Saffron

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For other uses, see Saffron (disambiguation).

{{Taxobox

| color              = lightgreen
| name               =         Saffron crocus
| image              = Saffran crocus sativus moist.jpg
| image_width        = 200px
| image_caption      = A saffron crocus flower with red stigmas.
| regnum             = Plantae
| divisio            = Magnoliophyta
| classis            = Liliopsida
| ordo               = Asparagales
| familia            = Iridaceae
| genus              = Crocus
| species            = C. sativus
| binomial           = Crocus sativus
| binomial_authority = L.

}} Saffron (IPA: Template:IPA) is a spice derived from the flower of the saffron crocus (Crocus sativus), a species of crocus in the family Iridaceae. The flower has three stigmas, which are the distal ends of the plant's carpels. Together with its style, the stalk connecting the stigmas to the rest of the plant, these components are often dried and used in cooking as a seasoning and colouring agent. Saffron, which has for decades been the world's most expensive spice by weight,<ref name="Rau_53">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Hill_272">Template:Harv.</ref> is native to Southwest Asia.<ref name="Hill_272">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Grigg_287">Template:Harv.</ref> It was first cultivated in the vicinity of Greece.<ref name="McGee_422">Template:Harv.</ref>

Saffron is characterised by a bitter taste and an iodoform- or hay-like fragrance; these are caused by the chemicals picrocrocin and safranal.<ref name="McGee_423">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Katzer_2001">Template:Harv.</ref> It also contains a carotenoid dye, crocin, that gives food a rich golden-yellow hue. These traits make saffron a much-sought ingredient in many foods worldwide. Saffron also has medicinal applications.

The word saffron originated from the 12th-century Old French term safran, which derives from the Latin word safranum. Safranum is also related to the Italian zafferano and Spanish azafrán.<ref name="Harper_2001">Template:Harv.</ref> Safranum comes from the Arabic word asfar (أَصْفَر), which means "yellow," via the paronymous za‘faran (زَعْفَرَان), the name of the spice in Arabic.<ref name="Katzer_2001">Template:Harv.</ref>

Biology

The domesticated saffron crocus C. sativus is a fall-flowering perennial plant unknown in the wild, and is a sterile triploid mutant of the eastern Mediterranean fall-flowering Crocus cartwrightianus.<ref name="Deo_1">Template:Harv.</ref> According to botanical research, C. cartwrightianus originated in Crete, not—as was once generally believed—in Central Asia.<ref name="Katzer_2001">Template:Harv.</ref> The saffron crocus resulted when C. cartwrightianus was subjected to extensive artificial selection by growers who desired elongated stigmas. Being sterile, the saffron crocus's purple flowers fail to produce viable seeds—thus, reproduction is dependent on human assistance: the corms (underground bulb-like starch-storing organs) must be manually dug up, broken apart, and replanted. A corm survives for only one season, reproducing via division into up to ten "cormlets" that eventually give rise to new plants.<ref name="Deo_1">Template:Harv.</ref> The corms are small brown globules up to 4.5 cm in diameter and are shrouded in a dense mat of parallel fibers.

After a period of aestivation in summer, five to eleven narrow and nearly vertical green leaves—growing up to 40 cm in length—emerge from the ground. In autumn, purple buds appear. Only in October, after most other flowering plants have released their seeds, does it develop its brilliantly-hued flowers, ranging from a light pastel shade of lilac to a darker and more striated mauve.<ref name="Willard_3">Template:Harv.</ref> Upon flowering, it averages less than 30 cm in height.<ref name="DPIWE_2005">Template:Harv.</ref> Inside each flower is a three-pronged style; in turn, each prong terminates with a crimson stigma 25–30 mm in length.<ref name="Deo_1">Template:Harv.</ref>

Cultivation

Image:Crocus sativus saffron Anna Tatti stockxchng.jpg

The saffron crocus thrives in climates similar to that of the Mediterranean maquis or the North American chaparral, where hot, dry summer breezes blow across arid and semi-arid lands. Nevertheless, the plant can tolerate cold winters, surviving frosts as cold as −10°C and short periods of snow cover.<ref name="Willard_2-3">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Deo_1">Template:Harv.</ref> However, if not grown in wet environments like Kashmir (where rainfall averages 1000–1500 mm annually), irrigation is needed—this is true in the saffron-growing regions of Greece (500 mm of rainfall annually) and Spain (400 mm). Rainfall timing is also key: generous spring rains followed by relatively dry summers are optimal. In addition, rainfall occurring immediately prior to flowering also boosts saffron yields; nevertheless, rainy or cold weather occurring during flowering promotes disease, thereby reducing yields. Persistently damp and hot conditions also harm yields,<ref name="Deo_2">Template:Harv.</ref> as do the digging actions of rabbits, rats, and birds. Parasites such as nematodes, leaf rusts, and corm rot also pose significant threats.<ref name="Deo_3">Template:Harv.</ref>

