Saffron

For other uses, see Saffron (disambiguation).

Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of the saffron crocus (Crocus sativus), a flowering plant of the family Iridaceae. The flower's three stigmata (the distal ends of the plant's carpels, or female reproductive organs) and parts of its style (a stalk connecting the stigmata to the rest of the plant) are often dried and used in cooking as a seasoning and coloring agent. Saffron, which has for decades been the world's most expensive spice by weight,^[1][2] is native to Southwest Asia.^[63][2] It was first cultivated in the vicinity of Greece.^[3]

Saffron spice is characterized by a bitter taste and a hay-like fragrance. These are provided by the chemicals picrocrocin and safranal.^[4] It also contains a carotenoid dye, crocin, that gives food a rich golden-yellow hue. These qualities make saffron a much sought-after ingredient in many foods worldwide. Saffron also has medicinal and coloring applications.

The word saffron originated during the 12th century CE from the Old French safran, which derives from the Latin term safranum. Safranum is also related to the Italian zafferano and Spanish azafrán.^[5] These Romance-language terms come from the Arabic word asfar (أَصْفَر), which means "yellow", via the paronymous za‘faran (زَعْفَرَان), the name of the spice in Arabic.^[6]

Biology

Crocus sativus (saffron crocus) botanical illustration from Kohler's Medicinal Plants (1887).

The domesticated saffron crocus C. sativus is a fall blooming perennial flowering plant that is unknown in the wild. It is a sterile triploid mutant of the eastern Mediterranean autumn-flowering crocus, C. cartwrightianus.^[7] Botanical research indicates that C. cartwrightianus originated in Crete, not Central Asia as once generally believed.^[6] The saffron crocus was the subject of artificial selection by growers who bred for abnormally long stigmata. Being sterile, the saffron crocus' purple flowers fail to produce viable seeds. Because of this, its reproduction is entirely dependent on human assistance: the corms must be dug up, broken apart, and replanted. A corm survives for only one season, and reproduces by division into up to ten "cormlets". The corms then grow into new individual plants.^[7] The corms appear as small brown globules, up to 4.5 centimeters in diameter, each shrouded in a mat of parallel fibers.

After a period of dormancy in the summer, five to eleven narrow and nearly vertical green leaves — resembling those of chives — emerge. These leaves can grow up to 40 cm long. Later, purple buds develop in autumn. Only in October, after most other flowering plants have released their seeds, does the saffron crocus suddenly develop its brilliantly-colored purple flowers.^[8] These can range anywhere from a light pastel shade of lilac to a darker and striated mauve. Upon flowering, the saffron crocus remains, on average, less than 30 cm in height.^[62] Inside each flower is a three-pronged style terminating in the valuable three crimson stigmata. These stigmata may measure anywhere between 25–30 mm in length.^[7]

Cultivation

Saffron crocus flower yields in selected countries[*]
country	yield (kg/ha)
Spain	6–29
Italy	10–16
Greece	4–7
India	2–7
Morocco	2.0–2.5
Source: (Deo 2003)
[*] — Yields specify flower weight, not final dry saffron weight. Approximately 150 flowers yield 1 g of dry saffron threads. To produce 12 g of dried saffron (72 g freshly harvested), 1 kg of flowers are needed. On average, freshly-picked flowers weigh 0.03 g while dry flowers weigh 0.007 g (Deo 2003, p. 3).

The saffron crocus thrives in climates similar to that of the Mediterranean maquis. Thus, it flourishes in such places as the North American chaparral where summers feature hot and dry breezes blowing across arid and semi-arid lands. Nevertheless, the plant can tolerate cold winters, surviving frosts as cold as -10°C along with short periods of snow cover.^[9][7] If it is not grown in a high-rainfall environment, the saffron crocus needs irrigation. For example, Kashmiri saffron grows without irrigation when rainfall is normal. There, in Kashmir, average annual rainfall averages 1000–1500 mm. In the much drier saffron-growing regions of Greece (rainfall 500 mm) and Spain (400 mm), irrigation is required. Saffron crocus thrives in spring rains followed by a relatively dry summer. However, rains falling immediately before flowering cause high saffron yields. On the other hand, rain or cold weather occurring during flowering promotes disease. Constantly damp and hot conditions also harm saffron yields,^[10] as do the digging actions of rabbits, rats, and birds.^[54]

Saffron crocuses bloom in a garden in Osaka Prefecture (大阪府), which is in the Kansai region of central Honshu Island, Japan.

Planting is best done in fields that slope towards the south, maximizing the crocus' exposure to the sun. Saffron plants need strong direct sunlight and do not thrive as shade plants. In the Northern Hemisphere, planting is done in June. The corms are planted 7 to 15 centimeters beneath the surface of the soil. Harvest yield and quality are affected by the climate, planting depth, and corm spacing. Deeper-planted mother corms yield fewer flower buds and daughter corms, but produce higher-quality saffron. In the conditions found in Italy, planting the corms 15 cm beneath the surface produces optimal saffron threads, while a shallower planting of 8–10 cm yields the most flowers and daughter corms. In Italy, the corms are planted 2–3 cm apart. Optimal planting practices vary widely between Italy, Greece, Morocco, and Spain.^[10]

