In addition to its fragrant scent and distinctive taste, saffron has been studied for a number of health benefits. This way your spice is less likely to be adulterated with less costly products, such as turmeric, red marigold petals, lily flower stigmas and corn silk threads. To make sure you are getting the real thing, buy saffron threads rather than powder. Saffron threads should be all red stigmas with no yellow stamens, and it should smell like sweet hay. To make sure you're getting authentic saffron, look at it and smell it. This labor-intensive process explains why quality saffron is so pricey. The stigmas are picked by hand and then dried into saffron threads. Each flower only produces three red stigmas, so it takes about 150 flowers to produce just one gram of saffron! The stigmas are enclosed within the purple flowers and must be hand-harvested during a short, three-week period in the fall from October through November. It comes from the stigma (the female part) of the Crocus sativus plant. ![]() Today, about 90% of the world's saffron is grown in Iran, while smaller amounts are grown in other countries, including India and Morocco. Although the origin of this spice is debated, it was most likely first cultivated in Greece nearly 3,000 years ago.
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