Saffron plants—faring poorly in shady conditions—grow best in strong and direct sunlight. Thus, planting is best done in fields that slope towards the sunlight (i.e. south-sloping in the Northern Hemisphere), maximizing the crocuses' sun exposure. In the Northern Hemisphere, planting is mostly done in June, with corms planted some 7–15 cm deep. Planting depth and corm spacing—along with climate—are both critical factors impacting plant yields. Thus, mother corms planted more deeply yield higher-quality saffron, although they produce fewer flower buds and daughter corms. With such knowledge, Italian growers have found that planting corms 15 cm deep and in rows spaced 2–3 cm apart optimizes threads yields, whereas planting depths of 8–10 cm optimizes flower and corm production. Meanwhile, Greek, Moroccan, and Spanish growers have devised different depths and spacings to suit their own climates.<ref name="Deo_2">Template:Harv.</ref>

Saffron 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. Historically, soil organic content was boosted via application of some 20–30 tonnes of manure per hectare. Afterwards—and with no further manure application—corms were planted.<ref name="Deo_3">Template:Harv.</ref> After a period of dormancy through the 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: after their flowering at dawn, flowers quickly wilt as the day passes.<ref name="Willard_3-4">Template:Harv.</ref> Furthermore, saffron crocuses bloom within a narrow window spanning one or two weeks.<ref name="Willard_4">Template:Harv.</ref> 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 yield 0.03 g of fresh saffron, or 0.007 g of dried saffron.<ref name="Deo_3">Template:Harv.</ref>

Chemistry

Saffron contains in excess of 150 volatile and aroma-yielding compounds. It also has many nonvolatile active components,<ref name="Abdullaev_1">Template:Harv.</ref> many of which are carotenoids, including zeaxanthin, lycopene, and various α- and β-carotenes. However, saffron's golden yellow-orange colour is primarily the result of α-crocin. This crocin is trans-crocetin di-(β-D-gentiobiosyl) ester (systematic (IUPAC) name: 8,8-diapo-8,8-carotenoic acid). This means that the crocin underlying saffron's aroma is a digentiobiose ester of the carotenoid crocetin.<ref name="Abdullaev_1">Template:Harv.</ref> Crocins themselves are a series of hydrophilic carotenoids that are either monoglycosyl or diglycosyl polyene esters of crocetin.<ref name="Abdullaev_1">Template:Harv.</ref> 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 colouring water-based (non-fatty) foods such as rice dishes.<ref name="McGee_422">Template:Harv.</ref>

The bitter glucoside picrocrocin is responsible for saffron's flavour. Picrocrocin (chemical formula: C₁₆H₂₆O₇; systematic name: 4-(β-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-2,6,6- trimethylcyclohex-1-ene-1-carboxaldehyde) is a union of an aldehyde sub-element known as safranal (systematic 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. Significantly, picrocrocin is a truncated version (produced via oxidative cleavage) of the carotenoid zeaxanthin and is the glycoside of the terpene aldehyde safranal. The reddish-coloured<ref name="Leffingwell_1">Template:Harv.</ref> zeaxanthin is, incidentally, one of the carotenoids naturally present within the retina of the human eye.

When saffron is dried after its harvest, the heat, combined with enzymatic action, splits picrocrocin to yield D-glucose and a free safranal molecule.<ref name="Deo_4">Template:Harv.</ref> Safranal, a volatile oil, gives saffron much of its distinctive aroma.<ref name="McGee_423">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Dharmananda">Template:Harv.</ref> Safranal is less bitter than picrocrocin and may comprise up to 70% of dry saffron's volatile fraction in some samples.<ref name="Leffingwell_1">Template:Harv.</ref> A second element underlying saffron's aroma is 2-hydroxy-4,4,6-trimethyl-2,5-cyclohexadien-1-one, the scent of which has been described as "saffron, dried hay like".<ref name="Leffingwell_2001_3">Template:Harv.</ref> Chemists found this to be the most powerful contributor to saffron's fragrance despite its being present in a lesser quantity than safranal.<ref name="Leffingwell_2001_3">Template:Harv.</ref> Dry saffron is highly sensitive to fluctuating pH levels, and rapidly breaks down chemically in the presence of light and oxidizing agents. It must therefore be stored away in air-tight containers in order to minimise contact with atmospheric oxygen. Saffron is somewhat more resistant to heat.

