Saffron (Crocus Sativus)

The flowers
Of a special violet, the saffron flowers have, in fact, the color of the May –June dawns after rain. They significantly express a tangible tranquility, hard to understand in its totality even for a gifted man with the sense of dreaming and poetry. Their power in this world resides in the stamina and stigmata whose gift the people discovered a long time ago and pick them with unlimited hope. The stamina and stigma actually mean the medicinal and edible part of the saffron. Thanks to these floral delicacies, people have been cropping the saffron for a long time.

The leaves
Of a frowning green, the saffron leaves are small spears directed towards the sky. Pointed towards the ground of all plants, animals and people some vegetal dressings can be found that make from the leaves and the flowers a natural floral bunch of a rare sensibility.

The stalk
From the series of plants with aphrodisiac qualities the saffron is one of the smallest. The strength of this plant does not reside in the stalk, but in the two extremities the bulb and the flower. Still, the stalk, despite having small dimensions, suggests stability but also delicacy. The maximum height that it can reach is 30 cm, but it can even be an inch tall.

The rhizome
It looks like a bellied bottle in which a while ago in the country the peasants kept the strength of the prunes and grapes husks. Here, in this rhizome are to be found the energies that give life to the plant not for a season or two but for many more years, the saffron being a perennial plant.

The fruit
A capsule like a triangle will protect inside of her the seeds of the saffron. With this capsule at the top, the saffron looks like a ridiculous plant. Let’s not forget that in every seed there can be found the promise of another saffron flower, from which people will one day pick its essences.

Scientific and common name
It’s an old plant in Europe but not native here. It was probably brought from Asia by the Romans about 2000 years ago. Other researches have proved that the saffron was brought in Europe by the crusaders. In old times the preparations from saffron were extremely expensive, just like spices. In Latin, the saffron is called Crocus Sativus. It is also called garden saffron or crocus.

Medicinal products
The infusion and decoction have always been the main preparations obtained out of saffron. For tea a small quantity is needed, under 1 gram. Renown is the saffron tincture, but powder is also prepared. The powder from saffron flowers is a true miracle of popular medicine. The preparations based on saffron have amazing effects being tonic and sedative at the same time. According to the great specialist Jean Valnet, infusion is made out of 1 l water and 15 g saffron. From this infusion 200 up to 600 ml can be drank per day. Popular medicine from the far Orient considered saffron an exceptional medicinal plant. In China and other countries of East Asia, medicinal preparations based on saffron are used even against some types of cancer. Frequently, preparations based on saffron are administered as a tonic for the digestive and nervous system, having the role of balancing the functions and the activities of the whole organism. They also have beneficial effects in the regulation of menstruation and in fighting the pains during menstruation. Popular medicine uses saffron to fight off violent cough, asthma, bronchial spasms but also to maintain and cure the teeth.

Usual dishes
For the kitchen saffron is a spice and a coloring agent. The foods cooked with saffron are very well received by the organism. The saffron lightens digestion a lot and protects the organism from fats. Still full of secrets, its chemistry does a great favor to the human organism by melting the fats and making them inoffensive. Still, the recipes based on saffron are not abundant in the European kitchen.

Contraindications
Saffron must be used in small quantities. Taken in large quantities it can be toxic- like always too much good tends to transform in bad. This means it can produce major stomach and intestinal derangements, some specialists even say it can produce death.

Who can use the saffron?
Added in food it can be useful for both sexes. The food with saffron can create a general state of wellness. Saffron is recommended to the women, especially the ones with genital illnesses, in their case having a repairing effect. It won’t harm the men in no way either if they consume foods based on saffron or even drinks based on saffron. Actually, the drink based on saffron is good for both partners, maybe even better than the rum or cognac, so invoked to create an atmosphere of serenity in intimate relationships.

Active principles
Saffron has at least two specific compounds: picrocrocin and crocin. To be notices are also the bitter substances, very active, volatile oils, fat substances. Thanks to its ingredients the saffron is an anti pain agent. In contrast with other agents from other medicinal plants or preparations, saffron not only that cures the pain but also contributes to the remedial of the organ or of the painful zone. Always it’s action is a double one sometimes in aspects apparently in contradiction.

The impulse
Analyzing its action on the human organism., it can be said that the preparations based on saffron are a true elixir. They seem to take away the pain “like magic”. They create a state of wellness and good mood. They have effects at the level of the genital organs, bringing them in a state of good health, they impulse the digestion, ease up the atmosphere at the level of the gastro-intestinal tracts and they favor the metabolism, take action on the central nervous system. Regarding this last quality, it is said that in Antiquity, the saffron flowers minced were sprinkled on the floors through theaters and in meeting places. A balanced consumption of saffron could create a state of physical and psychical comfort maybe better than the one obtained through sleep therapies on mattresses and pillows made of medicinal herbs or oats ears. Plinius the Old said that the saffron “suits itself remarkably wit the wine especially the sweet one.”, for it could be diluted in wine or water. Here is what the great writer of the Antiquity said: “the ones who drank saffron before don’t feel the hangover, and resist to drinking. Even the crowns made of saffron attenuate the effects of intoxication. Saffron induces sleep, lightens the head a bit, has an aphrodisiac effect”. More Safron Recipes...