_Croci stigmata_; _Saffron_[2465]; F. and G. _Saffran_.
=Botanical Origin=—_Crocus sativus_ L., a small plant with a fleshy
bulb-like corm and grassy leaves, much resembling the common Spring
Crocus of the gardens, but blossoming in the autumn. It has an elegant
purple flower, with a large orange-red stigma, the three pendulous
divisions of which are protruded beyond the perianth.
[2465] The word _Saffron_ is derived from the Arabic _Asfar_, yellow.
The Saffron Crocus is supposed to be indigenous to Greece, Asia Minor,
and perhaps Persia, but it has been so long under cultivation in the
East that its primitive home is somewhat doubtful.[2466]
=History=—Saffron, either as a medicine, condiment, perfume, or dye,
has been highly prized by mankind from a remote period, and has played
an important part in the history of commerce.
Under the Hebrew name _Carcôm_, which is supposed to be the root of
the word _Crocus_, the plant is alluded to by Solomon;[2467] and as
Κρόκος, by Homer, Hippocrates, Theophrastus, and Theocritus. Virgil and
Columella mention the saffron of Mount Tmolus; the latter also names
that of Corycus in Cilicia, and of Sicily, both which localities are
alluded to as celebrated for the drug by Dioscorides and Pliny.
Saffron was an article of traffic on the Red Sea in the first century;
and the author of the Periplus remarks that Κρόκος is exported
from Egypt to Southern Arabia, and from Barygaza in the gulf of
Cambay.[2468] It was well known under the name _kunkuma_ to the earlier
Hindu writers.
It was cultivated at Derbend and Ispahan in Persia, and in Transoxania
in the 10th century,[2469] whence it is not improbable the plant was
carried to China, for according to the Chinese it came thither from the
country of the Mahomedans. Chinese writers have recorded that under the
Yuen dynasty (.D. 1280-1368), it became the custom to mix _Sa-fa-lang_
(Saffron) with food.[2470]
There is evidence to show that saffron was a cultivated production of
Spain[2471] as early as A.D. 961; yet it is not so mentioned, but only
as an eastern drug, by St. Isidore, archbishop of Seville in the 7th
century. As to France, Italy, and Germany, it is commonly said that the
saffron crocus was introduced into these countries by the Crusaders.
Porchaires, a French nobleman, is stated to have brought some bulbs to
Avignon towards the end of the 14th century, and to have commenced the
cultivation in the Comtat Venaissin, where it existed down to recent
times. About the same time, the growing of saffron is said to have been
introduced by the same person into the district of Gâtinais, south of
Paris.[2472] At that period, saffron was one of the productions of
Cyprus,[2473] with which island France was then, through the princes of
Lusignan, particularly related.
[2466] Chappellier has pointed out that _Crocus sativus_ L. is unknown
in a wild state, and that it hardly ever produces seed even though
artificially fertilized; and has argued from these facts that it is
probably a hybrid.—_Bulletin de la Soc. bot. de France_, xx. (1853) 191.
[2467] _Canticles_, ch. iv. 14.
[2468] Lassen, _Indische Alterthumskunde_, iii. (1857) 52.
[2469] Istachri, _Buch der Länder_, übersetzt von Mordtmann, 87. 93.
124. 126; Edrisi, _Géographie_, trad. par Jaubert, 168. 192.
[2470] Bretschneider, _Chinese Botanical Works_, Foochow, 1870. 15.
[2471] _Le Calendrier de Cordoue de l’année_ 961, Leyde, 1873. 33. 109.
[2472] Conrad et Waldmann, _Traité du Safran du Gâtinais_, Paris, 1846.
(23 pages;—no authority quoted).
[2473] De Mas Latrie, _Hist. de l’ile de Chypre_, iii. 498.
During the middle ages, the saffron cultivated at San Gemignano in
Tuscany was an important article of exportation to Genoa.[2474] That
of Aquila in the Abruzzi was also famous, and used to be distinguished
in price-lists till the beginning of the present century; the culture
of saffron is still going on there to a small extent.[2475] The growing
of saffron in Sicily, which was noticed even by Columella, is carried
on to the present day, but the quantity produced is insufficient
even for home consumption.[2476] In Germany and Switzerland, where
a more rigorous climate must have increased the difficulties of
cultivation, the production of saffron was an object of industry in
many localities.[2477]
The saffron crocus is said to have been introduced into England during
the reign of Edward III. (A.D. 1327-1377).[2478] Two centuries later
English saffron was even exported to the Continent, for in a priced
list of the spices sold by the apothecaries of the north of France,
A.D. 1565-70, mention is made of three sorts of saffron, of which
“_Safren d’Engleterre_” is the most valuable.[2479] It was evidently
produced in considerable quantities, for in 1682 we find in the tariff
of the “Apotheke” of Celle, Hanover, crocus austriacus optimus, and
_Crocus communis anglicus_.[2480]
In the beginning of the last century (1723-28), the cultivation
of saffron was carried on in what is described by a contemporary
writer[2481] as—“all that large tract of ground that lies between
Saffron Walden and Cambridge, in a circle of about 10 miles diameter.”
