Recent results on meson production from SAPHIR

The SAPHIR detector is a magnetic spectrometer for multiparticle final stat es attached to the 3.5 GeV electron accelerator ELSA. The experiments focus on the photoproduction of associated strangeness in gamma p --> K(+)Lambda , K(+)Sigma(0) and K(0)Sigma(+) final states and the production of the ligh test vector mesons rho, omega and phi. In the K(+)Lambda cross section a st eep threshold behaviour is observed which is different in the case of K(+)S igma(0) which is reflected in the differential cross section. Contrary, Lam bda and Sigma polarizations show little variation with energy. A bump in th e t-distribution for omega-production for E gamma similar or equal to 1.5 G eV could be an indication for a resonance while the production of phi-meson s appears fully diffractive down to energies below 2 GeV.