The crocuses grow best in friable, loose, low-density, well-watered and well-drained clay-calcareous soils with high organic content. Raised beds are traditionally used to promote good drainage. After a period of dormancy through summer, the corms send up their narrow leaves and begin to bud in autumn. Only in October (in the Northern Hemisphere) do the plants begin to flower. Harvesting of flowers is by necessity a speedy affair. Upon their blooming at dawn, the flowers quickly wilt under the noonday sun.^[11] In addition, all saffron crocus flowers bloom within a narrow window of one or two weeks.^[12]

Chemistry

Chemical composition of saffron
component	%
carbohydrates	12.0–15.0
water	9.0–14.0
polypeptides	11.0–13.0
cellulose	4.0–7.0
lipids	3.0–8.0
minerals	1.0–1.5
miscellaneous non-nitrogenous	40.0
Source: (Dharmananda 2005)

Saffron contains in excess of 150 volatile and aroma-yielding compounds. It also has many nonvolatile active constituents.^[13] Many of these are carotenoids, including zeaxanthin, lycopene, and various α– and β–carotenes.

Chemical structure of picrocrocin (IUPAC name: 4-(β-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-2,6,6-trimethyl-1-cyclohexene-1-carboxaldehyde).

However, saffron's golden yellow-orange color is primarily the result of α–crocin. This crocin is trans-crocetin di-(ß-D-gentiobiosyl) ester (systematic name: 8,8-diapo-8,8-carotenoic acid). This naming means that the crocin underlying saffron's aroma is a digentiobiose ester of the carotenoid crocetin.^[13] Crocins themselves are a series of hydrophilic carotenoids that are either monoglycosyl or diglycosyl polyene esters of crocetin.^[13] Meanwhile, crocetin is a conjugated polyene dicarboxylic acid that is hydrophobic and thus oil-soluble. When crocetin is esterified with two water-soluble gentiobioses (which are sugars), a product results that is itself water-soluble. The resultant α–crocin is a carotenoid pigment that may comprise more than 10% of dry saffron's mass. The two esterified gentiobioses make α–crocin ideal for coloring water-based (non-fatty) foods such as rice dishes.^[3]

The bitter glucoside picrocrocin is responsible for saffron's flavor. Picrocrocin is a union of an aldehyde sub-element known as safranal (systematic (IUPAC) name: 2,6,6-trimethylcyclohexa-1,3-dien-1-carboxaldehyde) and a carbohydrate. It has insecticidal and pesticidal properties, and may comprise up to 4% of dry saffron. Importantly, picrocrocin is a truncated version (produced via oxidative cleavage) of the carotenoid zeaxanthin and is the glycoside of the terpene aldehyde safranal. The reddish-colored^[14] zeaxanthin is, incidentally, one of the carotenoids naturally present within the retina of the human eye.

Proximate analysis of dry saffron
component	% of mass
Water-soluble components	53.0
* Gums	10.0
* Pentosans	8.0
* Pectins	6.0
* Starch	6.0
* α–crocin	2.0
* Other carotenoids	1.0
Lipids	12.0
* Non-volatile oils (do not contribute to aroma)	6.0
* Volatile oils (aroma-yielding)	1.0
Protein	12.0
Inorganic matter ("ash")	6.0
* HCl-soluble ash	0.5
Water	10.0
Fiber (crude)	5.0
Source: (Goyns 1999, p. 46)

Chemical structure of safranal (IUPAC name: 2,6,6-trimethylcyclohexa-1,3-diene-1-carboxaldehyde).

When saffron is dried after its harvest, the heat combined with enzymatic action splits picrocrocin to yield a carbohydrate and a free safranal molecule. Safranal, a volatile oil, gives saffron much of its distinctive aroma.^[4][15] Safranal is less bitter than picrocrocin and may comprise up to 70% of dry saffron's volatile fraction in some samples.^[14] A second element underlying saffron's aroma is 2-hydroxy-4,4,6-trimethyl-2,5-cyclohexadien-1-one, whose scent has been described as "saffron, dried hay like".^[49] Despite being present in a lesser quantity than safranal, chemists found it to be the most powerful contributor to saffron's fragrance.^[49] The glycoside crocin is water-soluble, and so it does not as readily contribute its yellow coloring to oily substances — it thus is ideal for coloring water-based foods such as rice. Dry saffron is highly sensitive to fluctuating pH levels and rapidly breaks down chemically in the presence of light and oxidizing agents. It therefore must be stored away in air-tight containers in order to minimize contact with atmospheric oxygen. Saffron is somewhat more resistant to heat, however.

History

Two saffron crocus flowers in Osaka Prefecture, Japan.

The history of saffron cultivation reaches back more than 3,000 years.^[7] Domesticated saffron crocus' wild precursor was Crocus cartwrightianus. Human cultivators bred wild specimens by selecting for unusually long stigmata. Thus, a mutant form of C. cartwrightianus, C. sativus, emerged in late Bronze Age Crete.^[16] Experts believe saffron was first documented in a 7th century BCE Assyrian botanical reference compiled under Ashurbanipal. Since then, documentation of saffron's use over the span of 4,000 years in the treatment of some 90 illnesses has been uncovered.^[50] Saffron has been used as a spice and medicine in the Mediterranean region since then, with usage and cultivation slowly spreading to other parts of Eurasia as well as parts of Northern Africa. Only in the last several decades has saffron cultivation spread to North America and Oceania.

