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Saffron (Zafran)

Crocus Sativus

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General introduction• Even if saffron is an expensive spice known as red gold,

growing it is however very simple and accessible to anyone. Intense labor needed to harvest it, not because it is difficult to grow.

• Saffron can grow nearly anywhere in the world. The kind of soil is far more important than the climate of the region where one wants to grow it.

Quality

The quality of saffron is dependent on its coloring power (crocin concentration), odor (safranal) and taste(picrocrocin). The best quality saffron has a high safranalcontent. Saffron is dry, glossy and greasy to the touchwhen freshly dried, turning dull and brittle with age. It is easily bleached if not stored in the dark, and also Stores better under conditions of low temperature and low relative Humidity.

Different Varieties of saffron 1. Sargol Iranian Variety

2. Mancha Spain

3. Rio Spain

4. Sierra Spain

5. Indian Saffron

6. Italian Variety

7. Iranian Standard Variety

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Vegetation cycle• Planting: from June to mid-September• Flowering: throughout October month, from the year it is

planted (for big corms)• Vegetative development in winter.• Leaves dry out in May.

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Soil and location• Saffron corms like a well drained soil. Heavy clay soil must be

avoided.• The ideal type of ground is a neutral clay-calcareous or silty

soil (PH 6 to 8).• For small areas like a vegetable garden or simple borders, one

can easily improve the soil by adding sand, peat or compost.• The saffron bed must be in a sunny place, notably in autumn

during the flowering stage

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Soil preparation• In order to prepare the ground, you can either turn the soil

over or plough deeply (about 20 cm) and add some compost or manure. In the case of nitrogenous fertilizer, it is better to spread on the surface after planting.

• Keep the ground weed free until planting (from June to September) and make loosen the soil before planting the corms

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Setting out the saffron bed• Saffron corms can either be planted directly into the ground

(borders, gardens, fields etc…) or in pots or window boxes (inside or out).

• Put the corms into the ground at a 10 to 15 cm depth leaving a 10 cm gap between them.

• Watering is not necessary. In case of severe drought in September, watering them once will usually be enough.

• Corms multiply from one year to the next, from one corm one can get 5 corms after 3 years.

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Precautions

• Precautions against predators• Wood mice and voles are particularly fond of corms in winter

as well as in summer. Destroying their tunnels regularly allows one to limit their number.

• Rabbits, which are particularly keen on leaves and flowers can only be stopped with a secure fence.

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Precautions Avoiding diseases Three fungal infections can harm saffron:• Rhizoctonia crocorum - causes brown ulceration and damping-off.• Fusarium - attacks the corm and leaves an orange-coloured band

on the limit of the healthy parts.• Violet root rot - produces a damp rot. It is highly contagious;

illness also called "mort du safran" (saffron's death)• All these diseases resist most fungicides, however, they mainly

appear from the third or fourth years. Consequently, one should dig up corms and replant them in another field.

• It is better not to use the same field again for 10 years.

Precautions

Weed controlSawdust mulch helped reduce weed problems. During the dormant phase, when the tops died off, we used the herbicides Roundup® or Buster® to clean up the beds prior to the new season’s flowering and growth. The choice of chemical depended on the weeds present. The old top growth, which dies in the summer, needs to be raked off the beds prior to the autumn flowering.

Precautions

Pests and diseasesRabbits, rats and birds can cause problems in Saffron fields by eating or lifting the corms. Many pests (e.g. nematodes) and diseases (e.g. corm rots, leaf rusts) attack saffron, and the incidence is greatly affected by the growing environment

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Harvesting• Flowers generally appear in October (slightly later in the first year) and last

for a month. • Two methods of harvesting are possible.• If one only has a small number of flowers, one can leave the flower and just

extract the 3 red filaments from the pistil with some tweezers. This operation is called trimming

• In the case of large quantities of flowers, one should pick the flowers as soon as they have bloomed and then extract the red pistils comfortably sitting around a table.

