Anthemis tinctoria, or Golden Marguerite and Yellow Chamomile, is a species in the genus Anthemis of the Sunflower family

Anthemis tinctoria, or Golden Marguerite and Yellow Chamomile, is a species in the genus Anthemis of the Sunflower family (Asteraceae).

This popular flower has several common names : Golden Marguerite, Marguerite Daisy, Dyer's Chamomile, Ox-eye Chamomile, Boston Daisies, Paris Daisies.

It is a short-lived biennial, occurring in the Mediterranean and western Asia. It has aromatic, bright green, feathery foliage. The serrate leaves are bi-pinnatifid (= finely divided) and downy beneath. It grows to a height of 60 cm.

It has yellow daisy-like terminal flowers on long thin angular stems, blooming in profusion during the summer.

It has no culinary or commercial uses and only limited medicinal uses. However, it produces excellent yellow, buff and golden-orange dyes, used in the past for fabrics.

Anthemis tinctoria is grown in gardens for its bright attractive flowers and fine lacy foliage; there is a white flowering form also but the most commonly grown form is the seed raised cultivar 'Kelwayi' which has 5 cm wide, yellow flowers on 65 cm plants. The asexually propagated cultivar 'E.C. Buxton' is a hybrid between this species and another Anthemis species.
Yellow Camomille (Anthemis tinctoria)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Anthemis
Species: A. tinctoria
Binomial name
Anthemis tinctoria

"Plant dyes"

Alkanna tinctoria
Dyer's Bugloss
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: (unplaced)
Family: Boraginaceae
Genus: Alkanna
Species: A. tinctoria
Binomial name
Alkanna tinctoria

Saffron Chemistry

Chemistry
Saffron contains more than 150 volatile and aroma-yielding compounds. It also has many nonvolatile active components,[21] many of which are carotenoids, including zeaxanthin, lycopene, and various α- and β-carotenes. However, saffron's golden yellow-orange colour is primarily the result of α-crocin. This crocin is trans-crocetin di-(β-D-gentiobiosyl) ester (systematic (IUPAC) name: 8,8-diapo-8,8-carotenoic acid). This means that the crocin underlying saffron's aroma is a digentiobiose ester of the carotenoid crocetin.[21] Crocins themselves are a series of hydrophilic carotenoids that are either monoglycosyl or diglycosyl polyene esters of crocetin.[21] Meanwhile, crocetin is a conjugated polyene dicarboxylic acid that is hydrophobic, and thus oil-soluble. When crocetin is esterified with two water-soluble gentiobioses (which are sugars), a product results that is itself water-soluble. The resultant α-crocin is a carotenoid pigment that may comprise more than 10% of dry saffron's mass. The two esterified gentiobioses make α-crocin ideal for colouring water-based (non-fatty) foods such as rice dishes.[22]
Chemical composition
Component Mass %
carbohydrates 12.0–15.0
water 9.0–14.0
polypeptides 11.0–13.0
cellulose 4.0–7.0
lipids 3.0–8.0
minerals 1.0–1.5
miscellaneous
non-nitrogenous 40.0
Source: Dharmananda 2005
Proximate analysis
Component Mass %
Water-soluble components 53.0
→ Gums 10.0
→ Pentosans 8.0
→ Pectins 6.0
→ Starch 6.0
→ α–Crocin 2.0
→ Other carotenoids 1.0
Lipids 12.0
→ Non-volatile oils 6.0
→ Volatile oils 1.0
Protein 12.0
Inorganic matter ("ash") 6.0
→ HCl-soluble ash 0.5
Water 10.0
Fiber (crude) 5.0
Source: Goyns 1999, p. 46

The bitter glucoside picrocrocin is responsible for saffron's flavour. Picrocrocin (chemical formula: C16H26O7; systematic name: 4-(β-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-2,6,6- trimethylcyclohex-1-ene-1-carboxaldehyde) is a union of an aldehyde sub-element known as safranal (systematic name: 2,6,6-trimethylcyclohexa-1,3-diene-1- carboxaldehyde) and a carbohydrate. It has insecticidal and pesticidal properties, and may comprise up to 4% of dry saffron. Significantly, picrocrocin is a truncated version (produced via oxidative cleavage) of the carotenoid zeaxanthin and is the glycoside of the terpene aldehyde safranal. The reddish-coloured[23] zeaxanthin is, incidentally, one of the carotenoids naturally present within the retina of the human eye.

When saffron is dried after its harvest, the heat, combined with enzymatic action, splits picrocrocin to yield D-glucose and a free safranal molecule.[20] Safranal, a volatile oil, gives saffron much of its distinctive aroma.[4][24] Safranal is less bitter than picrocrocin and may comprise up to 70% of dry saffron's volatile fraction in some samples.[23] A second element underlying saffron's aroma is 2-hydroxy-4,4,6-trimethyl-2,5-cyclohexadien-1-one, the scent of which has been described as "saffron, dried hay like".[25] Chemists found this to be the most powerful contributor to saffron's fragrance despite its being present in a lesser quantity than safranal.[25] Dry saffron is highly sensitive to fluctuating pH levels, and rapidly breaks down chemically in the presence of light and oxidizing agents. It must therefore be stored away in air-tight containers in order to minimise contact with atmospheric oxygen. Saffron is somewhat more resistant to heat.

