What is Saffron? Saffron comes from the Crocus sativus flower is the most expensive spice in the world and it has several health benefits.

Saffron:

Saffron is an exotic spice that is processed from the blossom of Crocus sativus, also popularly known as “saffron crocus” in lay terms. It qualifies as the most expensive spice as the saffron price per kilo is higher than that of any other spice on earth. It is often packaged and sold in packages of 2 gm or more. A tiny quantity of saffron is sufficient to colour or flavour food as it has a compelling, earthy, flavour adds that distinct yellowish-orange colour to various food preparations. The plant grows up to 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) in height, and each plant bears just 4 flowers, each one bearing three stigmata in bright crimson colour.

These stigmata, known as saffron threads, are carefully hand-plucked and dried to be sold as one of the most sought after colouring and seasoning agents in the world. This exotic spice purported to carry amazing health benefits, is native to Southwest Asia and was first discovered and cultivated extensively in Greece. Slowly, it traversed all over Eurasia before being introduced in parts of the Americas, North Africa and Oceania. The chemicals picrocrocin and safranal are responsible for the distinct aroma of saffron , and it owes the distinct orange-gold hue to the carotenoid pigment crocin. No wonder that all it takes is a couple of threads of saffron to colour and flavour an elaborate dish.

History of saffron:

Historically, the health benefits of saffron have been clearly recorded in detail by Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian king who lived in the 7th century, and wrote a botanical treatise highlighting the qualities of saffron. This commodity has been traded extensively over four thousand years, and today Iran accounts for almost 90% of the world’s saffron production and sales. The name saffron may have originated from the French term safran, which in turn is derived from the Latin term safranum. Another school of thought propounds the belief that saffron originated from the Arabic az-za’faran, though safranum is derived from the Persian term za’faran.

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How to choose Saffron:

Given that saffron is the most expensive spice, great care has to be taken in choosing genuine organic saffron, which is also known as “red gold” due to its distinct colour and frightfully high price, and that is why fake saffron is often palmed off as the genuine one.

ISO 3632 Certification:

According to the bureau of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) saffron needs to meet ISO 3632 certification to be declared pure, which also indicates there has been no adulteration.

When shopping for saffron, look for deep red colour threads. High quality saffron threads will appear dark red in colour.

Corn husk is a favourite with adulterers as its resemblance is closest to saffron. All that needs to be done is to colour the corn strands suitably to palm it off as genuine saffron after adding a bit of artificial flavour. Genuine saffron can be easily identified by the distinct aroma of saffron, apart from the colour. Moreover, genuine saffron is never sweet to taste, hence the best test would be to put a small bit in your mouth and if it is the least bit sweet, it certainly is fake. Moreover, the natural colour of saffron does not wash off in water when soaked. If artificial colour has been added it will bleed when soaked in water.

Simple tip for choosing saffron:

When shopping for saffron, look for deep red colour threads. High quality saffron threads will appear dark red in colour.

Another indicator is the price. Nowhere can you find saffron at dirt cheap prices, and if any tout is offering you saffron at half the price, claiming that he or she has a secret source, be sure that someone has indulged in adulteration of saffron. Some people try to cheat in the weight of genuine saffron. They do not dry the saffron properly, and leave it in the shade for drying, so that a lot of moisture is retained. As saffron is sold by weight, you can end up paying more for moist saffron, which will ultimately lose weight when stored. A stigma of genuine saffron cannot weigh more than 2 mg, and it takes 250,000 saffron flowers to weigh a kg.

To know more about saffron, check our Info about Saffron blog.