Classical Greco–Roman

In the Greco–Roman classical period, the saffron harvest is first portrayed in the palace frescoes of Minoan Crete, which depict the flowers being picked by young girls and monkeys. One of these fresco sites is located in the "Xeste 3" building at Akrotiri, on the Greek island of Thera. The "Xeste 3" frescoes that have been dated from 1500–1600 BCE.^[50] Various other dates have been given, such as 3000–1100 BCE^[51] and the 17th century BCE.^[66] They portray a Greek goddess supervising the plucking of blooms and the picking of stigmata for use in the manufacture of a therapeutic drug.^[51] A fresco from the same site also depicts a woman who uses saffron to treat a bleeding foot.^[50] These Theran frescoes are the first botanically accurate pictorial representations of saffron's use as an herbal remedy.^[51]

Ancient Greek legends told of brazen sailors embarking on long and perilous voyages to the remote land of Cilicia. There, they hoped to procure what they believed was the world’s most valuable saffron.^[9] The best-known Greek legend involving saffron was that detailing the tragedy of Crocus and Smilax: The handsome youth Crocus sets out on a pursuit of the nymph Smilax in the woods near Athens. They enjoy a brief period of idyllic love in which she is initially flattered by the amorous advances. Soon, however, Smilax tires of Crocus. After he continues to pursue her against her wishes, she resorts to bewitching him. He is thus transformed into a saffron crocus flower, with its radiant orange stigmata remaining as a faint symbol of Crocus’s continuing passion for Smilax.^[23] The tragedy and the spice would be recalled later by Ovid:^[17]

Crocus and Smilax may be turn’d to flow’rs, And the Curetes spring from bounteous show’rs I pass a hundred legends stale, as these, And with sweet novelty your taste to please — Ovid, Metamorphoses.[17]

According to recent research based on Minoan frescoes on the island of Santorini in the Aegean, saffron may have been used as a medicine in the 15th century BCE. For the Greeks, it was also tied to professional courtesans and retainers known as the hetaerae. In Egypt, Cleopatra used a quarter-cup of saffron in her warm baths due to its coloring and cosmetic properties. She used it before encounters with men in belief that the saffron would make lovemaking more pleasurable.^[18]

File:Crocus sativus saffron Anna Tatti stockxchng.jpg

Saffron blossoms in Italy.

Saffron in Greco–Roman times was widely traded across the Mediterranean by the Phoenicians. Their customers ranged from perfumers in Rosetta, Egypt to physicians in Gaza to townsfolk in Rhodes who wore pouches of saffron in order to mask the presence of malodorous fellow citizens during outings to the theater.^[19] In addition, large dye works operating in Sidon and Tyre used saffron baths as a substitute. There, royal robes were triple-dipped in deep purple dyes; for the robes of royal pretenders and commoners, the last two dips were replaced with a saffron dip instead, which gave a less intense purple hue.^[20]

The ancient Greeks and Romans also prized saffron for its use as a perfume and deodorizer. They scattered about public spaces such as royal halls, courts, and amphitheaters. Upon Emperor Nero's entrance into Rome, they even spread it along the streets. Indeed, wealthy Romans made daily use of saffron baths. They also used saffron as mascara, stirred saffron threads into their wines, used it in their halls and streets as a potpourri, and offered it to their deities. Roman colonists took their saffron with them when they settled in southern Gaul, where it was extensively cultivated until the 271 CE. barbarian invasion of Italy. Competing theories state that saffron only returned to France with 8th century CE. Moors or with the Avignon papacy in the 14th century.^[21]

Middle Eastern

Saffron-based pigments have been found in the prehistoric paints used to depict beasts in 50,000 year-old cave art in what is today Iraq.^[23][70] Later, the Sumerians used saffron as an ingredient in their remedies and magical potions. However, Sumerians did not actively cultivate saffron. They instead chose to gather their stores from wild blooms only, because they felt that only divine intervention would enable saffron’s medicinal properties.^[22] Such evidence indeed provides evidence that saffron was an article of long-distance trade before Crete's Minoan palace culture reached a peak in the 2nd millennium BC. Saffron was also honored as a sweet-smelling spice over three millennia ago in the Hebrew Tanakh:^[71]

Your lips drop sweetness like honeycomb, my bride, syrup and milk are under your tongue, and your dress had the scent of Lebanon. Your cheeks are an orchard of pomegranates, an orchard full of rare fruits, spikenard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon. — Song of Solomon.[71]

In ancient Persia, saffron (Crocus sativus variant hausknechtii) was cultivated at Derbena and Isfahan in the 10th century BCE. There, Persian saffron threads have been found interwoven into ancient Persian royal carpets and funeral shrouds.^[23] Saffron was used by ancient Persian worshipers as a ritual offering to deities. It was also used as a brilliant yellow dye, a perfume, and a medicine. Thus, saffron threads would be scattered across beds and mixed into hot teas as a curative for bouts of melancholy. Saffron was also dissolved along with sandalwood into water for use as a body wash for use after heavy work and perspiration under the hot Persian sun.^[24] Persian saffron was used heavily by Alexander the Great and his forces during their Asian campaigns. There, they mixed saffron into their teas and dined on saffron rice. Alexander himself used saffron sprinkled in warm water as a bath. He hoped that it would heal his many wounds, and his faith in saffron grew with each treatment. Indeed, he recommended saffron baths for the ordinary men under him. The Greek soldiers, taken with saffron’s perceived curative properties, indeed continued the practice after they returned to Macedonia.^[25]

Post-Classical European

File:Crocus sativus saffron pollenation Anna Tatti stockxchng.jpg

Saffron crocus flowers being pollinated by a bee.