History

Image:Saffron gatherers detail Thera Santorini.gif Template:Main The history of saffron cultivation reaches back more than 3,000 years.<ref name="Deo_1">Template:Harv.</ref> The wild precursor of domesticated saffron crocus was Crocus cartwrightianus. Human cultivators bred wild specimens by selecting for unusually long stigmas. Thus, a sterile mutant form of C. cartwrightianus, C. sativus, emerged in late Bronze Age Crete.<ref name="Goyns_1">Template:Harv.</ref> Experts believe saffron was first documented in a 7th century BC 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.<ref name="Honan_2004">Template:Harv.</ref> 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 North Africa and North America. In the last several decades, saffron cultivation has spread to Oceania.

Mediterranean

Minoans portrayed saffron in their palace frescoes by 1500–1600 BC, showing saffron's use as a therapeutic drug.<ref name="Ferrence">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Honan_2004">Template:Harv.</ref> Later, Greek legends told of sea voyages to Cilicia. There, adventurers hoped to procure what they believed was the world's most valuable saffron.<ref name="Willard_2-3">Template:Harv.</ref> Another legend tells of Crocus and Smilax, whereby Crocus is bewitched and transformed into the original saffron crocus.<ref name="Willard_2">Template:Harv.</ref> Ancient Mediterranean peoples—including perfumers in Egypt, physicians in Gaza, townspeople in Rhodes,<ref name="Willard_58">Template:Harv.</ref> and the Greek hetaerae courtesans—used saffron in their perfumes, ointments,<ref name="Willard_41">Template:Harv.</ref> potpourris, mascaras, divine offerings, and medical treatments.<ref name="Willard_41">Template:Harv.</ref> Image:Man gathering saffron Knossos Crete crocus sativus fresco.jpg

In late Hellenistic Egypt, Cleopatra used saffron in her baths so that lovemaking would be more pleasurable.<ref name="Willard_55">Template:Harv.</ref> Egyptian healers used saffron as a treatment for all varieties of gastrointestinal ailments.<ref name="Willard_34-35">Template:Harv.</ref> Saffron was also used as a fabric dye in such Levant cities as Sidon and Tyre.<ref name="Willard_59">Template:Harv.</ref> Such was the Romans' love of saffron that Roman colonists took their saffron with them when they settled in southern Gaul, where it was extensively cultivated until Rome's fall. Competing theories state that saffron only returned to France with 8th century AD Moors or with the Avignon papacy in the 14th century AD.<ref name="Willard_63">Template:Harv.</ref>

Asian

Image:Gomateswara.jpg

Saffron-based pigments have been found in 50,000 year-old depictions of prehistoric beasts in what is today Iraq.<ref name="Willard_2">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Humphries_20">Template:Harv.</ref> Later, the Sumerians used wild-growing saffron in their remedies and magical potions.<ref name="Willard_12">Template:Harv.</ref> Saffron was thus an article of long-distance trade before the Minoan palace culture's 2nd millennium BC peak. Saffron was also honored in the Hebrew Song of Solomon.<ref name="Humphries_19">Template:Harv.</ref> Ancient Persians cultivated Persian saffron (Crocus sativus 'Hausknechtii') in Derbena, Isfahan, and Khorasan by the 10th century BC. At such sites, saffron threads were woven into textiles,<ref name="Willard_2">Template:Harv.</ref> ritually offered to divinities, and used in dyes, perfumes, medicines, and body washes.<ref name="Willard_17-18">Template:Harv.</ref> Thus, saffron threads would be scattered across beds and mixed into hot teas as a curative for bouts of melancholy. Non-Persians also feared the Persians' usage of saffron as a drugging agent and aphrodisiac.<ref name="Willard_41">Template:Harv.</ref> During his Asian campaigns, Alexander the Great used Persian saffron in his infusions, rice, and baths as a curative for battle wounds. Alexander's troops mimicked the practice and brought saffron-bathing back to Greece.<ref name="Willard_54-55">Template:Harv.</ref>

