Saffron is one of the most valued and expensive spices on the planet. It has been used for centuries for medicinal, aesthetic and culinary purposes.
About 85% of its global mining occurs in Iran. There it is used both in cooking and for the production of medicines, dyes and perfumes.
Today, the spice is highly valued for its unique aromatic taste and distinctive color, but also for the health benefits it can bring to the body.
Besides being one of the most revered, saffron is also one of the oldest spices, and has been considered a valuable commodity and currency for thousands of years.
Its name comes from the Arabic word for yellow („zaffran“). In the past, this precious spice was traded throughout Eurasia and was a coveted possession of kings, Roman emperors and pharaohs who benefited from its properties as a powerful aphrodisiac and medicinal plant.
Even Cleopatra herself bathed in a bath of saffron milk. The high price of the spice is due to the intensive labor required to obtain it.
The plant is also a sterile triploid, meaning that saffron crocuses cannot reproduce or grow in the wild and thus require a cloning process to continue to develop.
#expensive #spice #desired #Roman #emperors #pharaohs
