Do you love saffron color? Or are you just looking for the taste and aroma of saffron in your food? The task of the first category is clear, but if you are looking for excellent taste and aroma, favorable color, lower cost and the same properties as saffron, we invite you to use saffron root.
What is the root of saffron
Let us clarify something for you first. This root is not the root you think.
Saffron root or saffron cream is actually the end part of saffron stigma, which is called by this name, so the main root of saffron is under the soil.
The saffron flower has six purple petals and three yellow stamens attached to the stem. By separating the petals, we can see the part of the stigma, which includes three red branches and is connected to the end of the white stigma. This yellowish white part is called cream or saffron root.
If the stigma of saffron remains attached to the white part (root) when separating (filling) saffron and it is arranged in bunches on top of each other, it is called dochterpich saffron or bunches. If the red stigma of saffron is arranged separately, it is the original and high quality saffron.
Be careful!!
Some brokers dye the root and sell it as a stigma that this type of saffron does not have proper coloring and is not of good quality and is very harmful to health.
Properties of saffron root
Like its stigma, saffron root contains vitamins B1, B2, B6 and C, mineral elements such as iron, manganese and calcium, but it has less amount of these substances than the stigma. It should be said that unlike the red strands of saffron, the root has a lower amount of crocin and therefore has a lower coloring because crocin is the main factor in saffron coloring.
As a result, it cannot be used in the prevention and treatment of eye diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and improving memory, which are curative cases of crocin, but because it has other useful substances in the stigma, it can be used to treat mood disorders, including:
- depression
- Invigorating
- Eliminating bad breath
- Refreshing the skin
- Strengthening sexual powers
- Improving heart and liver function
Saffron root is also stomach and bladder tonic.
What is the use of saffron root
Saffron root has the same properties as saffron, although in a smaller amount, and it can be used when the coloring of saffron is not considered and only the therapeutic properties of saffron are considered. Using it instead of saffron in such cases is also economical. Because saffron root is offered at a lower price than Negin saffron.
Saffron root can be used in the preparation of foods that only have the taste and aroma of saffron, such as bottom of the pot, sweets, soups, stews, syrups, and teas that we add other colored ingredients.
In addition to the beneficial therapeutic uses of saffron root, it is used in various industries such as pharmaceuticals, chocolate making, and cosmetics.