Theories explaining saffron's arrival in South Asia conflict. Traditional Kashmiri and Chinese accounts date its arrival anywhere between 900–2500 years ago.<ref name="Lak_1998b">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Fotedar_128">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Dalby_2002_95">Template:Harv.</ref> Meanwhile, historians studying ancient Persian records date the arrival to sometime prior to 500 BC,<ref name="McGee_422">Template:Harv.</ref> attributing it to either Persian transplantation of saffron corms to stock new gardens and parks<ref name="Dalby_2003_256">Template:Harv.</ref> or to a Persian invasion and colonization of Kashmir. Phoenicians then marketed Kashmiri saffron as a dye and a treatment for melancholy.<ref name="Willard_41">Template:Harv.</ref> From there, saffron use in foods and dyes spread throughout South Asia. For example, Buddhist monks in India adopted saffron-coloured robes after the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama's death.<ref name="Tarvand_2005">Template:Harv.</ref>

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 forty-volume Shennong Bencaojing (神農本草經 — "Shennong's Great Herbal", also known as Pen Ts'ao or Pun Tsao) pharmacopoeia, a tome dating from 200-300 BC. Traditionally attributed to the legendary Yan ("Fire") Emperor (炎帝) Shennong, it documents 252 phytochemical-based medical treatments for various disorders.<ref name="Hayes_6">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="SNL_2005">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Tarvand_2005">Template:Harv.</ref> Yet around the 3rd century AD, 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 colour. It can be used to aromatise wine."<ref name="Dalby_2002_95">Template:Harv.</ref>

European

Image:Murder.JPG

In Europe, saffron cultivation declined steeply following the Roman Empire's fall. Saffron was reintroduced when Moorish civilization spread to Spain, France, and Italy.<ref name="Willard_70">Template:Harv.</ref> During the 14th century Black Death, demand for saffron-based medicine skyrocketed, and much saffron had to be imported via Venetian and Genoan ships from southern and Mediterranean lands<ref name="Willard_99">Template:Harv.</ref> such as Rhodes. The theft of one such shipment by noblemen sparked the fourteen-week long "Saffron War".<ref name="Willard_99">Template:Harv.</ref> The conflict and resulting fear of rampant saffron piracy spurred significant saffron cultivation in Basel, which grew prosperous.<ref name="Willard_101">Template:Harv.</ref> Cultivation and trade then spread to Nuremberg, where epidemic levels of saffron adulteration brought on the Safranschou code, which fined, imprisoned, and executed saffron adulterers.<ref name="Willard_103-104">Template:Harv.</ref> Soon after, saffron cultivation spread throughout England, especially Norfolk and Suffolk. The Essex town of Saffron Walden, named for its new specialty crop, emerged as England's prime saffron growing and trading center. However, an influx of more exotic spices—chocolate, coffee, tea, and vanilla—from newly-contacted Eastern and overseas countries caused European cultivation and usage of saffron to decline.<ref name="Willard_117">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Willard_132-133">Template:Harv.</ref> Only in southern France, Italy, and Spain, did significant cultivation endure.<ref name="Willard_133">Template:Harv.</ref>

Europeans brought saffron to the Americas when immigrant members of the Schwenkfelder Church left Europe with a trunk containing saffron corms; indeed, many Schwenkfelders had widely grown saffron in Europe.<ref name="Willard_143">Template:Harv.</ref> By 1730, the Pennsylvania Dutch were cultivating saffron throughout eastern Pennsylvania. Spanish colonies in the Caribbean bought large amounts of this new American saffron, and high demand ensured that saffron's list price on the Philadelphia commodities exchange was set equal to that of gold.<ref name="Willard_138">Template:Harv.</ref> The trade with the Caribbean later collapsed in the aftermath of the War of 1812, when many saffron-transporting merchant vessels were destroyed.<ref name="Willard_138-139">Template:Harv.</ref> Yet the Pennsylvania Dutch continued to grow lesser amounts of saffron for local trade and use in their cakes, noodles, and chicken or trout dishes.<ref name="Willard_142-146">Template:Harv.</ref> American saffron cultivation survived into modern times mainly in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.<ref name="Willard_143">Template:Harv.</ref>

