Uses in Medicine
Saffron gets mention even in the oldest Ayurvedic treatises like Charaka Samhita & Sushruta Samhita (approx. 500 B.C). It is an important ingredient of many medical recipes. Mentioned as Kumkum or Kesar it is also attributed several synonyms like Kashmiran, Bahleeka, Rudhira and Sankocha. Singh and Chunckar (1972) records its mentioned in Ayurvedic texts as below:
Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the "saffron crocus". Saffron crocus grows to 20–30 cm and bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are the distal end of a carpel.
Saffron is a plant. The dried stigmas (thread-like parts of the flower) are used to make saffron spice. It can take many saffron blossoms to produce a single pound of saffron spice. Due to the amount of labor involved in harvesting, saffron is considered one of the world's most expensive spices. The stigmas are also used to make medicine.
Saffron is used for asthma, cough, whooping cough (pertussis), and to loosen phlegm (as an expectorant). It is also used for sleep problems (insomnia), cancer, “hardening of the arteries” (atherosclerosis), intestinal gas (flatulence), depression, Alzheimer’s disease, fright, shock, spitting up blood (hemoptysis), pain, heartburn, and dry skin.
Some early research suggests that drinking an herbal tea mixture containing saffron along with anise, black seed, caraway, cardamom, chamomile, fennel, and licorice may reduce asthma symptoms in people with allergic asthma. also Some early research shows that taking a chemical from saffron called crocetin might decrease fatigue in men during exercise.
Saffron cultivation
Saffron flower
Saffron plant
Saffron strands