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Saffron Red Gold Spice of Kashmir / crocus sativus kesar

Crocus Sativus online - AlphonsoMango.in

Crocus Sativus online

Crocus Sativus Online

We get the spice saffron from Crocus sativus or saffron crocus flower, a plant from the Iridaceae family. 

 Crocus Sativus Buy Online 

The term autumn crocus is also used to refer to a flower similar to the Colcigam. It is a perennial plant.

Colchicum is poisonous. Crocus has three pollen and three styles, while Colcigams has six pollen and one style. They belong to a different family called Colgicase.

Humans have been growing this autumn flowering plant for over 3,500 years. It is known to grow in the Mediterranean, the Iran-Duranian area, and East Asia.

Manual plant breeding is vital for producing this plant because it is a triploid, self-compatible, and male. Thus, it is unable to grow crops.

The inability to reproduce on its supports the guess that a mutant is moved downward/originated from Carthage.

Crocus Sativus Saffron

The saffron corms should be planted in a pot at 4-inches apart with a depth of 4 inches. This flower grows best in full sun in well-drained soil.

There is an increase in production each year, lasting for 3-5 years. Its high retail value of it is due to manual labor collecting methods.

200000 stigmas are obtained from 70,000 crocus flowers for every 1 pound of this spice. It takes 40 hours of intense work to hand pluck 150,000 flowers.

About 150 flowers give 1 gram of dry saffron. Twelve grams require 1 lb of flowers. 1 pound yields 0.2 ounces of dry spice.

Growing zone for this spice

Most of it grows east to west, from Kashmir to Spain. In 2014, 250 tons were only produced worldwide. 90-93% of worldwide production is from Iran.

Other names of saffron are Autumn Crocus, Asafron, Flaky roll stigma, Crocus, Indian Saffron, Cashmere Saffron, Saffron Crocus Crocus Sativus, Saffron, Saffron Espagnol, Sauphran Desfus Indus.

Health Benefits of Crocus Sativus

It is used to cure breathing diseases, coughs, and even whooping cough. It can help you avoid sleep problems, cancer, depression, brain disease, hemoptysis, pain, heartburn, and dry skin.

Women use saffron for menstrual cramps and premenstrual disease (PMS). Men use it to prevent premature ejaculation and barrenness.

AntioxidantsThis wonder spice is packed with antioxidants. These help in battling oxidative stress caused by the free radical cells present in the body.

As a result, it keeps cancer at bay!

  1. Improves memory

This spice is known to counter cognitive deficits resulting from age. It also helps in improving memory in Alzheimer's' patients.

  1. Improves eyesight

This spice is very reliable for people wanting to reduce or eliminate the vision loss that results from aging. It also helps cure eye diseases.

  1. Stress management

Many people use this spice as a way to combat stress. It has many carotenoids, which can improve our natural disease-fighting system and reduce stress.

It also supports the secretion of brain chemicals. Thus you can use it to relax their mood and reduce and eliminate stress.

  1. Helps against depression

Medicine is one way to treat depression. However, many avoid these drugs because they have many side effects. 

You can't expect side effects, but you can use this as an effective natural cure. It has alpha-crocin and saffron, which are compounds that can manage stress.

  1. Anti-inflammation

Another reason you should use this spice is that it has anti-inflammatory agents. It also reduces swelling in the lungs. With the help of these properties, you can improve heart health for all ages.

  1. Improves heart

This spice helps battle cholesterol and blood pressure. It lowers the sugar level in the body.

It helps you reduce stress and relax. It improves sleep. This helps improve heart health.

Crocus Sativus in Hindi

In Hindi, it is called Keshar or Kesar.

Crocus Sativus in Marathi

In Hindi, it is called Keshar.

Checking Quality

This expensive spice is called red gold because of its luxurious color and flavor. It's an extraordinary flavor that's incomparable.

Its cultivation is time-intensive and complicated. Its production is not so easy. It should be dry to prevent mold and prolong the shelf life of the threads.

Once dried, it is ready for packaging and sale. Fresh saffron refers to threads younger than a year. 

Not all available varieties are carefully thought about/believed to be of the same high quality.

Since it is costly, you should be extra careful when buying this spice. It has a lot to offer. You can use it in different fancy dishes.

It improves the taste and color of foods and acts as a natural preservative. It has many health virtues.

The following are some ways you can test the quality of this spice.

  1. Taste: Original spice tastes bitter. Take a thread and taste it. If it's sweet, it's probably fake.
  2. Smell: This spice has hay or honey scents. Any other fragrance is a mark of impurity.
  3. Color: Original products shouldn't lose their color. Soak a few stigmas in water. If the stigmas dye the water red or orange but lose color, they're fake.
  4. Water-soluble: Original product dyes water, but it is NOT water-soluble.

