how do identify genuine and fake saffron?
By reading this article, you will never buy fake saffron
Saffron is known as one of the most expensive spices in the world and Iran is the largest producer of high-quality saffron in the world. We have also made this easier by producing and exporting Super Negin TIDA saffron to all parts of the world. This article is published to deal with counterfeit saffron.
Saffron, or red gold, is an expensive foodstuff, and its cultivation in the agricultural sector is considered a valuable business. One of the problems in trading and buying and selling saffron is to recognize its authenticity.
By knowing the methods of distinguishing genuine saffron from fake, you can stop fraudulent sellers from profiteering.
High-quality saffron can be identified based on physical appearance, taste, aroma, and contact, extraction, and baking soda tests.
Using saffron to prepare food is good because of its color, aroma, and taste, which makes it tasty and gives better results in cooking the desired food. Maybe by using fake saffron it is possible to apply color to food to some extent, using saffron like aroma, taste and color, you cannot expect the positive effects of eating saffron from its fake type. Saffron is joyful and can affect a person’s better mood, so stay ahead to recognize the original saffron.
In this article, we have described six ways to recognize the original saffron so that you can easily recognize the original saffron.
What are the characteristics of high-quality saffron?
✓ Pure saffron is obtained from the stigmas of the saffron flower.
✓ The smell of saffron is sweet and something like a combination of the smell of honey, alfalfa, vanilla and tobacco.
✓ Contrary to its smell, the taste of saffron is not sweet and it is bitter.
✓ The appearance of its threads is somewhat trumpet-shaped, in the sense that the beginning of the threads (which are the saffron head) is slightly wider than the end (which reaches the cream of the saffron flower stigma).
What are the symptoms of fake saffron?
✓ Fake saffron can be obtained from corn silk threads, dried beef, safflower plant, coconut threads or even dyed horse hair and shredded paper.
✓ Its smell may be sweet (but note that this sweet smell does not necessarily mean that saffron is original).
✓ Its taste is sweet, because they usually add some honey or sugar to fake saffron to increase its weight.
✓ It has an unclear and messy appearance, and its threads may be crushed or powdered.
What are the ways to identify counterfeit saffron?
1) Saffron taste: Saffron does not have a sweet taste
2) Saffron smell: Saffron smell is sweet (like honey and vanilla) It also has a strong smell
3) Saffron color: Saffron coloring has a slow speed
4) Touch of saffron:
- Saffron is not greasy (you can also try this by putting saffron on paper).
- If you hold saffron between your fingers, it will not become powder.
- Saffron is produced in orange between wet fingers
5) Saffron: Saffron is not shiny
6) Price: Meager price is usually a sign of counterfeiting
With these 6 cases, you can detect counterfeit saffron, but if you still have doubts about these cases, read the rest of the article.
Test for more professionals! :
first stage :
There is an old and simple experiment to determine the originality of saffron. To perform this experiment, we need one or more types of saffron, a little baking soda as a benchmark, and a little water.
second stage :
To start with the number of saffron we have, prepare a cup and fill the cup halfway with water. For example, if we have three different types of saffron, we prepare three cups. Then pour half a teaspoon of baking soda into each cup.
third level :
At this stage, stir with a small spoon of baking soda to dissolve completely in water. Next, from each model of saffron, add some to the cups and mix again with a small spoon to color the saffron.
Step 4:
Now set the cups aside and let the saffron color come out completely. After a while, we check the cups, if the watercolor is golden yellow, it means that our saffron is original and of high quality.
Step 5:
If the color of saffron is too orange, it means that unnatural colors are used and our saffron is counterfeit. Before this experiment, you may have thought that the dense orange color of saffron is the main reason.
Step 6:
Of course, if we buy saffron from well-known companies and reputable brands, we will no longer have to worry that our saffron is counterfeit. TIDA Saffron, by producing Super Negin saffron (the best saffron in Iran), has provided this for the import of saffron safely.
We must consider 3 points in determining the quality of saffron:
1. Real saffron smells sweet, but its taste is not sweet at all.
2. When you rub it between your wet fingers, it develops an orange/red/yellow color.
3. When the price of saffron is cheaper and far from reality, it is probably fake.
What about counterfeit saffron in the market?
Plastic saffron:
This type of counterfeit saffron dissolves in water
Counterfeit corn kernels:
It does not look like real saffron and is made from corn noodles
Safflower plant:
It is a plant that is used in cooking due to its similarity to the fake saffron market.
What is the shape of original and first-class saffron?
- If we look at saffron very carefully, the shape of the string at the top of its branches should be horny
- Negin saffron The strands are separated exactly from the triangulation of the stigma and are almost the same size and shape.
- The stigmas are completely separated.
- Saffron stigma is white and completely red without particles
- Do not stick together.
- Its color is all red
- Saffron stigma strands are thick
You should also consider some points regarding the storage of saffron. Keep saffron away from light, heat and humidity, and especially if you store saffron in powdered form, put it in a closed glass or plastic container so that air does not enter it. If the storage conditions of saffron are not suitable, the saffron essence evaporates, the composition of the cream is kept for a shorter period of time, and it may lose its medicinal effects to some extent.
At TIDA Saffron, we provide the best Iranian saffron, which is Super Negin TIDA saffron, with high-quality tests and quality parameters for export to various countries.