Edirne Fresh Fruit Soap Description and Distinguishing Features of the Product: Edirne Mis Meyve Sabunu (Edirne Mis Fruit Soap) is a soap produced using white soap, yellow and green transparent soap, essence, water, food coloring, and decorative accessories. Its history dates back to the 1600s. In the 17th century, a soap mixture of musk, amber, and rose essence was kneaded to a dough consistency. The soap was shaped to resemble real fruit sizes and colored to match the actual fruit colors, giving rise to the production of fruit soaps. Over time, these fruit soaps became valuable gifts presented to the Ottoman palace and domestic as well as foreign dignitaries, turning fruit soap crafting into a significant profession in Edirne. These fruit soaps, produced with added essence, emit a refreshing fragrance and have come to be known colloquially as "mis sabunu" (mis soap). Due to the priority given to fulfilling orders from the palace throughout history, Edirne Mis Meyve Sabunu is also referred to as "saray sabunu" (palace soap). It is mentioned in historical sources as the "padişah sabunu" (sultan's soap) due to the meticulousness of the sultan in both hygiene and gift-giving. Fruit soap crafting, favored by both the government and the public, especially became a popular profession in Edirne in the early 19th century. In fact, due to the abundance of mis fruit soap production in Edirne during this period, a neighborhood was named "Sabuni" (Soap-Making). The high-quality production that peaked during these times led to the widespread acceptance of fruit soap crafting as a highly valued art form in Edirne. Production Method: The soaps to be used in production are passed through shredding machines with a 2% moisture content. They are then kneaded into a dough by adding 150 grams of hot water per kilogram. Essence is added to the obtained dough to provide a pleasant fragrance. The mixture is set aside for a day, and then the dough is divided into pieces resembling real fruits in size. Each piece is individually processed by hand to resemble real fruits. Decorative accessories such as fruit seeds, leaves, stems, etc., are added to the products according to the variety, just like in real fruits. The soap, shaped like fruits, is left to rest and dry for 3 to 5 days, depending on the humidity and temperature. After this drying period, the fruit-shaped soap is painted with food coloring to match the original fruit colors and set aside again. Following this waiting period, it is immersed in hot waxing pots to give it a glossy finish. After this process, the fruit soap goes through a final waiting stage of 48 hours. Once the wax on it has completely dried, the soaps are collected from the drying bands, individually wrapped in protective paper, and packaged. The shapes used as fruits include melon, watermelon slice, quince, peach, lemon, banana, pomegranate, red apple, green apple, golden apple, plum, strawberry, apricot, yellow grape, green grape, purple grape, orange, green pear, yellow pear, pineapple, green fig, black fig, cherry, and broken pomegranate. If not soaked in water, they can maintain their original appearance without deteriorating for 10-15 years.