Kashmiri Saffron Producers See Red over Iranian Imports". Australian Broadcasting Corp. 4 November 2003 . Retrieved 29 September 2011. a b authors, Wiki- (4 October 2020). "How to Use Saffron". FOOD AND ENTERTAINING – HERBS AND SPICES. wikiHow . Retrieved 9 March 2021. Sharaf-Eldin M, Elkholy S, Fernández JA, Junge H, Cheetham R, Guardiola J, Weathers P (August 2008), "Bacillus subtilis FZB24 affects flower quantity and quality of saffron (Crocus sativus)", Planta Medica, 74 (10): 1316–20, doi: 10.1055/s-2008-1081293, PMC 3947403, PMID 18622904

Rau, S. R. (1969), The Cooking of India, Foods of the World, Time-Life Books, ISBN 978-0-8094-0069-0 Basker, D; Negbi, M (1983). "Uses of saffron". Journal of Economic Botany. 37 (2): 228–236. doi: 10.1007/BF02858789. JSTOR 4254486. S2CID 40880131. Grilli Caiola, M. (2003), "Saffron Reproductive Biology", Acta Horticulturae, ISHS, 650 (650): 25–37, doi: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.650.1, S2CID 89990377 The bitter glucoside picrocrocin is responsible for saffron's pungent flavour. [35] Picrocrocin ( chemical formula: C Amjad Masood Husaini; Badrul Hassan; Muzaffar Y. Ghani; Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva; Nayar A. Kirmani (2010), Husaini, Amjad (ed.), "Saffron ( Crocus sativus Kashmirianus) Cultivation in Kashmir: Practices and Problems", Functional Plant Science & Biotechnology, UK: Global Science Books, 4 (2): 110, ISBN 978-4-903313-67-2, ISSN 1749-0472that is, or may reasonably be considered to be, defamatory, libellous, hateful, racially or religiously biased or offensive, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing to any individual, partnership or corporation; Deo, B. (2003), "Growing Saffron—The World's Most Expensive Spice" (PDF), Crop and Food Research, New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research, no.20, archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2005 , retrieved 10 January 2006 Consumers may regard certain cultivars as "premium" quality. The "Aquila" saffron, or zafferano dell'Aquila, is defined by high safranal and crocin content, distinctive thread shape, unusually pungent aroma, and intense colour; it is grown exclusively on eight hectares in the Navelli Valley of Italy's Abruzzo region, near L'Aquila. It was first introduced to Italy by a Dominican friar from inquisition-era Spain. [ when?] But the biggest saffron cultivation in Italy is in San Gavino Monreale, Sardinia, where it is grown on 40 hectares, representing 60% of Italian production; it too has unusually high crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal content. Despite attempts at quality control and standardisation, an extensive history of saffron adulteration, particularly among the cheapest grades, continues into modern times. Adulteration was first documented in Europe's Middle Ages, when those found selling adulterated saffron were executed under the Safranschou code. [46] Typical methods include mixing in extraneous substances like beetroot, pomegranate fibres, red-dyed silk fibres, or the saffron crocus's tasteless and odourless yellow stamens. Other methods included dousing saffron fibres with viscid substances like honey or vegetable oil to increase their weight. Powdered saffron is more prone to adulteration, with turmeric, paprika, and other powders used as diluting fillers. Adulteration can also consist of selling mislabelled mixes of different saffron grades. Thus, high-grade Kashmiri saffron is often sold and mixed with cheaper Iranian imports; these mixes are then marketed as pure Kashmiri saffron, a development that has cost Kashmiri growers much of their income. [47] [48] [49] [50] Safflower is a common substitute sometimes sold as saffron. The spice is reportedly counterfeited with horse hair, corn silk, or shredded paper. Tartrazine or sunset yellow have been used to colour counterfeit powdered saffron. [7] The yellow-orange colour of saffron is primarily the result of α-crocin. [35] This crocin is trans- crocetin di-(β-D- gentiobiosyl) ester; it bears the systematic (IUPAC) name 8,8-diapo-8,8-carotenoic acid. This means that the crocin underlying saffron's aroma is a digentiobiose ester of the carotenoid crocetin. [37] Crocins themselves are a series of hydrophilic carotenoids that are either monoglycosyl or diglycosyl polyene esters of crocetin. [37] Crocetin is a conjugated polyene dicarboxylic acid that is hydrophobic, and thus oil-soluble. When crocetin is esterified with two water-soluble gentiobioses, which are sugars, a product results that is itself water-soluble. The resultant α-crocin is a carotenoid pigment that may make up more than 10% of dry saffron's mass. The two esterified gentiobioses make α-crocin ideal for colouring water-based and non-fatty foods such as rice dishes. [39]

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The plant sprouts 5–11 white and non- photosynthetic leaves known as cataphylls. These membrane-like structures cover and protect 5 to 11 true leaves as they bud and develop on the crocus flower. The latter are thin, straight, and blade-like green foliage leaves, which are 1⁄ 32– 1⁄ 8in), in diameter, which either expand after the flowers have opened ("hysteranthous") or do so simultaneously with their blooming ("synanthous"). C.sativus cataphylls are suspected by some to manifest prior to blooming when the plant is irrigated relatively early in the growing season. Its floral axes, or flower-bearing structures, bear bracteoles, or specialised leaves, that sprout from the flower stems; the latter are known as pedicels. [18] After aestivating in spring, the plant sends up its true leaves, each up to 40cm (16in) in length. Only in October, after most other flowering plants have released their seeds, do its brilliantly hued flowers develop; they range from a light pastel shade of lilac to a darker and more striated mauve. [20] The flowers possess a sweet, honey-like fragrance. Upon flowering, the plants are 20–30cm (8–12in) in height and bear up to four flowers. A three-pronged style 25–30mm (1– 1 + 3⁄ 16in) in length, emerges from each flower. Each prong terminates with a vivid crimson stigma, which are the distal end of a carpel. [19] [18] Cultivation [ edit ] Dalby, A. (2002), Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices (1sted.), University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-23674-5 Dai, Lili; Chen, Lingyan; Wang, Wenjing (2020). "Safety and Efficacy of Saffron ( Crocus sativus L.) for Treating Mild to Moderate Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis". The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 208 (4): 269–276. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000001118. PMID 32221179. S2CID 210119504. Rashid, Afshan (22 September 2018). "From 35kgs earlier to 1kg yield now, 'successful' Saffron Mission paves way for apples in Pampore". Free Press Kashmir . Retrieved 1 January 2019.