The same writer remarks that saffron was formerly grown in several
other counties of England. The cultivation of the crocus about Saffron
Walden, which was in full activity when Norden[2482] wrote in 1594, had
ceased in 1768, and about Cambridge at nearly the same time.[2483] Yet
the culture must have lingered in a few localities, for in the early
part of the present century a little English saffron was still brought
every year from Cambridgeshire to London, and sold as a choice drug to
those who were willing to pay a high price for it.
Saffron was employed in ancient times to a far greater extent than
at the present day. It entered into all sorts of medicines, both
internal and external; and it was in common use as a colouring and
flavouring ingredient of various dishes for the table,. The drug, from
its inevitable costliness, has been liable to sophistication from
the earliest times. Both Dioscorides and Pliny refer to the frauds
practised on it, the latter remarking—“_adulteratur nihil æquè_.”
During the middle ages the severest enactments were not only made,
but were actually carried into effect, against those who were guilty
of sophisticating saffron, or even of possessing the article in an
adulterated state. Thus at Pisa, in A.D. 1305, the _fundacarii_, or
keepers of the public warehouses, were required by oath and heavy
penalties to denounce the owners of any falsified saffron consigned to
their custody.[2484] The Pepperers of London about the same period were
also held responsible to check dishonest tampering with saffron.[2485]
[2474] Bourquelot, _Foires de la Champagne_, Mém. de l’Acad. des
inscript. et belles-lettres de l’Institut, v. (1865) 286.
[2475] Groves, _Pharm. Journ._ vi. (1875) 215.
[2476] Inzenga, in _Annali d’ Agricoltura Siciliana_, i. (1851) 51.
[2477] Tragus, _De Stirpium_, etc. 1552, p. 763; Ochs, _Geschichte der
Stadt und Landschaft Basel_, iii. (1819) 189.
[2478] Morant, _Hist. and Antiq. of Essex_, ii. (1768) 545.
[2479] The other sorts are “_Safren Calulome_” and “_Safren
Noort_.”—_Archives générales du Pas de Calais_, quoted by Dorvault,
_Revue pharmaceutique de 1858_. p. 58.
[2480] _Pharm. Journ._ vi. (1876) 1023.
[2481] Douglass, _Phil. Trans._ Nov. 1728. 566.
[2482] _Description of Essex_, Camden Society, 1840. 8.
[2483] Morant, _op. cit._; Lysons, _Magna Britannia_, vol. ii. pt. i.
(1808) 36. Lysons records that at Fulbourn, a village near Cambridge,
there had been no _tithe of saffron_ since 1774.
[2484] Bonaini, _Statuti inediti della città di Pisa dal xii. al xiv.
secolo_, iii. (1857) 101.
[2485] Riley, _Memorials of London and London Life in the 13th, 14th,
and 15th centuries_, 1868. 120.
In France, an edict of Henry II., of 18th March, 1550, recites the
advantages derived from the cultivation of saffron in many parts of
the kingdom, and enacts the confiscation and burning of the drug when
falsified, and corporal punishment of offenders.[2486]
The authorities in Germany were far more severe. A _Safranschau_
(Saffron inspection) was established at Nuremberg in 1441, in which
year 13 lb. of saffron was publicly burnt at the Schönen Brunnen
in that city. In 1444, Jobst Findeker was burnt together with his
adulterated saffron! And in 1456, Hans Kölbele, Lienhart Frey, and
a woman, implicated in falsifying saffron, were buried alive. The
_Safranschau_ was still in vigour as late as 1591: but new regulations
for the inspection of saffron were passed in 1613.[2487] There was also
in the same city a _Gewürzschau_, or Spice-inspection, from 1441 to
1797. Similar inspections were established in most German towns during
the middle ages.
=Description=—The flower of the saffron crocus has a style 3 to 4
inches long, which in its lower portion is colourless, and included
within the tube of the perianth. In its upper part it becomes yellow,
and divides into three tubular, filiform, orange-red stigmas, each
about an inch in length. The stigmas expand towards their ends, and
the tube of which they consist is toothed at the edge and slit on its
inner side. The stigma is the only part officinal, and alone is rich in
colouring matter.
