SAFFRON is the most expensive spice in the world. It is mainly cultivated in countries such as Iran, Spain, Italy, Greece, Morocco, India and Turkey. Historically, saffron is dubbed as ‘red gold’ and is believed to have been discovered during Bronze age Greece.
If you make a quick search on e-commerce platforms, you would find that 1g of saffron, which equals roughly one loosely packed tablespoon, is priced up to RM 100. In Malaysia, saffron is said to be generally priced between RM28,000 and RM32,000 per kilogramme.
So what makes saffron so expensive? The high cost of saffron is attributed to its labor-intensive method of extraction. Saffron threads are the stigmas of a purple flower named Crocus sativus, also known as Saffron Crocus. Each flower only has three stigmas.
Hence, it takes around 150 flowers to make 1g of the dried spice. Moreover, the stigmas only can be extracted manually by hand due to the delicate nature of the flower and the flowers are only usable when harvested shortly after the flowers have bloomed.
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In the food world, saffron is used for its complex nuanced flavour and fragrance as well as a natural yellow dye. It is classically used in rice dishes, curries, and desserts.
It is a powerful spice with high levels of antioxidant, antidepressant, and neuroprotectant properties which are derived from pigments present in saffron such as crocin (which is the main pigment), crocetin, and safranal. They help to combat Alzheimer’s, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases, reduce premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms, and more.
Therefore, there has been a long-time need to economically recapitulate saffron. Researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia have recently discovered a method to naturally yield pigments found in saffron by harnessing genes from Gardenia jasminoides, an ornamental plant from traditional Chinese medicine that has a small amount of crocin and related compounds in the flowers which are easier to obtain.
The genes are then engineered into tissue cultures of different plant species to establish a sustainable plant cell factory for crocin production.
The researchers have used this biotechnological approach to successfully cultivate the spice in cultured lemon lumps and leaves of a tobacco relative.
This technique can be applied to other crops such as rice, which will make plausible an exciting avenue where the taste, aroma, and benefits of saffron will be accessible even by poorer communities through economically produced crocin-rich functional foods.
“The ability to genetically modify tobacco and lemon to produce saffron is a major stepping stone in the field of biotechnology. This is crucial not only because it would bring down the cost of saffron, but it also overcomes challenges such as being able to cultivate plants which are typically grown in geographically limited regions,” said Dr Kumitaa Theva Das, Senior Lecturer at Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Kumitaa being a geneticist and a pioneer of genome editing in Malaysia said: “To a larger extent, we are able to use this technology to address the food security crisis regionally. Here in Malaysia, while we have yet to embark on modifying saffron, there are numerous groups that have been championing genetically modified crops, whether it is to provide traits such as pest resistance, or to increase flowering to improve yield, putting us on par with higher-income countries”. [/ihc-hide-content]