• To trim, one can use one's nails or small tools like scissors or tweezers. Trimming the flowers must be done soon after they are harvested to make the task easier.

• The yellow stamens and purple petals have no use.

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Drying….....

• Filaments have to be dried out to be preserved for use.• Drying can be done by putting the pistils on a sieve in a

well ventilated place between 40 to 60 degrees Celsius, for 15 minutes (well ventilated food dryer, in an oven with the door slightly open, under the sun outside).

• When dried, filaments are very light and breakable.• Fresh saffron, even dried is tasteless. It is

recommended that it is placed in an airtight tin away from the light for at least a month before consumption. Saffron keeps its taste for two years.

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Yield• The average yield varies from 2 to 2.5 kg/ha• About 150 flowers are needed to make one gram of dried

saffron.• The first year of plantation around 60% of corms will produce

one flower each.• The next two years, corms will give about 2 flowers each.

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Uses of saffron

1. Medicines2.Foods 3. Confectionary 4. Coloring/ dye of textile5. Cosmetics 6. Medicinal use for cancer

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Medicines• Historically it was used for treating depression. Clinical tests in the Roozbeh

Psychiatric Hospital in the Tehran University of Medical Sciences have proved that it is a safe antidepressant.

• It can also be used to treat epilepsy, digestive disturbances, asthmatic breathing, fever, etc. These uses should not be attempted without medical advice.

• Saffron is as important ingredient of large number of Ayurvedic medicines.• On account of its strong ant-poisonous, aphrodisiac, cardio-tonic, carminative,

diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge, stimulant, lactogogue, livotonic, nervine tonic, sedative and styptic properties it is highly valued.

• Saffron is greasy and it cures head ailments and heals wounds. It is pungent, stops vomiting and gives brightness to the blood.

• Saffron is bitter pungent. It stops phlegm and cures gastric problems. It heals wounds. It serves as an anti-venom. It also gives brightness to the body y as well as cures the three ailments Diseases such as leprosy, head ailments, insectbites are all cured by saffron which also unifies the three body humours

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Food

The stigma are soaked in water, milk or alcohol before used in food, to release the flavor and colour. Well-known dishes are paella, bouillabaisse, breyani and "yellow rice" (pulao). It goes particularly well with dairy products and most grains. It has a slightly bitter taste on its own, but taste is greatly influenced by the pairing with ingredients, as well as its cultivation.

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Confectionary• A saffron bun, in Swedish lussekatt (literally "Lucy cat", after

Saint Lucy) or lussebulle, is a rich yeast dough bun that is flavoured with saffronand cinnamon or nutmeg and contains currants. In Sweden, no cinnamon or nutmeg is used in the bun, and raisins are used instead of currants. The buns are baked into many traditional shapes, of which the simplest is a reversed S-shape. They are traditionally eaten during Advent, and especially on Saint Lucy's Day, December 13. In England, the buns were traditionally baked on sycamore leaves and dusted with powdered sugar. This "revel bun" from Cornwall is baked for special occasions, such as anniversary feasts (revels), or the dedication of a church. In the West of Cornwall large saffron buns are also known as "tea treat buns" and are associated with Methodist Sunday Schooloutings or activities.

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Dye

This was the primary use centuries ago and the pigments that cause the intensive yellow colour have been isolated and their staining capacity chemically determined. The yellow robes of the Buddhist monks in Tibet and China are saffron-dyed.

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Cosmetics

• Saffron is thought to clear skin, even acne, and is usually applied in the form of a mask. Traditionally it was used by high-born Indian women to impart a golden hue to the skin.

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Why Saffron is so important

Saffron production requires about 10% of the water needed to produce cotton. The plant germinates naturally around the village, therefore it requires minimum tending to produce a good crop. And being one of the most expensive spices of the world, farmers who switched to saffron could count on doubling their income. A small local enterprise was established to link the saffron producers to its consumers, which brought significant benefits to the community. New education and employment opportunities arose. Women played a major role in all these developments and thus improved their social status.

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Thanks for Attention