Commercial saffron (_Hay Saffron_ of the druggists) is a loose mass of
thread-like stigmas, which when unbroken are united in threes at the
upper extremity of the yellow style. It is unctuous to the touch, tough
and flexible; of a deep orange-red, peculiar aromatic smell, and bitter
and rather pungent taste. It is hygroscopic and not easily pulverized;
it loses by drying at 100° C. about 12 per cent. of moisture, which it
quickly reabsorbs.[2488]
[2486] De la Mare, _Traité de la Police_, Paris, iii. (1719) 428.
[2487] J. F. Roth, _Geschichte des Nürnbergischen Handels_, 1800-1802,
iv. 221.
[2488] Eight lots of saffron weighing _in toto_ 61 lb., dried at
various times during the course of nine years, lost 7 lb. 2¼ oz.,
_i.e._ 11·7 per cent.—(Laboratory records of Messrs. Allen & Hanburys,
Plough Court, Lombard Street.)
The colouring power of saffron is very remarkable: we have found that
a single grain rubbed to fine powder with a little sugar will impart a
distinct tint of yellow to 700,000 grains (10 gallons) of water.
=Microscopic Structure=—The tissue of the stigma consists of very thin,
sinuous, closely-felted, thread-shaped cells, and small spiral vessels.
The yellow colouring matter penetrates the whole, and is partly
deposited in granules. The microscope likewise exhibits oil-drops, and
small lumps, probably of a solid fat. Large isolated pollen grains are
also present.
=Chemical Composition=—The splendid colouring matter of saffron has
long been known as _Polychroit_; but in 1851 Quadrat, who instituted
some fresh researches on the drug, gave it the name of _Crocin_, which
was also adopted in 1858 by Rochleder. Weiss in 1867[2489] has shown
that it is a glucoside, for which he retains the name of _Polychroit_,
while the new colouring matter which results from its decomposition he
terms _Crocin_. It agrees with the _Crocetin_ of Rochleder.
Polychroit was prepared by Weiss in the following manner: saffron was
treated with ether, by which fat, wax, and essential oil were removed;
and it was then exhausted with water. From the aqueous solution,
gummy matters and some inorganic salts were precipitated by strong
alcohol. After the separation of these substances, polychroit was
precipitated by addition of ether. Thus obtained, it is an orange-red,
viscid, deliquescent substance, which, dried over sulphuric acid,
becomes brittle and of a fine ruby colour. It has a sweetish taste,
but is devoid of odour, readily soluble in spirit of wine or water,
and sparingly in absolute alcohol. By dilute acids, it is decomposed
into _Crocin_, sugar, and an aromatic volatile oil having the smell of
saffron. Weiss gives the following formula for this decomposition:—
C₄₈H₆₀O₁₈ + H₂O = 2(C₁₆H₁₈O₆) · C₁₀H₁₄O · C₆H₁₂O₆.
polychroit crocin essential oil sugar
_Crocin_ is a red powder, insoluble in ether, easily soluble in
alcohol, and precipitable from this solution on addition of ether.
It is only slightly soluble in water, but freely in an alkaline
solution, from which an acid precipitates it in purple-red flecks.
Strong sulphuric and nitric acids occasion the same colours as with
polychroit; the former producing deep blue, changing to violet
and brown, and the latter green, yellow, and finally brown. It is
remarkable that hydrocarbons of the benzol class do not dissolve the
colouring matter of saffron.
The oil obtained by decomposing crocin is heavier than water; it boils
at about 209° C., and is easily altered,—even by water. It is probably
identical with the volatile oil obtainable to the extent of one per
cent. from the drug itself, and to which its odour is due.
Saffron contains sugar (glucose?), besides that obtained by the
decomposition of polychroit. The drug leaves after incineration 5 to 6
per cent. of ash.
=Production and Commerce=—In France the cultivation is carried on by
small peasant proprietors; the flowers are collected at the end of
September or in the beginning of October. The stigmas are quickly taken
out, and immediately dried on sieves over a gentle fire, to which they
are exposed for only half an hour. According to Dumesnil[2490] 7,000 to
8,000 flowers are required for yielding 500 grammes (17½ oz.) of fresh
saffron, which by drying is reduced to 100 grammes.
Notwithstanding the high price of saffron, its cultivation is by no
means always profitable, from the many difficulties by which it is
attended. Besides occasional injury from weather, the bulbs are often
damaged by parasitic fungi as stated by Duhamel in 1728[2491] and again
by Montagne in 1848.[2492]
[2489] Wiggers and Husemann, _Jahresbericht_ for 1868. 35.
