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Spices & |
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| HERBS | |
| SPICES |
Ajwain
:: Allspice ::
Bay Leaf ::
Black Cardamon ::
Green Cardamon ::
Cinnamon ::
Cloves ::
Cumin ::
Cayenne Pepper
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| VEGETABLES |
Spices Classification of Spices List of Spices
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Saffron is an expensive spice produced from the flower crocus It is
produced from a beautiful flower which bears three stigmas each the distal
end of the carpel .
This stigma are dried and used in cooking to add flavor, fragrance and
colour .
Saffron is a native of southwest Asia It is marked by a bitter taste and
an iodoform or hay like fragrance.
Saffron word is derived from the Arabic word zafaran which means yellow
Further derivations come from the old French safran, Medieval Latin
safranum and Middle English safroun.
Apart from culinary uses, saffron has further medicinal uses.
Saffron is a perennial plant and is a sterile triploid form possibly of
the eastern Mediterranean autumn flowering.
It is cultivated mainly for its scented flower which bears fragrant
stigmas The stigmas of saffron are delicate and thread like each measuring
25-4cm its colour is bright orange-red.
This low growing plant is grows 15-20cm high and has underground globular
corm The flowering period of this plant starts from middle or beginning of
October and last till November.
In India saffron is predominantly cultivated in Jammu and Kashmir
which is considered the third prominent places of saffron all over the
world Himachal Pradesh is also one of the premium places who cultivate
saffron in India.
Its plant requires good amount of rainfall and cold temperature.
Dried stigmas are used.
Saffron is used as power form and sometimes dried stigmas are also used
for seasoning and as a colouring agent.
Saffron must be stored in tight containers to retain its fragrance and to
avoid moisture .
Moisture, starch and sugar, essential oils, fixed oil, fiber, total ash, nitrogen free extract .