What should I pay attention to when buying saffron?
On this page we will list the answer for you and show you why Païz Saffron is the right place for attractively priced saffron of superior quality.
1 – Which Saffron type?
There are several saffron types that indicate which piece of the saffron thread you are actually buying.
The saffron comes from the flower Crocus Sativus. On each Crocus Sativus, four flowers with three threads are grown. For every gram of saffron more than 150 flowers are needed. Can you imagine that more than 150.000 flowers should be picked by hand for just 1 kilo saffron?
1. Sargol: this is the very top of the saffron thread. Sargol is of high quality thanks to the lack of yellow threads. Sargol is easily recognized by its full, deep red color and short threads. However, Sargol saffron often also contains crumbs and broken threads.
2. Super Negin: the most precious and rare form of saffron. Super Negin saffron is known not only as the most powerful, but also as the saffron with the most beautiful threads. Super Negin threads are longer in length and do not contain yellow threads. The threads are cut symmetrically and do not contain crumbs. When comparing all saffron types, Super Negin is for those who want the best.
3. Negin: compared to Sargol and Super Negin, Negin is longer in length and contains some yellow and orange parts as part of the threads. The aroma, quality and purity are still good, but you are paying for some parts of the yellow threads that have less quality.
4. Pushal: Pushal saffron is the cheapest and is mostly sold in shops and supermarkets. Since saffron is not the cheapest, many distributors take advantage of selling the yellow parts of the thread to increase their profit.
2 – Where does it come from?
Persian saffron (from Iran) is almost always of high quality, as long as it is bought from a trusted source. In addition, Iran’s climate, location, soil and the harvesting methods are perfect for saffron.
Our saffron is originally from the province of Khorasan (Iran), where the best quality saffron in the world is produced. The saffron is hand-picked and during picking, the low quality saffron is carefully removed, leaving only the ‘Super Negin’ quality.
3 – What is the quality of our saffron?
The quality of the saffron, in addition to the type of saffron, can be measured on the basis of three main factors: Crocin (color strength), Safranal (fragrance strength) and Picrocrocin (flavor strength). These values are then divided by the ISO into 3 quality groups: Grade 1 (highest quality), Grade 2 (medium quality), Grade 3 (least quality).
ISO 3632-2 uses the following values:
Crocin (color strength):
| Grade 1 average | >190 |
| International average | >230 |
| Païz Saffron average | >255 |
Safranal (fragrance strength):
| Grade 1 average | >20-50 |
| Internationale average | >20-50 |
| Païz Saffron average | >40-50 |
Picrocrocine (flavor strength):
| Grade 1 average | > 80 |
| Internationale average | > 85 |
| Païz Saffron average | > 90 |
Conclusion
Païz Saffron is the right supplier for attractively priced saffron of superior quality. Order your saffron now!