Why is Saffron so expensive?

Why is Saffron so expensive?

Most of the spices are generally expensive. Saffron is also a spice which appears in reddish yellow color and it is known to possess lot of health benefits. Saffron offers a special flavor to the dishes to which it was added. The purple crocuses are the flowers from which saffron threads are harvested. About one acre of the crocuses flowers, one pound of saffron will be resulted. It is found that every crocus flower can generate only three saffron threads. It was estimated that 14000 saffron threads which have been generated from the dried stigmas of the crocus flowers will occupy one ounce of saffron.

The area that is necessary for growing saffron should be large enough and the product that results will be limited. Apart from this, several saffron threads combine to form a small quantity of saffron. In order to harvest few saffron threads it will be very labor intensive as a large area of land should be covered while growing the crop. Definitely, the cost of harvesting will be high and the crop also produces the saffron very scarcely. Due to its scarcity and labor intensive separation from stamens, saffron is more expensive. This crop is available in India, Spain, Greece, Turkey and few other countries. Saffron can be either made available in the market as threads or ground powder.

Saffron is used as an ingredient in perfumes, or in baths and as a dye. As its aroma is very intense, saffron is used in very less quantities. Saffron is also used for proper digestion, for recovering from stomach pains and other related problems. It can also cure fever, flu and helps in regulation of menstruation cycle in women. Some studies also tell that saffron has cancer preventing ability and consists of antioxidants. The extraordinary work that has to be done to separate the saffron threads from the dried stamens made it to be more expensive.