Saffron

crocus sativus

Produces the coveted and expensive spice in your own garden. Thrives in full sun or partially
shaded areas. Fall bloomer with gorgeous blue flowers with orange and yellow pistils that's easy
to grow. An easy to harvest perennial with striking blue blooms. The saffron crocus is one of the
very oldest of all cultivated plants. A wild form is no longer known (Czygan 1989, 413).
Saffron was first mentioned in conjunction with the name of a city on the Euphrates: Azupirano,
“Saffron City” (ca. 2300 B.C.E.). The plant was already being cultivated on Crete and Thera
(Santorini) during the Minoan period (Basker and Negbi 1983, 228). Because of the plant’s
color, the Greek scholar Carl Ruck believes that in Archaic Greece the saffron crocus was used
entheogenically as a substitute for fly agaric (Amanita muscaria), which was originally
venerated as sacred and eaten ritually (Ruck 1995, 133*). The earliest written record of saffron
is presumably in the Iliad and in the Old Testament Song of Songs. The first documentation for
Kashmir is from the fifth century B.C.E. (Basker and Negri 1983, 228). In the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, saffron was used as an inebriant—certainly, a very expensive one—whose
effects were said to be like those of opium (cf. Papaver somniferum). Although it is known that
saffron has psychoactive properties, this aspect of the plant has been only little studied. The65
reason is the still very high price that true saffron commands (in comparison, cocaine is a
veritable “middle-class” drug). Because true saffron has always been extremely expensive, the
coveted spice has often been counterfeited. Moreover, the name has been used for a wide
variety of plants (Schneider 1974, 1:378*). In ancient times, saffron was an important source of
dye, especially for coloring royal garments (Basker and Negbi 1983, 230). Saffron also played a
role in perfumery, as Aristophanes has intimated (The Clouds, l.51). Propagation occurs
vegetatively by the separation of small tubers. The precise methods of cultivation are usually
kept secret for economic reasons. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, which is
why its cultivation has such great economic significance in the areas where it is grown. Twenty
thousand stigmas yield a mere 125 g; according to a different calculation, 1 kilo of dried
filaments requires some 60,000 flowers or 120,000 to 150,000 stigmas (Vonarburg 1995, 75).
—Saffron (croci stigma, flores croci, crocus): the brick red stigma held together by a small
piece of the style. The dried stigmas are approximately 20 to 40 mm long. They have a strong
aromatic scent and a spicy-hot taste. Two qualities are distinguished: —Crocus electus (saffron
tips, free of the remains of the styles —Crocus naturalis (with many pieces of styles) The
stigmas must be kept out of the light and stored in an airtight container, or the volatile essential
oil will evaporate and the color will fade. The entire flower is used for folk medicinal purposes.
Besides the Greek saffron, the Hippocratics mention an “Egyptian saffron” that was used
externally. This likely is a reference to yellow safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), as the
Egyptians themselves did not plant saffron (which they called the “blood of Hercules”). Instead,
they imported it from Crete and southwest Asia. The saffron threads are often mistaken for or
counterfeited by the petals of the safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) (Norman 1991, 33*).
Curcuma (Curcuma longa L., Zingiberaceae) is known as saffron spice as well as Indian
saffron. To add to the confusion, the autumn crocus is also known as meadow saffron (Basker
and Nagbi 1983, 232). In ancient times, saffron was used primarily as a wine additive (cf. Vitis
vinifera) that provided an additional inebriating effect (Norman 1991, 33*). Saffron is an
important ingredient in laudanum or tinctura opii crocata (cf. Papaver somniferum, soporific
sponge). Saffron is also found in the so-called Swedish herb mixes (cf. theriac) as well
as Oriental joy pills and other aphrodisiacs. In ancient China, saffron was used as an additive
to sake. A Greek papyrus from the Egyptian Arsinoites (third century B.C.E.) contains a recipe;
unfortunately, there is no information about what the mixture should be used for: The plaster of66
Dionysus: two drams of copper oxide, three obols of rosebud hearts (perhaps specifically Rosa
gallica), three obols of saffron, one-half obol poppy juice (Papaver somniferum), three obols of
white (acacia) gum (Gummi arabicum). Stir these (things) in wine as smoothly as possible (and)
make ointments, apply. (In Hengstl et al. 1978, 272) Perhaps this was some type of aphrodisiac
ointment, for saffron has always enjoyed a reputation as an aphrodisiac and agent of love. To
date, no risks have been documented at a maximum daily dosage of 1.5 g. Twenty grams is
given as a lethal dose, while 10 g can induce abortion (per Monographie der Kommission E; cf.