Saffron cultivation in Europe declined steeply following the fall of the Roman Empire. For several centuries thereafter, saffron cultivation was rare or nonexistent throughout Europe. This was reversed when Moorish civilization spread from North Africa to settle most of Spain as well as parts of France and Southern Italy. One theory states that Moors reintroduced saffron corms to the region around Poitiers after they lost the famous battle there to Charles Martel in 732 CE.^[26] Two centuries after their conquest of Spain, Moors would plant saffron througout the southern provinces of Andalucia, Castille, La Mancha, and Valencia.^[26]

When the Black Death ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1350, demand for and cultivation of saffron skyrocketed. It was coveted by plague victims for its medicinal properties, even though many European farmers capable of growing it died off. Large quantities of saffron imports thus came from non-European lands.^[27] Yet, the finest saffron threads from Muslim lands were unavailable to Europeans due to hostilities begining with the Crusades. Thus imports from places such as Rhodes supplied Central and Northern Europe. Saffron was one of the contested points of hostility that flared between the declining nobleman classes and increasingly wealthy merchants. For example, the fourteen-week long "Saffron War" was ignited when an 800 pound shipment of saffron was hijacked and stolen by noblemen.^[27] The saffron load, which had been destined for the town of Basel, would at today's market prices be valued at more than US$500,000^[28] That shipment was eventually returned, but the saffron trade in the 13th century remained the subject of mass theft and piracy. Indeed, pirates plying Mediterranean waters would often ignore gold stores and instead steal Venician- and Genoan-marketed saffron bound for Europe. The ordinary people of Basel, wary of such future piracy, thus planted their own corms. After several years of large and lucrative saffron harvests, Basel grew extremely prosperous compared to comparable European towns. Basel attempted to protect its status by outlawing the transportation of corms outside the town's borders; guards were posted to prevent thieves from picking flowers or digging up corms. Nevertheless, after ten years the saffron crop failed, and Basel abandoned cultivation.^[29]

The center of Central European saffron trade then moved to Nuremberg, while the merchants of Venice continued their dominance of the Mediterranean sea trade. There, saffron varieties from Austria, Crete, France, Greece, Ottoman Empire, Sicily, and Spain were sold. Also sold were many adulterated samples, including those soaked in honey, mixed with marigold petals, or kept in damp cellars in order to increase the saffron threads' weight. This prompted Nuremburg authorities to pass the so-called Safranschou code which sought to regulate saffron trading.^[30] Saffron adulterers were thereafter fined, imprisoned, and executed via immolation.^[31] Soon after, England emerged as a major European saffron producer. Saffron, according to one theory^[32] spread to the coastal regions of eastern England in the 14th century during the reign of Edward III. In subsequent years, saffron was fleetingly cultivated throughout England. Norfolk and Suffolk were especially heavily planted with corms. However, long-term saffron cultivation saffron only survived in the light, well-drained, and chalk-based soils of the Essex countryside. Indeed, the Essex town of Saffron Walden got its name as a saffron trading center. Yet as England transitioned out of the Middle Ages, rising puritanical sentiments and new conquests abroad endangered English saffron's usage and cultivation. Puritanical advocates favored more austere, simple, and un-spiced foods. In addition, an influx of additional spices from Eastern lands due to the growing spice trade meant that the English, as well as other Europeans, had more seasonings to choose from.^[33]

This trend was documented by Reverend William Herbert, who was the Dean of Manchester, England. He collected samples and compiled information on many aspects of the saffron crocus.^[60] He was concerned about the steady decline in saffron cultivation over the 17th century and the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. This was due to the introduction in Europe of such easily grown crops as maize and potatoes, which steadily took over lands formerly dedicated to saffron corms.^[61] In addition, the elite who traditionally comprised the bulk of the saffron market were now growing increasingly interested in such exotic and new arrivals as chocolate, coffee, tea, and vanilla. Indeed, only in the south of France, Italy, and Spain — where saffron had been deeply incorporated into the local cultures — did significant cultivation remain.^[61]

Asian

File:Crocus sativus saffron blossoms Anna Tatti stockxchng.jpg

Crocus sativus blossoms.

According to legend, saffron first came to Kashmir in either the 11th century or 12th century when two itinerant Sufi ascetics — Khwaja Masood Wali and Hazrat Sheikh Shariffudin — beseeched a cure for illness from a local tribal chieftain. When the chieftain obliged, the two holy men reputedly gave them a saffron crocus bulb as payment and thanks. To this day, grateful prayers are offered during the saffron harvesting season in late autumn to the two saints. The saints indeed have golden-domed shrine and tomb dedicated to them in the saffron-trading village of Pampore, India. However, the Kashmiri poet and scholar Mohammed Yusuf Teng states that Kashmiris had cultivated saffron for more than two millennia. Indeed, such ancient indigenous cultivation is alluded to in Kashmiri Tantric Hindu epics of that time.^[34]

