Saffron is known not only as a seasoning, but also as a medicinal plant. It was used as incense in ancient Egypt, the Middle East and Western Europe. Lots of information on how to take saffron, the beneficial properties of which were appreciated by past generations, have survived to this day. Gourmet spice not only increases the value of dishes, but also helps to maintain health.
Material Content:
Saffron - what is it?
Saffron is a spice with an exquisite bitter-spicy taste and a honey-herbal aroma. One of the most expensive herbs. A kilogram of selected saffron in the market is estimated at 2 thousand dollars.
The main production of more than 90% of the global volume falls on Iran. Saffron is produced in small quantities in Italy, France and Spain. In Azerbaijan, cultural plantations have been preserved in only one place called Bilgah.
Spice is the dried stigmas of seed crocus. Cultured saffron blooms twice a year for 10-18 days. The life expectancy of one flower is from 2 to 3 days.
Only three red threads grow on each bud. Stigmas are harvested by hand at dawn. You need to catch it before the saffron flower closes. Seasoning is painstaking work. This explains the sky-high price of spices.
Small production volumes justify the cost. From 1 ha of plantation, on average, up to 15 kg of products are extracted.
The chemical composition and nutritional value of saffron
Essential oil is present in the composition of saffron stigmas (up to 1% of the total mass). Aromatic substances are represented by a mixture of glycosides - pyrocrocin and its derivatives. They determine the specific taste of spice.
The stigmas contain coloring substances crocin and crocetin, which not only give the seasoning a characteristic color, but also are responsible for its healing properties. Literally in 2015, scientists managed to isolate crocetic acid from saffron stigmas, which, according to studies, has very strong anti-cancer properties.
In stigmas, up to 6% of vegetable fat is present.
Found:
- vitamins: B1, B2;
- flavonoids;
- Sahara;
- salts of phosphorus and calcium.
100 g of the product contains no more than 11 g of protein, 6 g of fat and up to 62 g of carbohydrates. Calorie spice - 310 kcal. The nutritional value of saffron does not matter much, as it is added to dishes in ultra-small quantities.
Useful properties of saffron
Saffron stigmas are used to relieve spasms and relieve pain. Seasoning infusion has a stimulating effect. Strengthens the nervous system, tones the heart muscle, cleanses blood vessels.
Means obtained from seasoning restore the work of the kidneys. Stimulate diuresis. Rarely, but still used to treat the liver.
Saffron is able to restore vision, cure depression, establish sexual function, prevent the development of cancer and even destroy an already formed tumor.
In some countries, it is used as a remedy for whooping cough, premature aging, hysteria, and mental fatigue. Dishes with saffron increase appetite, accelerate the digestion of food.
People's advice:cinnamon
Saffron application:
Seasoning in cooking
As seasoning saffron is used in scanty amounts. He tint rice dishes. Gives a golden color to paella. Present in national dishes such as bozbash, piti and pilaf.
Improves the taste of clear soups and broths. It is added to lamb and lamb meat dishes. Reveals the aroma of fish dishes. It is put in vegetable preparations from cauliflower.
In some countries it is used for coloring dough in the preparation of baked goods and confectionery. Gives a unique aroma to cheeses, liqueurs, butter and meat delicacies.
In addition, the spice has a preservative effect. Dishes with saffron are kept fresh for several days.
The medicine
Starting in 2015, publications on the anti-tumor effects of saffron began to appear in the American press. Studies conducted at the Kansas Medical Institute have shown that crocetic acid isolated from spices can purposefully destroy pancreatic tumor cells.
Research is ongoing. Scientists are trying to uncover the mechanism of action of the active substance and invent the latest drug on its basis.
ethnoscience
Unlike official science, traditional medicine has long been using saffron as a potent substance. For more than one millennium, it has helped people restore health.
Plain fortifying drink prepared from 2 strings of saffron, thrown into a glass of boiling water. Spice infused for 20-30 minutes. Then filtered. Drink separately from food half an hour before or an hour after a meal three times a day. You can drink this dish for a week.
At all times, saffron was used as potency enhancer. To prepare a stimulating drink, you need to make an herbal mixture. Take 4 strings of saffron, a teaspoon of black tea, 4 peas of black pepper and 25 g of grated ginger root. Pour the mixture with 300 ml of hot water and put on fire. Remove from the stove when the drink begins to boil. Strain it and drink if necessary.