Czygan 1989, 414). Saffron is one of the oldest and most used medicines of the Hippocratics. It
was said to be an effective antidote for drunkenness (see Vitis vinifera) and to increase male
potency. According to Pliny, saffron was a panacea and an aphrodisiac: “It induces sleep, has a
gentle effect upon the head, and whets the sex drive” (21.137). For this reason, saffron was also
an important ingredient in love drinks in ancient Rome (Mercatante 1980, 50*). During the
Renaissance, it was said that smelling a crocus in bloom “expands the heart and the tools of the
mind and stimulates to coitus.” In the mystical medicine of Islam, the following is said about
saffron: “It is an excellent agent for the blood and for strengthening the soul. It assuages joint
pains and strengthens the sex drive in young men” (Moinuddin 1984, 99*). Since the Middle
Ages, saffron has been used as a remedy for “St. Anthony’s fire” (ergotism; cf. Claviceps
purpurea). In Victorian England, it was used to treat constipation and found its way to the
source of the problem as an enema (Mercatante 1980, 51*). In Western medicine, saffron was
once used as a nerve calmative and to treat spasms and asthma, but it no longer has any medical
significance. In folk medicine, saffron is still used as a sedative and antispasmodic (Czygan
1989, 414). In homeopathy, the mother tincture is prepared from the dried filaments (stigmas)
and is used primarily to treat women and children (Vonarburg 1995, 76). Saffron also found its
way into traditional Chinese medicine, where it is used as a psycho-active remedy: Among the
ailments that are generally treated with saffron are depression, constricted feelings in the chest,
fear, shock, confusion (mental and emotional disturbances), coughing blood, period pains and
other menstrual complaints, blood congestion [accumulation of blood in the capillaries], and
abdominal pains following childbirth. Long-term use of saffron can free one from depressions
and feelings of anxiety and produce sensations of happiness. (Leung 1995, 186*) In Baluchistan
(Pakistan), 10 g of ground flowers (not just the pistils), which are known as khakhobe, are
drunk mornings and evenings in a mixture of liquid yogurt as a remedy for dysentery67
(Goodman and Ghafoor 1992, 52*). In Yemen, saffron is still used as an aromatic stimulant
(Fleurentin and Pelt 1982, 90f.*). Saffron contains 8 to 13% solid oil and up to 1% essential oil,
as well as oleanolic acid derivatives, glycosides, the bitter substance picrocrocine (which when
stored transforms into safranal, the aromatic substance that gives saffron its characteristic
scent), and crystalline yellow dyes (α-crocine = crocetine-di-β-D-gentiobiosylester, crocetine,
and others) (Czygan 1989, 414). Saffron also contains the vitamins riboflavin (100γ/g!) and
thiamine (Bhat and Broker 1953). The essential oil has a rather complex structure (Zarghami
1970): “The principal component of the essential oil is safranal, which produces the scent
typical of the drug. Safranal is first produced during drying, which is why this step merits
particular attention during processing” (Pahlow 1995, 78*). The psychoactive effects of saffron
have been occasionally described as “spasms of laughter” and “delirium” (Vonarburg 1995, 76);
“in its effects, saffron comes close to opium [cf. Papaver somniferum]; in low dosages, it
excites, cheers, and produces laughter . . . , in contrast, in high dosages it sedates, promotes
sleep, sopor” (Most 1843, 536*). The essential oil and its vapors also produce psychoactive
effects, which have been described as “a sedative effect upon the brain, sleep-inducing,
produc[ing] headaches [and] cheerful delirium, and paralyz[ing] motor nerves. Blindness.
Peculiar orgasm” (Roth et al. 1994, 276). Actual reports of direct experiences with the drug are
not available, presumably because of its high cost. Saffron promotes protein digestion because
it stimulates enzymatic activity. It also stimulates uterine activity and can thus have
abortifacient effects. Saffron has the highest riboflavin content of any plant (as a percentage of
weight) and as a result appears to lower cholesterol levels (Basker and Begbi 1983). The extract
has stimulating and antispasmodic properties (Hooper 1937, 107*).