Saffron - 4

Cultivation
Two lilac-violet flowers appear among a clump of thin, blade-like vertical leaves. Various small weeds and other plants grow from black soil and are shown in overcast daylight.
Saffron crocus flowers in Osaka Prefecture, Japan

C. sativus thrives in the Mediterranean maquis (equivalent physiognomically to the North American chaparral), and like climates where hot, dry summer breezes sweep semi-arid lands. It can nonetheless survive cold winters by tolerating frosts as low as −10 °C (14 °F) and short periods of snow cover. Irrigation is required if not grown in moist environments such as Kashmir, where annual rainfall averages 1,000–1,500 mm (39–59 in); saffron-growing regions in Greece (500 mm or 20 in annually) and Spain (400 mm or 16 in) are far drier compared to the one cultivated in Iran, for example. Timing is the key: generous spring rains and drier summers are optimal. Rain immediately preceding flowering boosts saffron yields; rainy or cold weather during flowering spurs disease and low yields. Persistently damp and hot conditions harm crops, as do the digging actions of rabbits, rats, and birds. Nematodes, leaf rusts, and corm rot pose other threats.

The plants fare poorly in shady conditions; they grow best in strong sunlight. Planting is thus best done in fields that slope towards the sunlight (i.e., south-sloping in the Northern Hemisphere), maximizing sun exposure. Planting is mostly done in June in the Northern Hemisphere, where corms are lodged 7 to 15 centimetres (2.8–5.9 in) deep. Planting depth and corm spacing, in concert with climate, are critical factors affecting yields. Mother corms planted deeper yield higher-quality saffron, though form fewer flower buds and daughter corms. Italian growers optimize thread yield by planting 15 centimetres (5.9 in) deep and in rows 2–3 cm apart; depths of 8–10 cm optimizes flower and corm production. Greek, Moroccan, and Spanish growers have devised distinct depths and spacings to suit their locales.

C. sativus prefers friable, loose, low-density, well-watered, and well-drained clay-calcareous soils with high organic content. Traditional raised beds promote good drainage. Soil organic content was historically boosted via application of some 20–30 tonnes of manure per hectare. Afterwards—and with no further manure application—corms were planted. After a period of dormancy through the summer, the corms send up their narrow leaves and begin to bud in early autumn. Only in mid-autumn do they flower. Harvests are by necessity a speedy affair: after blossoming at dawn, flowers quickly wilt as the day passes. All plants bloom within a window of one or two weeks.[19] Roughly 150 flowers yield 1 gram (0.035 oz) of dry saffron threads; to produce 12 g of dried saffron (72 g freshly harvested), 1 kg of flowers are needed (1 lb for 0.2 oz of dried saffron). One fresh-picked flower yields an average 30 milligrams (0.46 gr) of fresh saffron or 7 milligrams (0.11 gr) of dried saffron.

Saffron-3

Biology
The domesticated saffron crocus (C. sativus) is an autumn-flowering perennial plant unknown in the wild. It is a sterile triploid form, possibly of the eastern Mediterranean autumn-flowering Crocus cartwrightianus[10][11][12] that originated in Central Asia.[5] The saffron crocus resulted when C. cartwrightianus was subjected to extensive artificial selection by growers seeking longer stigmas. Being sterile, the plant's purple flowers fail to produce viable seeds; reproduction depends on human assistance: corms, underground bulb-like starch-storing organs, must be dug up, broken apart, and replanted. A corm survives for one season, reproducing via this division into up to ten "cormlets" that yield new plants.[10] Corms are small brown globules up to 4.5 centimetres (1.8 in) in diameter and are shrouded in a dense mat of parallel fibers.
After aestivating in spring, the plant sends up five to eleven narrow and nearly vertical green leaves, each up to 40 cm (16 in) in length. In autumn, purple buds appear. Only in October, after most other flowering plants have released their seeds, do its brilliantly hued flowers develop; they range from a light pastel shade of lilac to a darker and more striated mauve.[13] Upon flowering, plants average less than 30 cm (12 in) in height.[14] A three-pronged style emerges from each flower. Each prong terminates with a vivid crimson stigma 25–30 mm (0.98–1.2 in) in length.[10]

Saffron - 2

Etymology

The English word saffron stems from the Latin word safranum via the 13th-century Old French term safran. Meanwhile, Safranum derives via Persian زعفران (za'ferân). Some argue that it ultimately came from the Arabic word زَعْفَرَان (za'farān), which is itself derived from the adjective أَصْفَر (aṣfar, "yellow"). However, some give an alternative derivation arguing that زَعْفَرَان (za'farān) is the arabicized form of the Persian word زرپران (zarparān) - "having golden stigmas". Latin safranum is also the source of the Italian zafferano and Spanish azafrán[8] etc. Crocum in Latin is a Semitic loan word derived from Aramaic kurkema via Arabic kurkum, and Greek krokos.