Indian Saffron

This spice has earned a GI tag. A GI tag, like creative commons, grants the seller special rights. This tag is also a hallmark of quality.

In India, this spice is grown only in Kashmir. In the state, Pampore is known as the Kesar-town or Saffron town because almost all of the land is used to cultivate this spice.

If your spice is from Kashmir, know it's of the best quality.

Grades decide the quality of this spice. They are as follows:

  • Grade 1 A+ Stigmas only. It is also known as 'All Red.'
  • Grade 2 A It includes the yellow-white style ends of the stigma along with the stigmas.
  • Grade 3 B It includes the entire style and the stigma, all attached.

This is an expensive spice whose sale witnesses many malpractices.

You can make sure you buy Kashmiri Kesar the most authentic and exorbitant quality without being conned or scammed with this information.

Crocus Sativus in Hindi

It is called क्रोकस सटिवस in Hindi. It is Keshar, Kesar कश्मीरी केशर or Kashmiri Kesar.

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Mongra Saffron Laccha - AlphonsoMango.in

Mongra Saffron Laccha

Mongra Saffron Laccha

Mongra Saffron Laccha, which comes from Crocus sativus or the flower of saffron, is the world's most expensive spice. Its fibers are red styles and floral stains that are dried and collected over time.

Mongra Saffron

It gets its second-to-none flavor and straw-like smell from chemicals such as safranal and picrocrocin. The golden yellow color is because of crocin- a carotenoid color.

Mongra Saffron Price

Crocus sativus is a plant that blooms in autumn. Its once-a-year production is about 16000 kg.

In India, 5,707 hectares of land are used to grow this spice. 

The climate of Kashmir is ideal for the production of this spice.

The state's cold winters and warm, dry summers make it an ideal production site.

It develops inside crocus blossoms and should be picked by hand - a troublesome, tiring, complicated project.

For one gram of saffron, you need around 400 flowers! Its extended, red saffron threads have the most flavor, so the odds of each bloom bringing the ideal item are slim.

Each flower creates just three stigmas, so it will take around 75,000 blossoms to make a single pound of this spice.

Kashmiri Saffron Kesar

The Indian version of this flavorful spice has a pot with a curved top. Indian saffron is exclusively grown in Kashmir. It is a top-tier producer of this spice globally. Most of the land in the state is used to cultivate the herb.

Kashmiri Mongra Saffron

Saffron, produced in Pampore, a district 15 km from Srinagar, is considered the best quality of saffron. Pampore is known as the Saffron Town of India.

This spice is grown in Kishtwar as well. Pampore and areas around it produce about 2,128 kg each year. Kashmir saffron has three types: Laccha, Mongra saffron, and Zarda saffron. Mongra or Mogra saffron has stigmas that are dried in the sun. Mongra, with a yellowish tinge, is known for its high quality.

Red threads of mongra are the finest in this spice.

Saffron Kashmir Mongra

Zarda is the tail end part of the red filaments of the saffron flower.

Lacha saffron, with its spots, is separated from the flowers and is dried without processing. It falls in the grade 4 category. The three long and flat dark red threads with the yellowish-red tail in flower are called Laccha.

No other substance is added to this type, making it a natural flavoring and coloring agent in different food products. It is used in Ayurvedic medicine as it provides many health benefits. 

A kilogram contains eight hundred grams of Mogra Kesar, one hundred and seventy-five grams of yellow-red threads, Zarda, and twenty-five grams of flowers' dust. Kashmiri kind is among the most used varieties in various dishes for its flavor, aroma, and coloring properties.

Many cosmetics and beauty products use it too. This spice is one of the costliest spices in the world. It is called Gold Spice since it is costlier than gold.

No wonder people try to copy it and make money with less effort. You should know the following before you buy this spice:

  • The quality of this spice is determined by the three antioxidants present in them. These antioxidants are:
  1. Safranal - the spice gets its unique aroma from this element.
  2. Crocin- this property lends the spice that dark, rich red hue.
  3. Picocrocin- this element is responsible for the flavor of this spice.
  • Its fibers have a trumpet shape. The spice keeps its trumpet shape regardless of the collection process.
  • If you soak some strands in water, the genuine product would dye the water and stay the same color for 10 to 15 minutes. After 30 minutes, it'd start to turn orange. The fake kind immediately turns dark orange and darkens when put underwater in water.
  • Genuine product dyes the liquid, but its color never fades. It does not turn white or pale.
  • Genuine product has a sweet aroma but a bitter taste. The strands taste as bitter as tobacco.
  • Strands of this spice are not soluble in water. The strands dye water, but they do not dissolve in it.

This expensive spice is usually added to a cup of warm milk and some dry fruit to make Kesar Doodh. This beverage helps treat insomnia.

Storage: Store it in a slightly cold and dry spot to ensure wellbeing. Try not to freeze it and keep it away from direct daylight.

Saffron for Biryani

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