Saffron, the most expensive spice, traded by weight, is native to Southwest Asia. It is said to have been cultivated in Greece first. The spice is dried and then sold as a food and beverage colorant and seasoning. The high cost of this spice can be attributed to the difficulty in manually extracting the large number of minute stigmas.


Trade in Saffron
Global Scenario
Iran, Spain, India, Greece, Azerbaijan, Morocco and Italy are major saffron spice producing countries. It is also used for fabric dyeing in China and India. Germany, Italy, U.S.A, Switzerland, U.K, and France are the largest saffron importing countries. Iran and Spain produce approximately 85% of the total world crop.

Indian Scenario
Kashmir is one of the biggest saffron producing area in India. The quality of Indian saffron is as good as that of Iran and thus is highly sought in the international market. Sangla Valley in Himachal Pradesh has the ideal agro-climatic conditions to grow saffron plants and thus is being explored as the next major Indian production centre for saffron.

Uses of Saffron
Food seasoning
Popularly used to colour and flavor quite a few cuisines especially Indian. It is used as a flavor in beverages and other eatable products.

Coloring Agent
Popularly used to color food and beverages

Medicinal Use
Saffron has been used in traditional medicine system and also the modern medicine system. Its anti carcinogenic cancer-suppressing, anti-mutagenic mutation-preventing, immunomodulating, and antioxidant-like properties makes it useful in the formulation of quite a few medicines.

It is also used for domestic consumption as a natural dye and for its medicinal properties.