How to identify saffron, identification of saffron

1. The body is complete.

The saffron is a stamen, 1 3 cm long, and the stigma is irregularly umbel-shaped. Since it is hand-picked, the saffron can still be seen in the three stamens that are not separated. This is an important sign of saffron authenticity.

False saffron is uniform in thickness and the roots are not trumpet-shaped.

2. Observe the color.

Saffron is dark red in color, brittle after drying, and easy to break, but it is better to have a healthy body color.

3. Water soaking method.

The circle of authentic saffron has an orange-yellow ring that gradually dyes the water yellow, and the color is bright and clear. One end of the genuine product is expanded into a trumpet-shaped, and there is no oily float on the water surface, if it bubbles red, it is dyed. Fakes are made of other flowers, dyed.

After soaking in water, it will crumble, the dyed will fade quickly, and the water will turn red or orange with oily floats.

4. Smell the smell. Authentic saffron has a very special floral scent, while fake or adulterated goods have a faint taste and even no floral fragrance.

5. Taste the taste. Authentic dried saffron flowers have a bitter chewing taste.

Common fakes are made of shredding and dyeing of certain plants, and are made of high-grade pulp or plastic made of silk processing and dyeing. They are all red in color. It is distinguished from safflower in that there are no apex cracks and stamens.

The difference with saffron is that when immersed in water, the water is dyed red, not trumpet-shaped, and there is a less common one made of Indian sprout mushrooms dyed with gelatinous juice, which is purple and coarse, and has no fragrance. 【How to distinguish the authenticity of saffron】The identification of saffron is summarized as "one look, two tests, three pressures", as long as you remember this word, any fake or inferior saffron will not escape your eyes: A look at the character:

This product is loose and linear (if it forms a clump, it is either fake or inferior, pseudo does not need to be detailed, inferior mainly refers to the mixing of water, illegal profiteers for profit, often mixed with water in saffron, mixed with too much water or uneven water, it will form a clump), the flower color is dark red, no oily luster, brittle after drying, easy to break (if the flower is very silky and soft when buying, not easy to break, it must be mixed with water, then you can point it out, ask him to weigh more points). Second, water test: take three or two, immerse yourself in water, you can see that the orange-yellow color drops in a straight line, the water dyes into golden yellow, and the flowers do not fade.

Although the flower is red, but it is dyed yellow when it enters the water, if it is red, it is mixed with synthetic dyes or other pigments, and there should be no powdery precipitation, there must be a precipitation doped, in addition, the water is soaked, the flower becomes brown or white or other colors, that is also false, the flower should be bright red and does not fade) Three take the paper press: use a tissue to take a little saffron wrap and squeeze it in the middle, there should be no oil marks on the paper, otherwise it will be doped with mineral or vegetable oil.

Teach you to distinguish between real and fake saffron.

The methods of identifying the quality of saffron are: observation, smell, soaking, and the color of the filament.

1. Observation

The saffron stamen contains 3 pistils, the flower column is slender, and the medicinal part is the pistil of saffron. Because it is hand-picked, the three stamens can still be seen in the saffron without separation, which is also an important sign of saffron authenticity. The flower color is dark red, brittle and easy to break after drying.

If it forms a clump, it is either fake or inferior, pseudo does not need to be detailed, inferior mainly refers to the mixing of water, illegal profiteers for profit, often mixed with water in saffron, mixed with too much water or uneven water, and so dry after the saffron will form a clump.

2. Smell method

Authentic saffron has a very special floral aroma, while fake or adulterated goods have a faint or even unsmellable taste.

3. Water soaking method.

Take a small sample and put it into a water cup, and slowly you can see that there is orange and yellow around the saffron in a straight line, and gradually dyeing the water into yellow, the color is bright and clear, one end of the genuine product swells into a trumpet, and there is no oily floating matter on the water surface. If it bubbles red, it means that there is something mixed with dye.

4. Look at the color of the filigree

Freshly picked saffron is bright red when undried and dark red when dried. As it is stored for longer periods of time, the color of the saffron will continue to darken. Saffron is produced in November every year, so the quality of saffron is best at the beginning of each year.

Because of storage, the quality of saffron sold at the end of the year is usually not as good as that at the beginning of the year.