Saffron relieves pain during menstruation. It acts in conjunction with the uterus. To prepare the broth you will need 5 stigmas of seasoning, a teaspoon of herbs and half a liter of boiling water. The mixture is put on fire. Bring to a boil. It is filtered and taken on an empty stomach half a glass a day throughout the cycle.
To stimulate contractions helps remedy in milk. A glass of cold liquid is mixed with 20 strings of seasoning. The drink is heated to a boil. Removed from heat, filtered and drunk, if necessary, still hot.
To cleanse the liver a medicinal mixture of honey and saffron is used. Fifty pieces of thread are mixed with half a glass of melted honey. The product is thoroughly frayed to a homogeneous mass and eaten every morning before breakfast, half a teaspoon for a month.
Cleans blood from cholesterol a mixture of spices and raisins. A teaspoon of dried grapes is mixed with 3 hairs of fragrant seasoning. The mass is poured with boiling water (100 ml). Insisted eight hours. The drink is consumed half a glass in the morning and evening separately from food for 10 days.
Clear skin from formations of various nature: boils, ulcers, acne, it is possible with the help of an easy-to-prepare broth. A tablespoon of bright red seasoning must be poured with a glass of hot water. The infusion is prepared in a water bath for half an hour. Infused for 5-10 minutes. It is filtered and applied warmly with gauze to the affected skin 2-3 times a day.
Saffron in cosmetology
Saffron is used to make homemade care products. A face mask with spices rejuvenates the skin, tightens the oval, improves color, and illuminates with freshness. A teaspoon of spices, along with the same amount of honey and sour cream, is the best antioxidant of natural origin. The mask is applied in the morning to cleansed skin, aged 15 minutes and washed off with warm water.
Using saffron rinses, you can restore the shine and gloss of faded hair. A teaspoon of spice per liter of warm water - replaces expensive balms. The tool is infused for half an hour, filtered and applied to the hair after washing the hair.
Daily washing with saffron infusion (15 threads per half a glass of water) will cleanse your skin from acne and return it to a healthy color.
How to choose, how to store?
Saffron is an expensive seasoning. Therefore, the buyer, who wants to save money, risks remaining cheated. At retail, a gram of real spice should cost at least 400 rubles.
Saffron is sold in lightproof packaging. The buyer will not be able to immediately determine the authenticity of the seasoning. In order not to be deceived, choose not ground spice, but whole strings. After opening the package, examine it.
Unscrupulous sellers may palm ground turmeric instead of saffron. It is much cheaper than an expensive drug and radically differs from it in its properties: it does not have such a pronounced aroma and intense red color.
Turmeric is yellow, and saffron is brown-red. Expensive seasoning is a strong dye. Only one stigma densely stains a liter of water in an intense orange color.
The thin strands of saffron are unlike anything else. Having examined a whole seasoning, you will never confuse it with anything else. Expensive spice is packaged in small quantities: 1, 2, 5, 10 g.
Saffron is stored in tightly sealed, lightproof jars for 2 years. Seasoning must be protected from moisture and high temperatures.
How to apply saffron?
Saffron is a potent substance, so adding it to dishes is very careful. 1 g of spice contains about 400 threads. And for cooking pilaf for the whole family, no more than 5 veins are required.
The use of saffron seasoning requires compliance with a certain rule. Spice should be baked before laying in a dish in a pan. After that, she will reveal her properties more strongly. Dried seasoning can be ground into powder and mixed with a small amount of milk or water, and only then added to food. This will allow saffron to evenly distribute in food.
Contraindications
Saffron seasoning contains potent glycosides. For this reason, it should not be given to children under 2 years old.
The use of two grams of saffron per day can cause severe poisoning.
Aromatic substances in large doses inhibit the liver.
Saffron is contraindicated in pregnant and lactating women. In women in position, it can cause premature contractions.
Do not get carried away with a drug for patients with hypertension. Saffron boosts pressure. Seasoning can trigger a crisis.
There is evidence that the spice is dangerous for diabetes. As a potent substance, it can cause an allergy in which saffron is contraindicated even for external use.
Saffron is a valuable component of national cuisines of the peoples of the world. Seasoning has been revered since time immemorial. For centuries, people have attributed healing properties to it. In skilled hands, saffron spice becomes a real doctor, increases vitality, improves overall health.