Nevertheless, historical accounts from Persia give a still different account. The Persian documents suggest to experts that saffron, among other spices, was first spread to India via Persian rulers' efforts to stock their newly-built gardens and parks. They accomplished this by transplanting the desired cultivars across the Persian empire.^[57] Ancient Chinese Buddhist accounts from the Mula–sarvastivadin^[65] monastic order (or vinaya) present a fourth telling of saffron's arrival in India. According to legend, an arhat Indian Buddhist missionary by the name of Madhyântika (or Majjhantika) was sent to Kashmir in the 5th century BCE. When he got there, he reportedly sowed Kashmir's first saffron crop.^[64] From there, saffron use spread throughout the Indian subcontinent. In addition to use in foods, saffron stigmata were also soaked in water to yield a golden-yellow solution that was used as a fabric dye. Such was the love of the resulting fabric that, immediately after the Buddha Siddhartha Guatama's death, his attendant monks decreed saffron as the official color for Buddhist robes and mantles.^[35]

Some historians believe that saffron first came to China with Mongol invaders by way of Persia. Yet saffron is mentioned in ancient Chinese medical texts, including the vast Pun Tsao ("Great Herbal") pharmacopoeia (pp. 1552–78) — a tome dating from around 1600 BC (and attributed to Emperor Shen-Ung) which documents thousands of phytochemical-based medical treatments for various disorders.^[35] Yet around the 3rd century CE. the Chinese were referring to saffron as having a Kashmiri provenance. For example, Wan Zhen, a Chinese medical expert, reported that "[t]he habitat of saffron is in Kashmir, where people grow it principally to offer it to the Buddha." Wan also reflected on how saffron was used in his time: "The [saffron crocus] flower withers after a few days, and then the saffron is obtained. It is valued for its uniform yellow color. It can be used to aromatize wine."^[64]

In modern times, saffron cultivation has spread to Afghanistan due to the efforts of the European Union and the United Kingdom. Together, they promote saffron cultivation among impoverished and cash-strapped Afghan farmers as an ideal alternative to illicit and lucrative opium production. They stress Afghanistan's sunny and semiarid climate as ideal for saffron crocus growth.

Usage

Whole saffron threads (stigmata).

Culinary

Saffron is used in many Arabic, Iranian, Central Asian, European and Indian dishes. Saffron contributes a distinctive aroma that has been described by connoisseurs as reminiscent of metallic honey. Meanwhile, its taste has been noted as hay-like and somewhat bitter. It also contributes a luminous yellow-orange coloring to foods. For these traits, saffron is used in baked goods, cheeses, confectionaries, curries, liquors, meat dishes, and soups. Saffron is used in Spanish and Indian foods as a condiment for rice (giving "saffron rice"). In the cuisine of Spain, it is used in many famous dishes such as the paella valencians, which is a spicy rice–meat dish, and the zarvela fish stews.^[56] It is also used in fabada asturiana. Elsewhere, saffron is needed in the French bouillabaisse, which is a spicy fish stew from Marseilles, and the Italian risotto alla milanese. Indian cuisine uses saffron in its biryanis, which are spicy rice-vegetable dishes. An example is the Pakki variety of Hyderabadi biryani. It is also used in Indian milk-based sweets.^[3] Because of its high cost, dishes traditionally made with saffron often use more economical substitutes such as safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) or turmeric (Curcuma longa). Both mimic saffron's color well, but have very different flavors. Turmeric and safflower are also used to dilute saffron. Saffron is also used in the confectionary and liquor industries; this is its most common use in Italy.^[36]

Experienced saffron users often crumble and pre-soak threads for several minutes prior to adding it to their dishes. For example, they may toss threads into water or sherry and leave them to soak for approximately ten minutes. This is necessary for the extraction of saffron threads' color and flavor into the liquid phase, although powdered saffron does not require this step.^[59] Afterward, the soaking solution is added to the cooking dish. Such a step, which allows even distribution of saffron's color and flavor throughout a dish, is particularly important when preparing baked goods or thick sauces.^[56]

Medicinal

Saffron's traditional folkloric uses as an herbal medicine are legion. It has been used for its carminative and emmenagogic properties, for example.^[37] Saffron was also used against diseases such as respiratory infections such as coughs and common colds, scarlet fever, smallpox, and cancer. It was also used to treat respiratory problems related to hypoxia and asthma. Other disorders that saffron was reputed to counter were blood disorders, insomnia, paralysis, heart diseases, flatulence, stomach upsets and disorders, gout, chronic uterine hemorrhage, dysmorrhea, amenorrhea (absence of menstrual period), baby colic, and eye disorders.^[53] Saffron was also an aphrodisiac, a general-use antidote against poisoning, a digestive stimulant, and a tonic for dysentery and measles. Saffron's yellowish hue was also taken as a sign by those who subscribed to the archaic "Doctrine of Signatures" as a cure for jaundice.^[68]

Saffron's carotenoids have been shown in scientific studies to have anticarcinogenic (cancer-suppressing),^[13] anti-mutagenic (mutation-preventing), and immuno-modulating properties. The active ingredient behind these effects has been identified as dimethyl-crocetin. This compound counters a wide spectrum of both murine (rodent) tumors as well as human leukemia cancer cell lines. Saffron extract also delays ascites tumor growth, delays papilloma carcinogenesis, inhibited squamous cell carcinoma, and decreases the incidence of soft tissue sarcoma in treated mice. Researchers theorize that such anticancer activity can be best attributed to dimethyl-crocetin's disruption of the DNA binding ability of proteins, as shown in Thymidine-uptake studies. Specifically, the DNA-binding ability of enzymes known as type II topoisomerases within cancer cells is inhibited.^[38] Thus, the malignant cells are unable to synthesize or replicate their own DNA.