1. Water soaking method: The real saffron is refined from purple-blue saffron stamens, take a sample and immerse it in water a little, the water is dyed golden yellow and gradually downward, it will not be broken immediately in the water, and the water is bright light yellow, the oil-free floats on the water surface are observed with a magnifying glass, and one end of the genuine product is expanded into a trumpet-shaped, and there are cracks on one side. The fake is the stamens of other flowers or even radishes cut into very fine shreds, and then dyed, after soaking in water, the radish will be broken, the dyed will fade quickly, and the water will turn red or orange and have oily floats, adulterated varieties have the stamens of saffron, daylily dyeing, maize flower column, stigma, safflower, lotus whiskers, etc.

2. Paper pressing method: Take a little saffron wrap with facial tissue and squeeze it hard in the middle, and there should be no oil marks on the paper, otherwise it will be doped with mineral or vegetable oil.

3. Observation method: Put the saffron on the white paper, spread it out and observe carefully, the real saffron is the stamen, although some are broken, but each one is trumpet-shaped, and it is difficult to reach the fake dyed with shreds cut from radish. Or put the saffron in a plastic bag and shake it again, some saffron will stick yellow pollen to the plastic bag, a thin layer of light yellow, easy to identify, and the fake is gone.

4. Chemical inspection method: a. Take a small piece of this product and put it on the glass plate, add 1 drop of dilute sulfuric acid, and the dark blue will appear around the real product first, gradually turn purple, and then turn brown-red. b. Take a small sample, add a drop of iodized wine, the real product will not change color, if it turns blue, blue-black or purple, it is a counterfeit.

Methods for identifying saffron:

The quality of intact saffron is better than that of crushed saffron. The filaments of the whole red saffron are longer than the short filaments, and the filaments are stout and the stigma is significantly enlarged at the top of the filaments better than the fine filaments.

The most potent part of saffron is the whole red part at the top, so the quality of all saffron filaments is better than that with a small amount of yellow roots, and even better than saffron with long yellow roots. If it's all yellow roots like corn whiskers, then don't even look at it.

Saffron is all-natural and can be dried directly after harvesting, without any machine reprocessing. There is currently a machine flattened saffron on the market. Natural saffron is better than machine-flattened saffron, and if you have a choice, try to choose natural normal filaments.

Saffron filaments are dark red, but the saffron water after soaking in water is golden yellow, and this property can be used to distinguish the good from the bad and the real from the fake. Many fake saffron on the market are made of edible glue dyed and shredded, and the fake saffron dyed with dye can only be dyed red soaked in water.

Best way to store saffron:

Black, airtight and refrigerated. When preserving saffron, pay attention to moisture and light. This is because the saffron stigma is prone to mildew when damp, and chemical changes are easy to occur under light conditions, so saffron should be stored in a dry container, closed, placed in a cool and dry place, and protected from light.

It is best to store saffron in a dry, sealed bottle, tighten the cap and store it in the refrigerator. This method can generally be stored for 2 to 3 years. At home, you can put it in the refrigerator to keep it fresh.

Methods for identifying saffron:1. Observe the appearance: If you want to judge whether the saffron is real or fake, you can first observe the appearance, most of the daily purchases are the stamens stigma on its flowers, so it looks like an obvious red filament.

Fake saffron is not a filament, it belongs to grass saffron, so it looks like a small red flower, which can be easily distinguished by its appearance.

2. Press to distinguish: In addition to observing the appearance, you can also press it to identify, generally fake saffron, in order to increase the weight, so the vendor will soak in oil, there will really be no such situation. You can choose a clean white paper, put the saffron you bought in the middle and press it vigorously, if there is an oil stain, it means that it is fake, and no oil stain is real.

3. Odor identification: It can also be identified by smell, real saffron will have a very strong aroma, which smells more special, but fake ones will not have this taste, and the smell may be relatively light, or even directly inaudible.

The above content refers to Encyclopedia - Saffron.

Counterfeit saffron is generally made from corn silk, vegetable silk and, even plastic silk, to deceive customers. Saffron is dark red, a bit greasy to the touch, has a stigma like a stamen, and its smell is very special.

**When soaked in water, it will immediately appear yellow, and plummet, gradually spreading, the water can be washed four times in a row, and the water will still be yellow by the fourth time. The fake saffron is soaked in water, and there are more floating parts, and it is reddish when soaked in water.

There is also a situation that is difficult to identify, the real saffron is only used in the medicine of its dry stigma, the stigma has three branches, often broken, and the appearance is dark red. Some imitations are mixed with saffron with whole petals.