Crocus sativus (saffron) is a small flowering herb 15 to 30 centimeters tall. It is distributed across central Asia, Iran, the Mediterranean, Europe, Asia (largely Kashmir and Afghanistan), Northern Africa, and North America, in areas with hot, dry summers and cold winters.
This perennial herb is unknown in the wild and has been cultivated for over 3,000 years. It is believed to be a mutant of the wild C. cartwrightianus of the Iridaceae family. C. sativus is a triploid growing 20–30 centimeters tall. Its key constituents are safranal, crocin, carotenoids, glycoside forms, terpene derivatives, anthocyanins, flavonoids, the vitamins riboflavin and thiamine, amino acids, proteins, and starch.
Cultivating and harvesting saffron
The flowers do not produce fertile seeds, so propagation is done with corms or bulbs, which lie beneath the surface. These corms, which are poisonous to animals, average approximately 0.1 meters in size. Large corms tend to yield more flowers and, thus, more saffron. Shoots and blue flowers emanate from the center of the corm. A single corm can yield saffron for 4–12 years.
The plant does not require much water. In the Khorasan area of Iran, the plantations are irrigated, whereas Kashmiri plantations are mostly rain-fed. The cultivation area is plowed and weeded regularly until the picking cycle, which lasts four days. Flowers are picked by hand, and the plants wither in summer as bulbs go dormant.
The aromatic saffron spice is produced by removing the stamens and styles and placing them on a mesh over a coal or wood fire to dry. A hectare of saffron can yield up to 25 kilograms, but it takes approximately 150,000 flowers to produce 1 kilogram of saffron. The FAO estimates that saffron requires 200 person-days per hectare for collection and management. Saffron generally does not store well for longer than twelve months. Its production is not cost-effective in areas with high labor costs, like Spain, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.
History of use of Saffron
Saffron is an expensive spice. Thus, adulteration with petals and flowers, such as safflower and marigold, is common. It is cultivated for its fragrance, dye, and culinary uses. It is used in Italian, Greek, and Arabic confections, desserts, and curries.
Saffron is the most expensive and ancient incense known to man. Saffron-based pigments were probably used to make stencil prints on the walls of caves by the earliest cave inhabitants around 30000 BC. However, paintings' earliest saffron dye pigments probably go back to the Minoan period. In Crete in 1450 BC, a volcanic eruption buried the Minoan palaces and buildings in a cloud of dust, where they remained until their discovery by archaeologists.
The tablets and scrolls from the Library of Nineveh during the reign of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (668–627 BC) refer to saffron. These tablets are now preserved in the British Museum in London. The spice was collected from wildflowers.
Alexander the Great became enamored of saffron during his campaign to conquer Persia in the fourth century BC. He used the spice in his baths, perhaps after he defeated Cyrus the Great and brought the saffron-producing regions of Persia under his control. He believed that saffron helped heal wounds and was good for the skin. Active trade via the Spice and Silk Routes increased saffron's popularity.
Shen Nung, a ruler in China (c. twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth century BC) and regarded as the father of Chinese medicine, described medicinal uses of more than 300 herbs, including saffron, in one of the earliest of the extant Materia Medica called the Divine Husbandsman’s Materia Medica, compiled in the first century AD. There is also a reference to saffron in Chinese herbalist Wan Zhen’s (c. third century AD) writings.
The active ingredient in saffron dyeing is crocin, which is extracted from flower petals. Traditionally, forest monks wear ochre (obtained from jackfruit heartwood) robes, and city monks wear saffron robes, though variations exist. Today, though, saffron has been replaced by turmeric, which is also yellow but less expensive.
The Talmud contains multiple references to saffron, one of the 11 ingredients of the Ketoret Holy Incense. In Christianity, saffron is not a spice of major religious significance. There is a single reference to saffron in the Bible in Song of Solomon 4:14, where it is mentioned along with other incense.
Medicinal properties
The plant has been used as medicine across all herbal medicinal systems. Traditionally, the species is used for stomach cramps, flatulence, respiratory ailments, blood disorders, heart diseases, and as an aphrodisiac. It is a folk remedy for headaches and colds and has antidiarrheal and antidysentery properties. It is useful in treating scanty menstruation and poor seminal mobility.
Saffron is one of the 770 medicinal plants mentioned in the Sushruta Samhita. In Ayurveda, saffron is used to improve skin tone, reduce acne in skin creams and herbal facial masks, and heal wounds. When mixed with sandalwood paste, it cools the skin—Mediterranean and Mesopotamians associated saffron with fertility and sexual potency.
Hippocrates and Galen mention using saffron to improve digestion, reduce flatulence and colic, and calm the nerves of adults and children. Avicenna in Book II of Canon of Medicine (al-Qanun fi al-tib) describes various medicinal uses of saffron, including its use as an antidepressant, hypnotic, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, bronchodilator, aphrodisiac, labor inducer, and emmenagogue. Most of these effects have been studied in modern pharmacology and are well documented.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, saffron is claimed to be useful in conditions related to the heart and liver. It is used to invigorate blood supply, release toxins, and relieve high fevers and related conditions caused by pathogenic heat. Saffron is also used as an herbal cure for colds and coughs and in dentistry. The pharmacological data on saffron and its constituents, including crocin, crocetin, and safranal, are similar to those found in Avicenna’s monograph (Phytotherapy Research, 2013, Hosseinzadeh, Nassiri-Asl).
C. sativus is known to have antihypertensive, anticonvulsant, antitussive, antigenotoxic, antioxidant, cytotoxic, anxiolytic, antidepressant, aphrodisiac, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, and relaxant properties. Modaghegh et al. (2008) conducted trials on 10 people who were administered saffron tablets and showed a reduction in both high systolic and arterial blood pressure. It also improves memory, learning, and sleep, increasing blood flow in the retina and choroid. In high doses, it has a narcotic effect.
C. sativus may alleviate symptoms of premenstrual syndrome, according to a 2008 study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. After taking C. sativus twice a day during two menstrual cycles, the experiment group showed great improvement in premenstrual symptoms compared to those assigned a placebo. However, because it is used to break blood clots, those on blood-thinning medications or women who experience heavy menstruation should avoid saffron altogether. A New York Langone Medical Centre publication states that trials to validate saffron’s ability to treat depression indicate positive results. The plant also shows promise in the treatment of cancer, reduction of cholesterol, protection against side effects of cisplatin, and enhancing mental function.
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