Saffron's resultant pharmacological effects on malignancies have been well documented in studies done both in vitro and in vivo. For example, saffron extends the lives of mice that are intraperitoneally impregnated with transplanted sarcomas, namely samples of S-180, Dalton's lymphoma ascites (DLA), and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) tumors. Researchers followed this by orally administering 200 mgs of saffron extract per each kg of mouse body weight. As a result, the life spans of the tumor-bearing mice were extended to 111.0%, 83.5%, and 112.5% respectively in relation to baseline spans. Researchers also discovered that saffron extract exhibits cytotoxicity in relation to DLA, EAC, P38B, and S-180 tumor cell lines cultured in vitro. Thus, saffron has shown promise as a new and alternative treatment for a variety of cancers.^[69]

Besides wound-healing and anti-cancer properties, saffron is also an antioxidant. This means that, as an "anti-aging" agent, it neutralizes free radicals. Specifically, methanol extractions of saffron neutralize at high rates the DPPH (IUPAC nomenclature: 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radicals. This occurred via vigorous proton donation to DPPH by two of saffron's active agents — safranal and crocin. Thus, at concentrations of 500 and 1000 ppm crocin studies showed neutralization of 50% and 65% of radicals, respectively. Safranal displayed a lesser rate of radical neutralization than crocin, however. Such properties give saffron extracts promise as an ingredient for use as an antioxidant in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and as a food supplement.^[39] Ingested at high enough doses, however, saffron is lethal. Several studies done on lab animals have shown that saffron's LD₅₀ — semilethal dose, or the dose at which 50% of test animals die from overdose — is 20.7 g/kg when delivered via a decoction.^[13][52]

Dyeing and perfumery

Despite its high cost, saffron has also been used as a fabric dye, particularly in China and India. Nevertheless, it is an unstable coloring agent — the initially vibrant orange-yellow that it imparts on clothes quickly fades to a pale and creamy yellow.^[58] The saffron stigmata, even when used in minute quantities, produce a luminous yellow-orange color. Increasing the amount of saffron applied will turn the fabric's imparted color an increasingly rich shade of red. Traditionally, the noble classes were the exclusive users of saffron-dyed clothes. Saffron was thus accorded a ritualized and caste-representative significance. Saffron dye also has been responsible for the saffron, vermilion, and ochre hues of the distinctive mantles and robes worn by Hindu and Buddhist monks.

There have been many attempts to substitute a cheaper dye for the costly saffron. But turmeric and most other spices similar to saffron do not produce such colors. They yield instead a bright yellowish hue. Nevertheless, saffron dye's main constituent, the flavonoid crocin, has been discovered in the gardenia fruit. Because gardenia is much less expensive to cultivate than saffron, it is currently being researched in China as a more economical source for saffron-like dyes.^[15]

Saffron has also been used for its aromatic properties alone. In Europe, for instance, saffron threads were processed and combined with such ingredients as alkanet, dragon's blood (for color), and wine (for color) to produce an aromatic oil known then as crocinum. Crocinum was then applied as a perfume to hair. Another preparation involved the mixing of saffron with wine to produce a viscous yellow spray that was copiously applied to freshen the air of Roman theaters.^[67]

Modern trade

File:Crocus sativus saffron flowers Anna Tatti stockxchng.jpg

Saffron crocus flowers after their harvesting.

The vast majority of saffron is produced in a wide geographical belt extending from the Mediterranean in the west to Kashmir in the east. Small amounts are produced outside of this zone on all continents except Antarctica. Annually, some 300 tons of saffron spice — both the whole stigmata and in powdered form — are produced worldwide.^[6] This is compared to the 50 tons of top-grade "coupe" saffron produced annually in 1991.^[40] Iran, Spain, India, Greece, Azerbaijan, Morocco, and Italy (in decreasing order of production) are the major producers of saffron. Iran and Spain alone are responsible for more than 80% of the world's saffron harvest. Despite numerous efforts to cultivate saffron in such countries as Austria, England, Germany, and Switzerland, only a few select locales continue the harvest in Northern Europe. Among these is the small Swiss village of Mund, in the Wallis canton, whose annual saffron output comes to several kilograms.^[6] Micro-scale cultivation also occurs in Australia (in Tasmania), China, Egypt, France, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Turkey, the United States (especially in California and disproportionately by Iranian Americans) and Central Africa.^[2][13]

The high cost of saffron is due to the difficulty of manually extracting large numbers of minute stigmata — the only part of the crocus with the desired properties of aroma and flavor. In addition, a large number of flowers need to be processed in order to yield marketable amounts of saffron. A pound of dry saffron (0.45 kg) requires the harvesting of some 50,000 flowers, the equivalent of a football field's area of cultivation.^[41] By another estimate, some 75,000 blooms are needed to produce one pound of dry saffron.^[42] This too depends on the average size of each saffron cultivar's stigmata. Another complication arises in the flowers' simultaneous and transient blooming. Since some 150,000 crocus flowers are needed to produce just one kg of dry saffron — some forty hours of intense labor — harvesting is often a frenetic affair. In Kashmir, for example, the thousands of growers must work continuously in relays over the span of one or two weeks — throughout both day and night.^[43]