Trade and usage

Image:ValencianPaella.jpg Template:Main

Saffron's aroma is often described by connoisseurs as reminiscent of metallic honey with grassy or hay-like notes, while its taste has been noted also as hay-like and yet somewhat bitter. Saffron also contributes a luminous yellow-orange colouring to foods. Because of the unusual taste and colouring it adds to foods, saffron is widely used in Arab, Central Asian, European, Indian, Iranian, and Moroccan cuisines. Confectionaries and liquors also often include saffron. Common saffron substitutes include safflower (Carthamus tinctorius, which is often sold as "Portuguese saffron" or "assafroa") and turmeric (Curcuma longa). Medicinally, saffron has a long history as part of traditional healing; modern medicine has also discovered saffron as having anticarcinogenic (cancer-suppressing),<ref name="Abdullaev_1">Template:Harv.</ref> anti-mutagenic (mutation-preventing), immunomodulating, and antioxidant-like properties.<ref name="Assimopoulou_2005">Template:Harv.</ref> <ref name="Abdullaev_1">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Chang">Template:Harv.</ref> Saffron has also been used as a fabric dye—particularly in China and India—and in perfumery.<ref name="Dalby_2002_138">Template:Harv.</ref>

Most saffron is grown in a belt of land ranging from the Mediterranean in the west to Kashmir in the east. Annually, around 300 tonnes of saffron are produced worldwide.<ref name="Katzer_2001">Template:Harv.</ref> Iran, Spain, India, Greece, Azerbaijan, Morocco, and Italy (in decreasing order of production) are the major producers of saffron. A pound of dry saffron (0.45 kg) requires 50,000–75,000 flowers, the equivalent of a football field's area of cultivation.<ref name="Hill_273">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Rau_35">Template:Harv.</ref> Some forty hours of frenetic day-and-night labour are needed to pick 150,000 flowers.<ref name="Lak_1998">Template:Harv.</ref> Upon extraction, stigmas are dried quickly and (preferably) sealed in airtight containers.<ref name="Goyns_8">Template:Harv.</ref> Saffron prices at wholesale and retail rates range from US$500/pound to US$5,000/pound (US$1100–US$11,000 per kilogram). In Western countries, the average retail price is $1,000/pound (US$2200 per kilogram).<ref name="Hill_272">Template:Harv.</ref> Between 70,000 and 200,000 threads comprise a pound. Vivid crimson colouring, slight moistness, elasticity, recent harvest date, and lack of broken-off thread debris are all traits of fresh saffron.

Cultivars

Image:Iran saffron threads.jpg Several saffron cultivars are grown worldwide. Spain, a major saffron exporter, generally produces mellow varieties with less intense colour, flavour, and aroma. Spanish varieties include the 'Spanish Superior' and 'Creme' tradenames, and are graded via government-regulated 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 Iran and India. 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—which is known for its earthy notes—is available in relatively small quantities.<ref name="Willard_143">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Willard_201">Template:Harv.</ref>

There are a handful of what are generally considered by consumers to be "premium" saffron types. For example, 'Aquila' saffron (Italian: zafferano dell'Aquila) is cultivated in the Navelli Valley, near L'Aquila, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. 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 colour of its stigmas 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 colouring 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 cultivars. But in Italy the biggest saffron cultivation, for quality and quantity, is in San Gavino Monreale, Sardinia. There, saffron is grown on 40 hectares (comprising 60% of Italian production); it also has very high crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal content. Another premium saffron is the Kashmiri "Mongra" or "Lacha" saffron (Crocus sativus 'Cashmirianus'), which is among the most difficult and expensive for non-Indian consumers to obtain. It is even hard for Indian consumers to obtain, as most stores in India sell the cheaper Spanish saffron. This is due to repeated droughts, blights, and crop failures in Kashmir, combined with an Indian export ban. Kashmiri saffron is recognisable by its extremely dark maroon-purple hue, among the world's darkest, which suggests the saffron's strong flavour, aroma, and colourative effect.

Grades

Image:Saffron vial sxc.jpg

Saffron types are graded by quality according to laboratory measurements of such characteristics as crocin (colour), 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 colour intensity: IV (poorest), III, II, and I (finest quality). Saffron samples are then assigned to one of these grades by gauging the spice's crocin content, which is revealed by measurements of crocin-specific spectroscopic absorbance. Absorbance is defined as <math>A_\lambda = -\log(I/I_0)</math>, with <math>A_\lambda</math> as absorbance. It is a measure of a given substance's transparency (<math>I/I_0</math>, the 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.<ref name="Tarvand_2005b"> Template:Harv.</ref> Higher absorbances at this wavelength imply greater crocin concentration, and thus a greater colourative intensity. These data are measured through photospectroscopy reports at certified testing laboratories worldwide. These colour 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 finest samples (the selected most red-maroon tips of stigmas picked from the finest flowers) receive absorbance scores in excess of 250. Market prices for saffron types follow directly from these ISO scores.<ref name="Tarvand_2005b"> Template:Harv.</ref> 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 practised wine tasters.<ref name="Hill_274">Template:Harv.</ref>

