Saffron is a spice made from the pistil of saffron (Crocus sativus). Saffron is often used to taste and replace food colors when preparing food. Not only by its use to enhance the flavor and color of dishes, but also by its miraculous uses for health.
Greece - The origin of saffron flowers
Saffron originated from Greece and Southwest Asia. In Greece, people began cultivating and using saffron around 3,500 years ago. Saffron pistil is marketed across continents and is used to treat over 90 different disorders. Saffron pistil appears quite a lot in the legends and fairy tales of ancient Greece, Egypt, ... Cleopatra is said to have used saffron to soak, while the Romans used the type This food as a deodorant.
Today, Saffron is used in the preparation of dishes from main to desserts
What types of saffron are included and what are the prices?
The types of Saffron available on the market today include many types
- Negin: the best type, selected from high-quality stigmas and has removed the stigmas.
- Sargol: Behind Negin a little, this one uses smaller and thinner stigmas.
- Pushali: this is a rough type, do not cut off the yellow pistil and red upper body to increase weight, quality is also inferior to the two types above.
Saffron is used as a spice in dishes to enhance flavor, color and nutrition
- Bunch: is a type of harvested whole stamen, bundled in small bundles, so it is difficult to check the quality of the stigma inside.
- Konji (konge): is the original part removed from negin and sargol.
Each type has different prices, depending on the quality and ranges from about 1,100 to 11,000 USD / kg (about 25-250 million VND / kg), making saffron the most expensive spice in the world.
The complex harvest is the reason why this pistil is sold at "sky-high prices".
Because of manpower issues as well as arable land, saffron is grown primarily in Iran. This pistil is considered the "red gold" of Iran. 90% of Saffron exports worldwide come from Iran.
The process of taking saffron pistil is complicated to harvest by hand, cannot use modern machines to carry out the process of stealing a series. It takes 150,000 flowers to harvest 500 grams of pistil. Each Saffron tree only blooms three flowers, each flower gives three pistils.
In addition, when saffron flowers bloom, they should be harvested immediately, avoiding exposure to sunlight for too long because they can lose the chemical components in saffron. For this reason, when people come to the harvest, they take the pistil once a day, or once every two days.
Workers hired for the pistil often arrive at the farm from 5 am and leave at 4 pm.
Saffron benefits for health and beauty
1. Good for cardiovascular system
Riboflavin found in saffron pistil is a substance that has been shown to have great benefits for the cardiovascular system. Saffron also contains many antioxidants that help keep the heart muscle and blood vessels healthy and stable. Other vitamins combined with antioxidants support the body to regulate blood cholesterol levels, prevent atherosclerosis, lower blood pressure.
2. Magical medicine for mental illness
Saffron has been shown to work similarly to medications used to treat depression, significantly reducing the symptoms of neurological conditions. Saffron substances such as Flavonoids, Tannins, Anthocyanins, Alkaloids and Saponins have the ability to balance neurotransmitters in the brain, especially serotonin - the main cause of depression when unbalanced.
Use Saffron at a dose of 30mg daily for 1 week. Saffron's effectiveness is comparable to the current popular depression treatment. Can be used to make tea or spice arbitrary.
3. Preventing the formation of cancer cells in the body
Saffron contains crocin compound which is dark orange (the color of saffron). This compound, along with crocetin, picrocrotin and safranal, has the ability to support cancer treatment, while also preventing the growth of cancer cells. These substances inhibit the growth of malignancies so they do not spread to healthy cells, while promoting the absorption of cancer treatment drugs.
4. Good for the cardiovascular system of the body
Saffron is high in Potassium - a substance that plays a key role in maintaining a healthy heart. Potassium dilates blood vessels and arteries, allowing blood pressure to be lowered. It is therefore able to help prevent atherosclerosis, heart attack, stroke. Moreover, due to the crocetin mentioned, Saffron also helps regulate cholesterol levels to make your heart healthier.
5. Good for the digestive system
In saffron there are many carotenoid compounds capable of promoting the digestive system, anti-inflammatory, supporting the treatment of digestive disorders, stomach ulcers, ulcerative colitis. Every day can use a small amount of saffron pistil mixed with warm water, milk or used for cooking. Use regularly from 2 weeks will see clear results.
6. Contribute to improving eyesight
The high amount of crocin in saffron pistil helps blood circulation to retina and diaphragm, has the ability to support the treatment of neuropathy and repel the free radicals that cause macular degeneration. Besides, Carotenoids like zeaxanthin and flavonoids in Saffron also help slow down the aging process of the retina.
7. Many other benefits to the skin
Saffron has long been applied in the beauty field due to its numerous benefits such as treating dark spots, lightening and evenening the skin, treating scars, dark circles and also moisturizing and purifying the skin.
Combine saffron pistil with honey to brighten and smooth skin
The anti-aging substances inside saffron combine with vitamins like A, E to bring many benefits to the skin. Currently on the market there are two types available for sale are dried pistil and pistil. Both can apply for beauty purposes. Use every 2 weeks at regular intervals for clear results.
