The American Botanical Council published its downloadable Botanical Adulterants Prevention Bulletin on Saffron and Saffron Extracts. This comprehensive bulletin discusses the adulteration of Saffron, the world’s priciest spice, with a wealth of background information and other botanical information. The paper describes uses in cosmetics, food, and medicine, the market for Saffron, its bioactive components, and its adulterants. These may consist of additional Saffron crocus plant parts, beet root, fruit peels, calendula, corn filaments, cayenne pepper, ground seeds, hibiscus, synthetic dyes for color, and chemicals to increase weight. Several methods of detection like microscopy, water solubility test, chromatography, spectroscopic methods and more are described in the paper.

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Picture Credit Susanne Kuehne

Posted on 9 May 2022