Despite such attempts at quality control and standardisation, an extensive history of saffron adulteration—particularly among the cheapest grades—continues into modern times. Adulteration was first documented in Europe's Middle Ages, when those found selling adulterated saffron were executed under the Safranschou code.<ref name="Willard_102-104">Template:Harv.</ref> Typical methods include mixing in extraneous substances like beet, pomegranate fibers, red-dyed silk fibers, or the saffron crocus's tasteless and odorless yellow stamens. Other methods included dousing saffron fibers with viscid substances like honey or vegetable oil. However, powdered saffron is more prone to adulteration, with turmeric, paprika, and other powders used as diluting fillers. Adulteration can also consist of selling mislabeled mixes of different saffron grades.<ref name="Tarvand_2005">Template:Harv.</ref> Thus, in India, high-grade Kashmiri saffron is often sold mixed with cheaper Iranian imports; these mixes are then marketed as pure Kashmiri saffron, a development that has cost Kashmiri growers much of their income.<ref name="ABC">Template:Harv.</ref><ref name="Hussain">Template:Harv.</ref>

See also

Template:Topics related to saffron

Citations

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Template:Col-2 Image:Crocus sativus1.jpg Image:Crocus sativus saffron blossoms Anna Tatti stockxchng.jpg Image:Crocus sativus sahuran.jpg Image:Crocus sativus saffron pollenation Anna Tatti stockxchng.jpg Template:Col-end

References

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| Author      = Australian Broadcasting Corporation
| Surname1    = Australian Broadcasting Corporation
| Year        = 2003
| Title       = Kashmiri saffron producers see red over Iranian imports 
| Journal     = Australian Broadcasting Corporation
| URL         = http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200311/s982047.htm 
| Access-date = January 10, 2006 

| Surname1    = Abdullaev
| Given1      = FI
| Year        = 2002
| Title       = Cancer chemopreventive and tumoricidal properties of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) 
| Journal     = Experimental Biology and Medicine
| Volume      = 227
| Issue       = 1
| URL         = http://www.ebmonline.org/cgi/content/full/227/1/20
| Access-date =January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Assimopoulou
| Given1      = AN
| Surname2    = Papageorgiou
| Given2      = VP
| Surname3    = Sinakos
| Given3      = Z
| Year        = 2005
| Title       = Radical scavenging activity of Crocus sativus L. extract and its bioactive constituents
| Journal     = Phytotherapy Research
| Volume      = 19
| Issue       = 11

| Surname1    = Chang
| Given1      = PY
| Surname2    = Kuo
| Given2      = W, Liang, CT
| Surname3    = Wang
| Given3      = CK
| Year        = 1964
| Title       = The pharmacological action of 藏红花 (zà hóng huā – Crocus sativus L.): effect on the uterus and/or estrous cycle
| Journal     = Yao Hsueh Hsueh Pao
| Volume      = 11

| Surname1    = Courtney
| Given1      = P
| Year        = 2002
| Title       = Tasmania's Saffron Gold
| Journal     = Landline (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
| URL         = http://www.abc.net.au/landline/stories/s556192.htm
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Dalby
| Given1      = A
| Year        = 2002
| Title       = Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices
| Publisher   = University of California Press
| ID          = ISBN 0-52023-674-2
| URL         = http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&id=7IHcZ21dyjwC
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Dalby
| Given1      = A
| Year        = 2003
| Title       = Food in the Ancient World from A to Z
| Publisher   = Routledge (UK)
| ID          = ISBN 0-41523-259-7

| Author      = Darling Biomedical Library
| Surname1    = Darling Biomedical Library
| Year        = 2002
| Title       = Saffron
| Journal     = Darling Biomedical Library (UCLA)
| URL         = http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice/index.cfm?displayID=22
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Davies
| Given1      = NW
| Surname2    = Gregory
| Given2      = MJ
| Surname3    = Menary
| Given3      = RC
| Year        = 2005
| Title       = Effect of drying temperature and air flow on the production and retention of secondary metabolites in saffron
| Journal     = Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
| Volume      = 53
| Issue       = 15

