Power In a Pinch

"Your arms are vines, covered with delicious fruits And all sorts of spices, henna, nard, saffron and all the finest spices."

--Song of Solomon 4.14

Spices are pungent, aromatic plant substances that add zest and flavor to food. As the Biblical quotation indicates, they have been highly prized since antiquity. Hundreds of years ago, there was even an Iberian "Spice Race" similar to the "Space Race" of the late 20th century. Columbus was looking for a quick route to Eastern spices, and bloody wars were fought over these alluring substances. Did you know that the Dutch traded Manhattan for a tiny island in the Moluccas that produced nutmeg? They were sure they got the better of the deal.

Today, herbs and spices are easy to come by. But one spice remains quite expensive and that is saffron. Ounce for ounce, it is still worth its weight in precious metals. Saffron usually sells for about $5 per gram, or $140 per ounce

Crocus sativa L. (above)

The price remains high because gathering saffron is a labor intensive business. Saffron is the orange stigma (part of the pistil) of the blue-violet, or white, lily-shaped flower, Crocus sativa L. It takes 70,000 such flowers to yield the 200,000 dried stigmas that make up just one pound of saffron. Most saffron packages read "Made in Spain." However, most "Spanish saffron" now comes from Iran, the world's leading exporter. (We are talking here about true saffron, not "American saffron," a kind of safflower, that is sometimes used to adulterate the real thing.) --See illustration, right.

Luckily, saffron is so powerful that you need only a pinch to pack a wallop. Even after boiling, it retains much of its alluring aroma. You can crush a small amount in your fingers or in a mortar, add some hot water, and then add that to your dish. In most recipes saffron is added in the latter part of preparation, moments before removing the dish from the oven or stove top, in order to conserve its flavor and color.

It is common to use about four strands of saffron per person. I am wildly profligate in my use of saffron. I can afford to be, since last year I purchased an ounce of it for just $20 in New York's famous Indian neighborhood, Jackson Heights, Queens. That lasts a long time. When buying, look for an intense red-orange color and avoid brands that contain the yellow stamens (which have color but no flavor).

In folk medicine, saffron has many uses. It is said to improve digestion and to regulate a woman's period. In large doses it can affect the color of urine, sweat, and other body secretions, turning them bright yellow. In great amounts it can produce a state of drunkenness, dizziness, vertigo, and headaches. My friend Jim Duke, Ph.D., reports that deaths have occurred when some women ingested huge amounts to bring on abortions. (There is no proof that saffron really does this.) Nevertheless, everyone agrees that saffron is not usually associated with toxicity when it is taken in culinary amounts. I have seen recommendations of 2 to 4 grams (about a seventh of an ounce) to a quart of water for an infusion (tea), and around 1 grams (one twenty-eighth of an ounce) daily to help bowel activity.

Saffron's Health Effects

What does saffron contain? The essential oil of saffron is a complex mixture of at least 30 components, mainly terpenes. Not surprisingly, it has lots of riboflavin, the intensely yellow vitamin B2. It also contains antioxidants such as crocin, a flavonoid that is a major source of the characteristic yellowish-red pigment. Picrocrocin is a colorless bitter glycoside that gives saffron its characteristic taste.

Saffron has all sorts of interesting and potentially important health effects. It increases oxidation and therefore could be useful in various heart conditions. In animals, saffron has been shown to lower cholesterol by 50 percent. There is speculation that the low incidence of cardiovascular disease in parts of Spain may be related to their liberal, almost daily, consumption of saffron.

What is particularly intriguing is saffron's potential role in cancer prevention. This was first brought to public attention in the 1990s by S.C. Nair of the Amala Cancer Research Centre and Hospital, Kerala, India. In several papers, Nair showed that saffron and its components had surprisingly strong anticancer activity. Some components in saffron act as "topo II" inhibitors, similar to the chemotherapeutic drug Adriamcyin. Yet, unlike Adriamycin, saffron is non-toxic. Nair noted a dose-dependent cancer effect on carcinoma, sarcoma and leukemia cells in the test tube. Saffron increased the life span of treated mice compared to untreated controls by 45 to 120 percent. In addition, it delayed the onset of papillomas.

Just this November, Indian scientists showed that saffron decreased the damage to the DNA and the liver caused by various forms of chemotherapy. Long-term treatment with crocin of female rats with colon cancer enhanced their survival without major toxic effects. "The effects of crocin might be related to its strong cytotoxic effect on cultured tumor cells," Spanish scientists concluded.

Scientists have also shown that extracts of saffron inhibit cell growth of human tumor cells. Cancer cells treated with crocin had empty areas, reduced cytoplasm, and a destruction of their DNAÉ all potentially good things for patients. Crocin, they said, is a "promising saffron compound to be assayed as a cancer therapeutic agent."

A provocative study from Greece showed that saffron was comparable to all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) in terms of its anticancer activity. ATRA is a form of vitamin A that is conventionally used to treat some head-and-neck cancers. Although saffron extracts are slightly less active than ATRA, they are not precursors of vitamin A and "could therefore be less toxic than retinoids, even at high doses."

A Saffron Laboratory?

Now that's a lot of power in a pinch! But can saffron really prevent cancer in humans? We don't know and won't know until clinical tests are done. Despite repeated calls for trials, none has taken place and none is listed in the standard databases.

If I were director of the National Cancer Institute, I would set up a Saffron Laboratory (similar to the Brassica Laboratory at Johns Hopkins): it would do nothing but test saffron and other Indian spices for anticancer activity. I would recruit outstanding scientists who are already working on these indigenous herbal products. And I wouldn't be satisfied until these were submitted to rigorous human clinical trials for anti-cancer activity.

In the meantime, you can use and enjoy saffron right away. It is available in most groceries, co-ops and health food stores. You can buy it online or, do as I did: go to an Indian neighborhood, seek out a busy market, and buy your saffron there. With the money you save you can treat your family to quite a few saffron-flavored Indian meals.

Till next week....best wishes for your safety, good health and peace of mind!

Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.