The interesting secret of saffron - the world's most expensive spice of nearly 1 billion / kg

Some notes left, Egyptian Queen Cleopatra frequently used saffron to preserve beauty and increase her charm. She used to put some of this saffron pistil in the bath water to have a beautiful young skin. In particular, this is also a method to help her become more attractive in the story.

Saffron is a spice that is produced from the flower buds of saffron - a perennial plant of the giant family, which flowers in autumn and thrives in harsh climates. Saffron tolerates cold winters, overcomes hot summers, however it is necessary to have rain. Particularly, how to suit the saffron to grow and develop depends on the climate and soil of each region.

Picture 1 of The interesting secret of saffron - the world's most expensive spice of nearly 1 billion / kg
Saffron is a spice that is produced from the flower buds of saffron.

Countries like Iran, Greece, Morocco and Kashmir are the most suitable places in the world to grow and produce saffron. Especially Iran - which is considered the capital of saffron.

The cultivation and harvesting process is hard

To cultivate saffron and saffron production, one must ensure certain essential factors such as soil, irrigation, temperature . and prevent harmful threats such as rabbits, rats, birds, while preventing some diseases of saffron leaves and tubers during planting.

Picture 2 of The interesting secret of saffron - the world's most expensive spice of nearly 1 billion / kg
Each saffron only has 4 flowers, each flower has 3 hearts.

Usually, each saffron only gives four flowers, each flower has 3 stems. People have to hand-pick each hand of extremely delicate threads to harvest products of absolute quality. It is estimated that about 90,000 new flowers get 500g of dry saffron and need 40 working hours to pick up 150,000 cotton.

Some local people in Iran shared: "To harvest the best results, to ensure the sun conditions to not lose the smell of the smell. After that, the urge is immediately dried. so that it does not lose its characteristic flavor, on average it takes about 40 hours to complete the harvest in normal conditions ".

Picture 3 of The interesting secret of saffron - the world's most expensive spice of nearly 1 billion / kg
Harvesting and sorting saffron.

Classification of saffron

The process of classifying quality and utility of each type of demand is equally complicated. After harvest, saffron is usually classified into 4 main categories:

  1. Negin : This is the best and has the highest market price, selected from high quality, long streaks with uniform color and cut off the legs.
  2. Sargol : High quality but a bit lost to Negin because the fibers are thinner and smaller
  3. Pushali : The quality is somewhat poorer than the two because the yellow legs and the red upper body are not removed.
  4. Bunch : This type of stinger is the lowest type, because when it comes to harvesting, it is often used to be raw, bundled into a thick bundle so it is difficult to check the quality carefully.

Picture 4 of The interesting secret of saffron - the world's most expensive spice of nearly 1 billion / kg
The process of classifying quality and utility of each type of demand is equally complicated.

Medicinal ingredients of the Egyptian Queen and the miraculous uses of saffron

From more than 3,000 years ago, saffron is known to be a wonderful spice for dishes. Some can be used for dyeing fabrics, healing, perfumes or even beauty, rejuvenating beauty.

Some notes left, Egyptian Queen Cleopatra also frequently used saffron to preserve beauty and increase her charm. She often puts some of this saffron flower in her bath so her skin is always beautiful and special, this is also a way to make her more attractive in her sex.

Picture 5 of The interesting secret of saffron - the world's most expensive spice of nearly 1 billion / kg
Egyptian queen Cleopatra also regularly uses saffron to preserve beauty and increase her charm.

Even King Alexander the Great, he frequently used saffron to recover his health and heal the wound after every battle.

Particularly for today's science, the use of saffron has been proven. Pharmacists liken saffron as a positive multi-purpose health medicine, helping to prevent and prevent some dangerous diseases, including cancer.

These wonderful uses also caused saffron to become "expensive to slice" on the current market: VND 500,000 - 700,000 / 1gram depending on type. Even so, because the price is too high, saffron is called "red gold".

Real and fake saffron discrimination tips

Currently, the rampant sales of saffron on the market are getting more and more hot than ever. Just a few clicks on social networks, we can see hundreds of locations, information about selling cheap saffron with many notes and uses but most of them have no origin labels. clearly.

Picture 6 of The interesting secret of saffron - the world's most expensive spice of nearly 1 billion / kg
Saffron when purchased should be bright crimson.

Even some places for sale with high prices, but consumers do not avoid counterfeit goods, poor quality mix of impurities. It is known that saffron powder is very easy to fake, it is even easier to fake than turmeric powder, chili powder .

To avoid the situation of losing money, consumers should consider carefully and check carefully before buying. According to some experts sharing experiences: "Saffron should be bright red when buying, when rubbing between fingers often emits a very pleasant scent and gold stain".