After they are extracted, the stigmata must be quickly dried, lest decomposition or mold ruin the batch's marketability. The traditional method of drying involves spreading the fresh stigmata over screens of fine mesh, which are then baked over hot coals or wood or in oven-heated rooms with temperatures reaching 30-35°C for 10–12 hours. Afterwards, the dried spice is preferably sealed in airtight glass containers.^[44] Bulk quantities of relatively lower-grade saffron can reach upwards of US$500/pound, while retail costs for small amounts may exceed 10 times that rate. The high price is somewhat offset by the small quantities needed: a few grams at most in medicinal use and a few strands per person in culinary applications; there are between 70,000 and 200,000 strands in a pound.

Experienced saffron buyers often have rules of thumb when deliberating on their purchases. For example, they may look for threads exhibiting a vivid crimson coloring. They also reject threads that display the telltale dull brick red coloring that comes with age. They also seek a slight moistness and elasticity while looking for broken-off debris collected at the container’s bottom. Such debris indicates the dryness of age has caused the saffron threads to break apart. Such traits of age are more likely to be encountered around the main June harvest season, when retailers try to clear out the previous season’s old inventory to make room for the new crop. Indeed, experienced buyers recommend that only the current season’s threads should be used at all. Thus, reputable saffron wholesalers and retailers will indicate the year of harvest or the two years that bracket the harvest date — a late 2002 harvest would be shown as “2002/2003”.^[45]

Varieties

Several saffron cultivars are grown worldwide. Spain, a major saffron exporter, generally produces mellow varieties with less intense color, flavor, and aroma. Spanish varieties include the "Spanish Superior" and "Creme" tradenames, and are graded via government-imposed minimum standards. Most Italian saffron is more potent in these characteristics. However, the world's most intense and valuable varieties disproportionately have Macedonian Greek, Iranian, and Kashmiri Indian pedigrees. Westerners may face significant obstacles in obtaining saffron from these countries. For example, the United States has banned the import of Iranian saffron and India has banned the export of high-grade saffron abroad. Aside from these, various "boutique" crops are available from places such as New Zealand, France, Switzerland, England, and the United States. In the U.S., for example, Pennsylvania Dutch saffron is available in relatively small quantities.^[46]

There are a handful of what are generally considered by consumers to be "premium" saffron types. For example, "Aquila" saffron (Italian: zafferano del L'Aquila) is cultivated in the Abruzzo region of Italy's Navelli Valley. There, saffron is grown on some eight hectares of land. At present, this is its exclusive domain worldwide. It is distinguished by the shape and color of its stigmata and styles as well as its high safranal content. These give "Aquila" saffron an unusually pungent aroma. In addition, high crocin content results in exceptional coloring ability. "Aquila" was first introduced to Italy from Inquisition-era Spain by a Dominican monk. Thereafter, for the duration of the Middle Ages, Aquila became Europe's most sought-after varieties. Another premium saffron is the Kashmiri "Mongra" or "Lacha" saffron (Crocus sativus variant cashmirianus), which is among the most difficult and expensive for non-Indian consumers to obtain. This is due to repeated droughts, blights, and crop failures in Kashmir, combined with an Indian export ban. Kashmiri saffron is recognizable by its extremely dark maroon-purple hue—among the world's darkest, which suggests the saffron's strong flavour, aroma, and colorative effect.

Grading

Minimum saffron color grading standards (ISO 3632)
ISO Grade	Crocine-specific absorbance ($A_{\lambda }$) score (at 440 nm)
Category I	> 190
Category II	150–190
Category III	110–150
Category IV	80–110
Source: (Tarvand 2005b)

Saffron types are graded by quality according to laboratory measurements of such characteristics as crocin (color), picrocrocin (taste), and safranal (fragrance) content. Other metrics include floral waste content (i.e. the saffron spice sample's non-stigma floral content) and measurements of other extraneous matter such as inorganic material (“ash”). A uniform set of international standards in saffron grading was established by the International Standards Organization, which is an international federation of national standards bodies. Namely, ISO 3632 deals exclusively with saffron. It establishes four empirical grades of color intensity: IV (poorest), III, II, and I (finest quality). These are determined by finding the spice's crocin content. This is determined by finding the saffron’s spectroscopic absorbance ($A_{\lambda }=-\log(I/I_{0})$ — with $A_{\lambda }$ as absorbance). Absorbance is a measure of a given substance's transparency ($I/I_{0}$ — ratio of light intensity passing through sample to that of the incident light) to a given wavelength of light.

