#4: Saffron
Extract
Virtually
all saffron is produced in a wide geographical belt extending from the
Mediterranean in the west to Kashmir in the east.
The
high cost of saffron is due to the difficulty of manually extracting
large numbers of minute stigmas; the only part of the crocus with the
desired properties of aroma and flavour. In addition, a large number of
flowers need to be processed in order to yield marketable amounts of
saffron.
A pound of dry saffron
(0.45 kg)
requires the harvesting of
some 50,000 flowers, the equivalent of a football pitch's area of
cultivation.
Saffron's
folkloric uses as an
herbal medicine are legendary. It was used for its carminative
(suppressing cramps and flatulence) and emmenagogic (enhancing
pelvic blood flow) properties.
Medieval
Europeans used saffron to treat respiratory infections and disorders
such as coughs and common colds, scarlet fever, smallpox, cancer,
hypoxia, and asthma.
Other
targets included blood
disorders, insomnia, paralysis, heart diseases, flatulence, stomach
upsets and disorders, gout, chronic uterine haemorrhage, dysmorrhea,
amenorrhea (absence of menstrual period), baby colic, and eye disorders.
For
ancient Persians and Egyptians, saffron was also an aphrodisiac, a
general-use antidote against poisoning, a digestive stimulant, and a
tonic for dysentery and measles
Initial
research suggests that carotenoids present in saffron are
anticarcinogenic (cancer-suppressing), [9] anti-mutagenic
(mutation-preventing), and immunomodulatory properties.
Dimethylcrocetin, the compound responsible for these effects, counters
a wide range of murine (rodent) tumours and human leukaemia cell
lines.
Saffron
extract also delays
ascites tumour growth, delays papilloma carcinogenesis, inhibits
squamous cell carcinoma, and decreases soft tissue sarcoma incidence in
treated mice
Besides
wound-healing and
anticancer properties, saffron is also an antioxidant.
This
means that, as an "anti-aging"
agent, it
neutralises
free radicals.
