Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SAFFRON (Arab. za'faran)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 999 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

SAFFRON (Arab. za'faran) , a product manufactured from the dried stigmas and See also:part of the See also:style of the saffron See also:crocus, a cultivated See also:form of Crocus sativus; some of the See also:wild forms (See also:var. Thomasii, Cartwrightianus) are also employed for the manufacture. The See also:purple See also:flower, which blooms See also:late in autumn, is very similar to that of the See also:common See also:spring crocus, and the stigmas, which are protruded from the perianth, are of a characteristic See also:orange-red See also:colour. The See also:fruit is rarely formed. The Egyptians, though acquainted with the See also:bastard See also:safflower, do not seem to have possessed saffron; but it is named in See also:Canticles iv. 14 among other sweet-smelling herbs. It is also repeatedly mentioned (Kp&KOS) by See also:Homer, See also:Hippocrates and other See also:Greek writers; and the word " See also:crocodile " was See also:long supposed to have been derived from Kpoios and Set?os, whence we have such stories as that " the crocodile's tears are never true See also:save when he is forced where saffron groweth " (See also:Fuller's Worthies). It has long been cultivated in See also:Persia and See also:Kashmir, and is supposed to have been introduced into See also:China by the Mongol invasion. It is mentioned in the See also:Chinese materia medica (See also:Pun tsaou, 1552-1578). The See also:chief seat of cultivation in See also:early times, however, was the See also:town of Corycus (See also:modern Korghoz) in See also:Cilicia, and from this central point of See also:distribution it may not improbably have spread See also:east and See also:west. According to Hehn, the town derived its name from the crocus; Reymond, on the other See also:hand, with more See also:probability, holds that the name of the See also:drug arose from that of the town. It was cultivated by the See also:Arabs in See also:Spain about 961, and is mentioned in an See also:English See also:leech-See also:book of the loth See also:century, but seems to have disappeared from western See also:Europe till reintroduced by the crusaders.

According to See also:

Hakluyt, it was brought into See also:England from See also:Tripoli by a See also:pilgrim, who hid a stolen corm in the hollow of his See also:staff. It was especially cultivated near See also:Hinton in See also:Cambridgeshire and in See also:Essex at Saffron See also:Walden, its cultivators being called " crokers." Saffron was used as an ingredient in many of the complicated medicines of early times. That it was very largely used in See also:cookery is evidenced by many writers; thus Laurenbergius (Apparatus plantarum, 1632) makes the large assertion " In te familiari vix ullus est telluris habitatus angulus ubi non sit croci quotidiana usurpatio aspersi vel incocti cibis." The Chinese used also to employ it largely, and the Persians and Spaniards still mix it with their See also:rice. As a perfume it was strewn in Greek halls, courts and theatres, and in the Romaa See also:baths. The 'streets of See also:Rome were sprinkled with saffron when See also:Nero made his entry into the See also:city. It was, however, mainly used as a dye. It was a royal colour in early Greek times, though afterwards, perhaps from its abundant use in the baths and as a scented salve, it was especially appropriated by the hetairae. In See also:ancient See also:Ireland a See also:king's See also:mantle was dyed with saffron, and even down to the 17th century the " lein-croich," or saffron-dyed See also:shirt, was worn by persons of See also:rank in the See also:Hebrides. In See also:medieval See also:illumination it furnished, as a glaze upon burnished tinfoil, a cheap and effective substitute for See also:gold. The sacred spot on the forehead of a See also:Hindu See also:pundit is also partly composed of it. Its See also:main use in Englandwas to colour pastry and See also:confectionery, and it is still used for this purpose in some parts of the See also:country (notably See also:Cornwall). One See also:grain of saffron rubbed to See also:powder with See also:sugar and a little See also:water imparts a distinctly yellow tint to ten gallons of water.

This colouring See also:

power is due to the presence of polychlorite, a substance whose chemical See also:formula appears to be C42H60O12, and which may be obtained by treating saffron with See also:ether, and afterwards exhausting with water. Under acids it yields the following reaction C421160018+H20 2C16H1906+C10H140+C6H1206. Polychlorite. Crocin. Essential oil. Sugar. Crocin, according to See also:Watts, Dict. of Chem., has a See also:composition of C29H42O16 or CssH420ao. This crocin is a red colouring See also:matter, and it is surmised that the red colour of the stigmas is due to this reaction taking See also:place in nature. Saffron is chiefly cultivated in Spain, See also:France, See also:Sicily, on the See also:lower spurs of the See also:Apennines and in Persia and Kashmir. The ground has to be thoroughly cleared of stones, manured and trenched, and the corms are planted in ridges. The See also:flowers are gathered at the end of See also:October, in the early See also:morning, just when they are beginning to open after the See also:night. The stigmas and a part of the style are carefully picked out, and the wet saffron is then scattered on sheets of See also:paper to a See also:depth of 2 or 3 in.; over this a See also:cloth is laid, and next a See also:board with a heavy See also:weight.

A strong See also:

heat is applied for about two See also:hours so as to make the saffron " sweat," and a gentler temperature for a further See also:period of twenty-four hours, the cake being turned every See also:hour so that every part is thoroughly dried. This is known as cake saffron to distinguish it from See also:hay saffron, which consists merely of the dried stigmas. The drug has naturally always been liable to See also:great See also:adulteration in spite of penalties, the severity of which suggests the surviving tradition of its sacred See also:character. Thus in See also:Nuremberg a See also:regular saffron inspection was held, and in the 15th century we read of men being burned in the See also:market-place along with their adulterated saffron, while on another occasion three persons convicted of the same See also:crime were buried alive. Grease and See also:butter are still very frequently mixed with the cake, and shreds of See also:beef dipped in saffron water are also used. See also:Good saffron has a deep orange-red colour; if it is See also:light yellow or blackish, it is See also:bad or too old.

End of Article: SAFFRON (Arab. za'faran)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SAFFLOWER (ultimately from the Arabic safra, yellow... 		[next]
SAFFRON WALDEN

Site © 2006 - Net Industries