive much more attention that they deserve.