| Surname1    = Deo 
| Given1      = B
| Year        = 2003
| Title       = Growing Saffron – The World's Most Expensive Spice
| Journal     = Crop & Food Research (New Zealand Institute for Crop & Food Research)
| Issue       = 20
| URL         = http://www.crop.cri.nz/home/products-services/publications/broadsheets/020Saffron.pdf
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Dharmananda
| Given1      = S
| Year        = 2005
| Title       = Saffron: An Anti-Depressant Herb
| Journal     = Institute for Traditional Medicine
| URL         = http://www.itmonline.org/arts/saffron.htm
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Author      = DPIWE (Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment) 
| Surname1    = DPIWE
| Year        = 2005
| Title       = Emerging and Other Fruit and Floriculture: Saffron
| Journal     = Food & Agriculture
| URL         = http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/EGIL-5K63X8?open#Saffron
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Ferrence
| Given1      = SC
| Year        = 2004
| Title       = Therapy with saffron and the Goddess at Thera
| Journal     = Perspectives in Biology and Medicine
| Volume      = 47
| Issue       = 2

| Surname1    = Fotedar
| Given1      = S
| Year        = 1998-1999
| Title       = Cultural Heritage of India – Kashmiri Pandit Contribution
| Journal     = Vitasta (Kashmir Sabha)
| Volume      = XXXII
| Issue       = 1
| URL         = http://www.ikashmir.org/pdf/Vitasta1998-1999.pdf
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Goyns
| Given1      = MH
| Year        = 1999
| Title       = Saffron
| Publisher   = Taylor & Francis
| ID          = ISBN 9-05702-394-6
| URL         = http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&id=l-QJaUp31T4C
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Grigg
| Given1      = DB
| Year        = 1974 
| Title       = The Agricultural Systems of the World
| Publisher   = Cambridge University Press
| ID          = ISBN 0-52109-843-2
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Harper
| Given1      = D
| Year        = 2001
| Title       = Saffron
| Journal     = Online Etymology Dictionary
| URL         = http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=saffron&searchmode=none
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

Template:Col-2

| Surname1    = Hasegawa
| Given1      = JH
| Surname2    = Kurumboor
| Given2      = SK
| Surname3    = Nair
| Given3      = SC
| Year        = 1995
| Title       = Saffron chemoprevention in biology and medicine: a review
| Journal     = Cancer Biotherapy
| Volume      = 10
| Issue       = 4

| Surname1    = Hayes 
| Given1      = AW
| Year        = 2001
| Title       = Principles and Methods of Toxicology
| Publisher   = Taylor & Francis
| ID          = ISBN 1-560-32814-2

| Surname1    = Hill 
| Given1      = T
| Year        = 2004
| Title       = The Contemporary Encyclopedia of Herbs and Spices: Seasonings for the Global Kitchen
| Publisher   = Wiley
| ID          = ISBN 0-471-21423-X

| Surname1    = Honan
| Given1      = WH
| Year        = 2004
| Title       = Researchers Rewrite First Chapter for the History of Medicine
| Journal     = The New York Times
| URL         = http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/02/science/02MEDI.html?ex=1393563600&en=c3177ebac2572d43&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Humphries
| Given1      = J
| Year        = 1998
| Title       = The Essential Saffron Companion 
| Publisher   = Ten Speed Press
| ID          = ISBN 1-58008-024-3

| Surname1    = Hussain
| Given1      = A
| Year        = 2005
| Title       = Saffron Industry in Deep Distress
| Journal     = BBC News
| URL         = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4216493.stm
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Jessie
| Given1      = SW
| Surname2    = Krishnakantha
| Given2      = TP
| Year        = 2005
| Title       = Inhibition of human platelet aggregation and membrane lipid peroxidation by food spice, saffron
| Journal     = Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry
| Volume      = 278
| Issue       = 1–2

| Surname1    = Katzer 
| Given1      = G
| Year        = 2001
| Title       = Saffron (Crocus sativus L.)
| Journal     = Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages
| URL         = http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Croc_sat.html
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Lak
| Given1      = D
| Year        = 1998
| Title       = Kashmiris Pin Hopes on Saffron 
| Journal     = BBC News
| URL         = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/212491.stm
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Lak
| Given1      = D
| Year        = 1998b
| Title       = Gathering Kashmir's Saffron
| Journal     = BBC News
| URL         = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/213043.stm
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Leffingwell
| Given1      = JC
| Year        = 2002
| Title       = Saffron 
| Journal     = Leffingwell Reports
| Volume      = 2
| Issue       = 5
| URL         = http://www.leffingwell.com/download/saffron.pdf
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = McGann
| Given1      = K
| Year        = 2003
| Title       = What the Irish Wore: A Few Arguments on the Subject of Saffron
| Journal     = Reconstructing History
| URL         = http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/irish/saffron.html
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = McGee
| Given1      = H
| Year        = 2004
| Title       = On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
| Publisher   = Scribner
| ID          = ISBN 0-68480-001-2
| URL         = http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&id=iX05JaZXRz0C
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Nair
| Given1      = SC
| Surname2    = Pannikar
| Given2      = B
| Surname3    = Panikkar
| Given3      = KR
| Year        = 1991
| Title       = Antitumour activity of saffron (Crocus sativus).
| Journal     = Cancer Letters
| Volume      = 57
| Issue       = 2

