Saffron

Information

Saffron is a plant of the iris family. It is obtained from dried crocus flowers. The most valuable component of saffron is the pistils with stigmas enclosed in a light purple flower. The threads obtained from the stigmas have a characteristic bright red color with a golden glow. The largest saffron growing areas are in Turkey, India, Iran and Spain, and one of the most valuable harvests comes from Valencia.

Saffron smells a little like honey with a hint of bitterness. It also has a woody, resinous, leathery, spicy and dark profile. Very often it is used in leather compositions with oud and rose. This combination is very popular, especially in perfumes from the Middle East. A synthetic equivalent of saffron, known as saffrein (Givaudan) or saffronal, isolated from natural saffron, is used in perfumery and is approved. Natural saffron is banned in perfumery because it can cause allergies.