LEARNING ABOUT SAFFRON (part 1)
Saffron is not a familiar product to Vietnamese people, although it has emerged in the past 1-2 years as a miraculous health and beauty product. But do you know how many types of saffron there are? More than 1 year ago, I had an article instructing people how to distinguish the types of safron, you can read it again in this link.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1977059055865044/permalink/1978397945731155/
Today I will guide you again in more detail, because after a very long time doing saffron distribution, I see that many of you are still very confused about this product.
It can be said that I was the first to bring saffron to the Vietnamese market about 5 years ago (proudly speaking, not just talking about it ), when Vietnamese consumers did not know what saffron was. . Saffron customers at that time consisted of only a small group of connoisseurs and family friends. My fate brought me to saffron because I myself have lived and worked in Dubai since 2005 where saffron is an indispensable spice in every family here. Before that, my father-in-law - Ambassador Nguyen Quang Khai (who has been with the Middle East all his life as a diplomat for nearly 40 years) used to bring saffron as a gift to everyone after each business trip, so with his family. Saffron is a very familiar product.
Firstly, observing with the naked eye, we can recognize 5 types of saffron divided by the length of the saffron pistil as follows:
1. NEGIN
According to the illustration, you can see that Negin is classified from the slightly flared pistil tip to the yellow base of the pistil. The Persian language calls Negin “jewel” which means precious jewels. The Negin production method is an extremely delicate and precise craft, it is the most expensive and very limited saffron to offer. In the ISO standard of Negin, the concentration of medicinal properties is 270. This is the best grade of saffron. However, there is a Premium type also known as Super Negin, Premium Negin is a premium Negin, this type is the same as Negin to the naked eye because it is the same length, but the results of Super Negin's medicinal properties. /Premium Negin is higher, 280 or higher.
2. SARGOL (ALL RED)
This is a variation of Negin, the stigma is cut shorter, including only the large red pistil on the top, because there is no yellow foot, it is also called All Red which means "all red". Sargol is also considered to be a good enough saffron for mass consumption by the majority of the population because of its "more affordable" price than Negin 😊 Sargol's ISO is 260-270. However, Sargol is also easier to counterfeit because the whole red yarn is almost equal to the end to the end, without the end of the stem as small as Negin, so it is easy to fake by using other fiber materials to dyed and impregnated with flavorings.
3. PUSHAL (POUSHALI)
Pushal is the pistil from the tip of the pistil extending to the lower part of the yellow stalk about 1-3mm. According to the ISO 3632 system, this falls into category II with a color reading of up to 250. This grade increases the weight of saffron by adding a long yellow stigma, but is inferior in quality and medicinal properties.
4. BUNCH
Bunch is saffron that has kept the length of the stigma from the tip of the red tip to the end of the stem with a large amount of yellow stalk that has no medicinal value of the stigma. Bunch is always bundled into small bundles that look quite pleasing to the eye. The ISO is relatively low around 70 to 75.
5. KONJ (KONGE)
The yellow pistil is the Konj type. Almost no medicinal properties, so it is also known as white saffron. This type is often dyed and fragranced to mix with Ságol or Negin to trick uninformed customers.
In addition to the above 5 types of saffron, you can also find powdered saffron for sale.
Saffron Powder
Although Saffron powder is not a Saffron variety, it is made by finely grinding the Sargol, Pushal and Bunch parts of the plant. This product is slightly lighter in color than Sargol and Pushal and its coloring is obviously less. Powdered saffron can easily be adulterated and mixed with other ingredients like artificial dyes and turmeric, so I don't recommend buying this. If you need saffron powder, then buy Negin or Sargol fibers and grind them yourself to use to ensure safety.
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