[2490] _Bulletin de la Société impériale d’acclimatation_, Avril, 1869.
[2491] _Mém. de l’Acad. des Sciences_, 1728. p. 100.
[2492] _Etude micrographique de la maladie du Safran, connue sous le
nom de tacon._
The most considerable quantity of saffron is now produced in Spain,
namely in Lower Arragon, in Novelda near Alicante, in the province
Albacete (Northern Murcia), in La Mancha, near Huelva, and also near
Palma in the island of Mallorca. It is brought into commerce as
_Alicante_ and _Valencia Saffron_. The quantity of saffron exported
from Spain in 1864 was valued at £190,062; in 1865, £135,316; in 1866,
£47,083. The drug was chiefly exported to France.[2493]
French saffron, which enjoys a better reputation for purity than the
Spanish, is cultivated in the arrondissement of Pithiviers-en-Gâtinais,
in the department of the Loiret, which district annually furnishes a
quantity valued at 1,500,000 (£60,000) to 1,800,000 francs.[2494] The
exports of France in 1875 were 97,021 kilogrammes, 84,337 of which
being imported from Spain.
In Austria, Maissau, north-east of Krems on the Danube, still
produces excellent saffron, though only to a very small extent; the
district was formerly celebrated for the drug. Saffron is produced in
considerable quantity in Ghayn, an elevated mountain region separating
Western Afghanistan from Persia.[2495] A very little of inferior
quality is collected at Pampur in Kashmír, under heavy imposts of
the Maharaja.[2496] Saffron is also cultivated in some districts of
China. Finally, the cultivation has been introduced into the United
States, and a little saffron is collected by the German inhabitants of
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.[2497] But in almost all countries the
cultivation of saffron is on the decline, and in very many districts
has altogether ceased.
The imports of saffron into the United Kingdom amounted in 1870 to
43,950 lb., valued at £95,690. The article is largely exported to
India, but there are no general statistics to show the amount. Bombay
imported in the year 1872-73, 21,994 lb., value £35,115.[2498] It is a
curious fact that now Spanish saffron finds regularly its way to India.
=Uses=—Saffron is of no value for any medicinal effects, and retains
a place in the pharmacopœia solely on the ground of its utility as a
colouring agent. A peculiar preference for it as a condiment exists
in various countries, but especially in Austria, Germany and some
districts of Switzerland. This predilection prevails even in England—at
least in Cornwall, where the use of saffron for colouring cakes is
still common. Saffron is largely used by the natives of India in
religious rites, in medicine and for the colouring and flavouring of
food.
As a dye-stuff saffron is no longer employed, at least in this country,
its use having been superseded by less costly substances.
=Adulteration=—Saffron is often adulterated, but the frauds practised
on it are not difficult of detection. Sometimes the falsification
consists in the addition of florets of _Calendula_ dyed with logwood,
or of safflower, or the _stamens_ of the saffron crocus, any of which
may be detected if a small pinch of the drug be dropped on the surface
of warm water, when the peculiar form of the saffron stigma will at
once become evident.
[2493] _Statistical Tables relating to Foreign Countries_ (Blue Book)
1870. 286. 289.
[2494] Dumesnil, _l. c._
[2495] Bellew, _From the Indus to the Tigris_, Lond. 1874. 304.
[2496] Hügel, _Kaschmir_, ii. (1840) 274.—Powell, _Punjab Products_, i.
(1868) 449.—_Pharm. Journ._ vi. (1875) 279.
[2497] _Proc. of the American Pharm. Assoc._ 1866. 254.
[2498] _Annual Statement of the Trade and Navigation of the Presidency
of Bombay for 1872-73._ pt. ii. 30.
Another adulteration of late much practised, and not always easy to
detect by the eye, consists in coating genuine saffron with carbonate
of lime, previously tinged orange-red. If a few shreds of such saffron
be placed on the surface of water in a wineglass and gently stirred,
the water will _immediately_ become turbid, and the carbonate of
lime will detach itself as a white powder and subside. Saffron thus
adulterated will _freely effervesce_ when dilute hydrochloric acid is
dropped upon it. We have examined Alicante Saffron, the weight of which
had been increased more than 20 per cent. by this fraudulent admixture.
The earthy matter employed in sophisticating saffron is said to be
sometimes emery powder, rendered adherent by honey. We have found that
adulterated with carbonate of lime to leave from 12 to 28 per cent. of
ash.[2499]