| Surname1    = Park
| Given1      = JB
| Year        = 2005
| Title       = Saffron
| Journal     = USDA Phytochemical Database
| URL         = http://www.pl.barc.usda.gov/usda_supplement/supplement_detail_b.cfm?chemical_id=140
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Pearce 
| Given1      = F
| Year        = 2005
| Title       = Returning war-torn farmland to productivity
| Journal     = New Scientist
| URL         = http://www.newscientist.com/channel/earth/mg18524831.000.html
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Surname1    = Rau
| Given1      = SR
| Year        = 1969
| Title       = The Cooking of India
| Publisher   = Time Life Education
| ID          = ISBN 0-80940-069-3

| Author      = Shen-Nong Limited
| Surname1    = Shen-Nong Limited
| Year        = 2005
| Title       = Qin Dynasty 221–207 B.C.
| Journal     = Shen-Nong
| URL         = http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/shen-nong/history/qinhan/qinhan.htm
| Access-date = April 1, 2006

| Author      = Tarvand Saffron
| Surname1    = Tarvand
| Year        = 2005
| Title       = What is Saffron?
| Journal     = Tarvand Saffron Company
| URL         = http://www.tarvandsaffron.com/saffron.htm
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Author      = Tarvand Saffron
| Surname1    = Tarvand
| Year        = 2005b
| Title       = Grading and Classification
| Journal     = Tarvand Saffron Company
| URL         = http://www.tarvandsaffron.com/classification.htm
| Access-date = January 10, 2006

| Last1       = Willard
| Given1      = P
| Year        = 2001
| Title       = Secrets of Saffron: The Vagabond Life of the World's Most Seductive Spice
| Publisher   = Beacon Press
| ID          = ISBN 0-80705-008-3
| URL         = http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&id=WsUaFT7l3QsC
| Access-date = January 10, 2006 

Template:Col-end

External links

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2

| title = Recipe Search Results: Saffron
| work  = Epicurious
| url   = http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/find/results?search=saffron
| accessdate  = December 12
| accessyear  = 2005

| title = Saffron
| work  = Flora Health (Flora Manufacturing & Distributing)
| url   = http://www.florahealth.com/Flora/home/international/HealthInformation/Encyclopedias/Saffron.asp
| accessdate  = December 12
| accessyear  = 2005

| title = Saffron
| work  = Gourmet Sleuth
| url   = http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/saffron.htm
| accessdate  = December 12
| accessyear  = 2005

| title = Unlocking the Secrets of Medieval Painters and Illuminators
| work  = Lapis and Gold
| url   = http://www.lapisandgold.com/almanac.htm
| accessdate  = December 12
| accessyear  = 2005

| title = Learn More About Kashmiri Saffron
| work  = Saffron Specialist
| url   = http://www.saffronspecialist.co.uk/Information/AboutSaffron/KashmiriHistory.htm
| accessdate  = December 12
| accessyear  = 2005

| title = Saffron A-Z
| work  = Saffron Specialist
| url   = http://www.saffronspecialist.co.uk/Information/Saffron_A-Z/A.htm
| accessdate  = December 14
| accessyear  = 2005

| title = Saffron Gourmet
| work  = Saffron Facts
| url   = http://www.saffrongourmet.com/facts.html
| accessdate  = January 22
| accessyear  = 2006

| title = Spanish Saffron 
| work  = Saffron 
| url   = http://www.azafrandeteruel.com
| accessdate  = January 31
| accessyear  = 2006

Template:Col-2

Template:Cookbook Template:Col-end Template:Featured articlear:زعفران bg:Шафран cs:Šafrán setý da:Safran de:Safran eo:Safrano es:Azafrán fi:Sahrami fr:Safran (épice) he:זעפרן it:Crocus sativus ja:サフラン la:Safranum nl:Saffraan pl:Szafran pt:Açafrão sl:Žafran sv:Saffranskrokus th:หญ้าฝรั่น tr:Safran