COST Action FA1101, Omics Technologies for Crop Improvement, Traceability, Determination of Authenticity, Adulteration and Origin in Saffron www.saffronomics.org (to be translated) References Food Chemistry and Technology Lab School of Chemistry Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Greece
What is saffron? Name, origin Saffron is the spice which is produced by the dehydration process of parts of the flower( stigmas) of the plant Crocus sativus Linnaeus. Saffron is the most expensive spice (price per value) in the world. Although it is produced in a few countries (mostly Iran, India, Greece, Spain, Morocco), it is consumed all over the world. The high value in price is correlated with the production process which is laborious, by hand, and of low yield(1-2 kg/ht). Spices Are materials of strong aroma and taste, added to food in order to impart some unique characteristics in terms of odor, taste and colour to enhance their flavor and make them more palatable and attractive. Attributes It is a product of great culinary interest since is one of the few spices that affect both colour, aroma and taste. Colour The red colour of the stigmas is the result of the presence of a number of water soluble apocarotenoids, the crocins. Taste The characteristic slightly bitter taste is mainly attributed to picrocrocin Aroma The characteristic aroma is a result of the presence of safranal and other volatile compounds Safranal is sparingly soluble in water, extracted in alcoholic solutions. It is formed during the drying procedure as a result of acid or enzymatic hydrolysis of picrocrocin. Attention! High quantity of saffron do not necessarily ensure a better organoleptic result since small portions are enough to aromatise/colour food/drinks.. Crocins R 1, R 2 : different sugars Picrocrocin Safranal Saffron is used in alcoholic solutions eg ouzo, liqueurs etc Recipe : 0,125g of dry stigmas in 1L water
Beneficial health effects of saffron Results of the Ethno pharmacology, eating habits, scientific studies (in the fields of biology, chemistry, pharmacology and medicine) support the beneficial effects of the product that are related with frequent consumption of small portions of saffron. Different biological actions like antioxidant, neuro-protective, anti-atherosclerotic, cardio protective, anti-depressing, anti-epileptic and more are attributed to the activity of crocins. Food uses Recipes for High School students Saffron is used as a spice in many known traditional dishes e.g. Risotto Milanese in Italy, paella in Spain, French soups, traditional sweets and bread in Greece, several liqueurs, vermouths, milk products and herbal teas. (Different recipes can be proposed according to the national cuisine of every country) The way of use is a matter of creativity and imagination All the above require the use of the AUTHENTIC product since saffron can be usually adulterated in the international market! e.g. Products branded as saffron but.. They are not (yellow saffron, turmeric e.t.c) They include foreign physical colorants like carminic acid or artificial like tratrazine e.t.c Additionally, other colorants are sold in the market with misleading names like:indian saffron, safflower
Krokos Kozanis In Greece, the plant Crocus sativus Linn. is cultivated in 20 villages of Western Makedonia in Kozani region, in a traditional way for more than a century. The saffron production is based on traditional methods that demand effort and patience. The producers (1000 members-families) form at the moment the Saffron Cooperative of Kozani, an organization that has overall responsibility for Krokos Kozanis trading and that returns profit to the producers. Krokos Kozanis is a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product since 1999 The PDO is for products closely associated with the area whose name they bear. To be eligible to use PDO, a product must meet two conditions: the quality or characteristics of the product must be essentially or exclusively due to the particular geographical environment of the place of origin; the production and processing of the raw materials, up to the stage of the finished product, must take place in the defined geographical area whose name the product bears. Greece is the 1 st producer country of saffron in the European Union and the 3 rd in the world (after Iran and India) 2-3 tn/year 2000 acres conventional cultivation 1000 acres biological cultivation 6 year yield: 6 kg/acre Prospects of occupation with the cultivation and processing of Krokos Kozanis- entrepreneurship development, innovation For new producers -exploitation of subsidized programs for herbs cultivation (possibility of renting fields, operating support eg purchase bulbs - Subscribe to Cooperative-training on aspects on cultivation and processing of the product - vertical integration - use the final product as an ingredient for the development of new ones Vertical integration can ensure the continuation of saffron cultivation in the region and increase the new producers income For new processors - ability to develop new products based on saffron from Kozani or other areas of Greece - collaboration with the Saffron Cooperative of Kozani to supply raw material with certified quality Local food manufacturing companies are already active in the production of e.g. beverages or dishes with Krokos Kozanis
Cultivation and production of Krokos Kozanis Saffron derives from the plant Crocus sativus L. that belongs to the Iridacae family. It is a sterile triploid, propagated by corms. It is perennial and blooms in autumn. Its leaves are filamentous. Its height ranges from 10 to 25 cm. Its violet flowers consist of 6 tepals. In the center of the flower there are 3 red filaments-stigmas which after the drying process give saffron. July-August Corms collectionplanting May-June Cleaning of the field October- November Flower collection Stigma: section of the aerial part of the pistil, dark red in colour and trumpet shaped Style: part of the pistil between the stigma and the ovary Plant processing for saffron production is divided into 3 steps: 1) Winnowing stigmas from tepals with semiautomatic techniques. 2) Drying of the fresh plant material on paper or silk on special frames. A special room for the drying of the flowers is used. The temperature should be kept within the region of 35 45 C while the relative humidity should not overcome the 50%. The total time for the drying depends on the room dimensions, the conditions of temperature and relative humidity as well as the frame loading 3) Sorting of stigmas from the stamens and the remaining floral matter is a crucial stage of the processing. After the sorting, the producers send their crop to the Cooperative where the commercialization starts. The last years Krokos Kozanis is sold only packed and marketed in small packs of stigmas (1, 2, 4 and 28 g) or in powder (0,5 g). The product is classified at the highest quality category according to the colour and other physicochemical properties (ISO 3632-1:2011) The Greek way of processing does not expose the product to direct light which is the main factor for the decomposition of the carotenoid pigments in saffron. Crucial stage of the processing for the production of a high quality product ISO (International Organization for Standardization) Creates and publishes industrial and commercial standards for quality. Especially for saffron a standard (ISO 3632) which establishes the specifications and the test quality and authenticity methods has been created
This brochure was developed in the frame of the COST Action FA 1101: SaffronOmics for familiarization of secondary school pupils from Greece with saffron and in particular, with Krokos Kozanis properties This COST Action addresses coordinated research on Saffron-OMICS for crop improvement, traceability, and determination of authenticity, adulteration and origin to provide new insights that will lead a sound Saffron Bio- Economy. Research groups involved in this COST Action join experience in different plant sciences. They will combine and focus their efforts on a variety of scientific objectives toward main challenges found in the Saffron crop. Novel concepts on genomics such as genotyping will be exploited. New, parallel data acquisition technologies in metabolomics and large-scale phytochemistry have effectively changed bottlenecks in crop & food research, from data acquisition to data interpretation. This brochure was edited by Evangelia Pouliou, MSc student Anastasia Kyriakoudi, MSc, PhD candidate, Stella Ordoudi, Dr., Researcher, WG3 co-leader Maria Tsimidou, Professor, Chair of the COST FA 1101 Action Laboratory of Food Chemistry & Technology School of Chemistry Aristotle University of Thessaloniki 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece Tel: +30 2310997796 / Fax: +30 2310997847 e-mail: Tsimidou@chem.auth.gr Part of the material used in this brochure was kindly provided by the Cooperative of Saffron Producers in Kozani