For saffron, absorbance is determined for the crocin-specific photon wavelength of 440 nm in a given dry sample of spice.^[47] Higher absorbances at this wavelength imply greater crocin concentration, and thus a greater colorative intensity. These data are measured through photospectroscopy reports at certified testing laboratories worldwide. These color grades proceed from grades with absorbances lower than 80 (for all category IV saffron) up to 190 or greater (for category I). The world's very finest samples (the selected most red-maroon tips of stigmata picked from the finest flowers) receive absorbance scores in excess of 250. Market prices for saffron types follow directly from these ISO scores.^[47] However, many growers, traders, and consumers reject such lab test numbers. They prefer a more holistic method of sampling batches of thread for taste, aroma, pliability, and other traits in a fashion similar to that practiced by veteran wine-tasters.^[45]

Spanish federal saffron grading standards
Grade	ISO score
Coupe	> 190
La Mancha	180–190
Rio	150–180
Standard	145–150
Sierra	< 110
Source: (Tarvand 2005b)

However, despite these attempts at quality control and standardization, a rich history of saffron adulteration continues into the present. Saffron adulteration was first documented in Europe's Middle Ages, when those found guilty of selling adulterated saffron were executed under the Safranschou code.^[30][31] Traditional methods include mixing in extraneous substances — examples included beet, pomegranate fibers, red-dyed silk fibers, or tasteless and odorless stamens — with the saffron threads or powder in order to increase its mass. Fraudulent practices also included the dousing of genuine saffron fibers with viscid substances such as honey or vegetable oil. Powdered saffron is far more susceptible to adulteration, however. Turmeric, paprika, and other substances were and still are often combined with saffron powder. Cheaper grades and samples of saffron are more likely to be adulterated. In addition, adulteration can arise from the illegal mixing of relatively inexpensive (lower) saffron grades with premium categories.^[35] Thus, in India, rich and premium Kashmiri saffron is often sold mixed with cheaper and lower quality Iranian imports. These mixes are then marketed as pure Kashmiri saffron — a development that has cost Kashmiri growers much of their income.^[48][55]

Notes

Commons

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Saffron

1. ^a (Rau 1969, p. 53).
2. ^{a b c} (Hill 2004, p. 272).
3. ^{a b c} (Mcgee 2004, p. 422).
4. ^{a b} (Mcgee 2004, p. 423).
5. ^a (Harper 2001).
6. ^{a b c d} (Katzer 2001).
7. ^{a b c d e} (Deo 2003, p. 1).
8. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 3).
9. ^{a b} (Willard 2001, pp. 2–3).
10. ^{a b} (Deo 2003, p. 2).
11. ^a (Willard 2001, pp. 3–4).
12. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 4).
13. ^{a b c d e f} (Abdullaev 2002, p. 1).
14. ^{a b} (Leffingwell 2001, p. 1).
15. ^{a b} (Dharmananda 2005).
16. ^a (Goyns 1999, p. 1).
17. ^{a b} (Willard 2001, p. 1).
18. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 55).
19. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 58).
20. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 59).
21. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 63).
22. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 12).
23. ^{a b c} (Willard 2001, p. 2).
24. ^a (Willard 2001, pp. 17–18).
25. ^a (Willard 2001, pp. 54–55).
26. ^{a b} (Willard 2001, p. 70).
27. ^{a b} (Willard 2001, p. 99).
28. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 100).
29. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 101).
30. ^{a b} (Willard 2001, pp. 102–103).
31. ^{a b} (Willard 2001, pp. 103–104).
32. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 110).
33. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 117).
34. ^a (Lak 1998b).
35. ^{a b c} (Tarvand 2005).
36. ^a (Goyns 1999, p. 59).
37. ^a (Park 2005).
38. ^a (Hasegawa, Kurumboor & Nair 1995).
39. ^a (Assimopoulou 2005).
40. ^a (Goyns 1999, p. 2).
41. ^a (Hill 2004, p. 273).
42. ^a (Rau 1969, p. 35).
43. ^a (Lak 1998).
44. ^a (Goyns 1999, p. 8).
45. ^{a b} (Hill 2004, p. 274).
46. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 201).
47. ^{a b} (Tarvand 2005b).
48. ^a (ABC 2003).
49. ^{a b} (Leffingwell 2001, p. 3).
50. ^{a b c} (Honan 2004).
51. ^{a b c} (Ferrence 2004).
52. ^a (Chang, Kuo & Wang 1964).
53. ^a (Abdullaev 2002, p. 2).
54. ^a (Deo 2003, p. 3).
55. ^a (Hussain 2005).
56. ^{a b} (Hill 2004, p. 275).
57. ^a (Dalby 2003, p. 256).
58. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 205).
59. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 203).
60. ^a (Willard 2001, p. 132).
61. ^{a b} (Willard 2001, p. 133).
62. ^a (DPIWE 2005).
63. ^a (Grigg 1974, p. 287).
64. ^{a b} (Dalby 2002, p. 95).
65. ^a (Fotedar & 1998-1999, p. 128).
66. ^a (Dalby 2002, p. 124).
67. ^a (Dalby 2002, p. 138).
68. ^a (Darling Biomedical Library 2002).
69. ^a (Nair, Pannikar & Panikkar 1991, p. 1).
70. ^a (Humphries 1998, p. 20).
71. ^{a b} (Humphries 1998, p. 19).

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External links

• "Saffron (Crocus sativus)". Encyclopedia of Herbs. December 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
• "Recipe Search Results: Saffron". Epicurious. December 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
• "Saffron". Flora Health (Flora Manufacturing & Distributing). December 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
• "Saffron". Gourmet Sleuth. December 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
• "Unlocking the Secrets of Medieval Painters and Illuminators". Lapis and Gold. December 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
• "Learn More About Kashmiri Saffron". Saffron Specialist. December 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
• "Saffron A-Z". Saffron Specialist. December 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)