Saffron

Saffron  (Crocus sativus) is the world's costliest spice by weight, often selling for US$5,000 per kilogram or higher. It takes about 170,000 flowers, or roughly 100 kilograms of blossoms, to produce just 1 kilogram of dry saffron, requiring forty hours of labor to harvest that many flowers. One freshly picked crocus flower yields on average only 7 mg of dried saffron.

Kesar / kunkumapoo / kumkuma puvvu as it is called in different parts of India, is used as coloring agent and flavor enhancer in sweets & desserts as well as dishes like biryani or kheer. 

Its name likely comes from the Old French "safran," tracing back through Latin and Persian to "zarparān," meaning "gold strung". This implies either the golden stamens of the flower or the golden colour it creates.

As of 2024, Iran produces around 88% of the world's saffron, with Afghanistan being the second largest producer.

Saffron's distinctive iodoform-like or hay-like fragrance and taste come from phytochemicals called picrocrocin and safranal.

The spice imparts a rich golden-yellow hue to dishes and textiles due to its carotenoid pigment, crocin. Afghan saffron is renowned for its deep red colour, strong aroma, and high crocin content, scoring a "310 Crocin colour quality" based on ISO 3632.2 standards.

It's a sterile triploid form, meaning its purple flowers cannot produce viable seeds; reproduction relies entirely on human assistance by dividing and replanting its corms.

Saffron is highly sensitive to light and oxidising agents, so it must be stored in airtight containers to maintain its quality.

Fun Facts & Trivia:

• The ancient Sumerians used wild-growing saffron in their remedies and magical potions.
• Ancient Persians wove saffron threads into textiles, offered them ritually to divinities, and used them in dyes, perfumes, medicines, and body washes. They even mixed saffron threads into hot teas as a curative for melancholy.
• Alexander the Great used Persian saffron in his infusions, rice, and baths as a curative for battle wounds, a practice his troops then brought to Greece.
• In Medieval Europe, if you were caught selling adulterated saffron in Nuremberg, you could be executed under the Safranschou code.
• A theft of a saffron shipment in the 14th century sparked the fourteen-week-long Saffron War.
• The Essex town of Saffron Walden was named for its new specialty crop in the 16th and 17th centuries.
• In the 1730s, when Europeans introduced saffron to the Americas, its list price on the Philadelphia commodities exchange was equal to gold due to high demand.
• Over 80% of the saffron workforce in Afghanistan consists of women, primarily handling harvesting and processing, providing employment for over 40,000 people.
• Despite its reputation, saffron is not used to dye the saffron-coloured robes of Buddhist monks; less expensive dyes like turmeric or jackfruit are used to signify equality.