Saffron: crocus threads with a spicy, hay-like scent

Where does saffron come from?

Saffron is the dried crimson stigmas and styles of Crocus sativus, an autumn-flowering crocus unknown in the wild that probably descends from the eastern Mediterranean Crocus cartwrightianus. Every thread is picked by hand, and roughly 150 flowers yield a single gram of dry saffron, according to Wikipedia's article on saffron. It has been cultivated and traded across Eurasia for more than 3,500 years.

What does saffron smell like?

Saffron has an iodoform-like or hay-like fragrance. The aroma forms during drying, when heat and enzymes split bitter picrocrocin and free safranal, the volatile compound behind most of the scent; in some samples safranal makes up to 70% of the volatile fraction. The IFRA Fragrance Ingredient Glossary describes saffron absolute and distillate as spicy, saffron and dry.

What does saffron do in a perfume?

Saffron brings a dry spice that can lean towards leather. The IFRA glossary lists several synthetic molecules with a saffron profile, including a nitrile described as spicy, saffron and leathery at once, and files safranal itself under herbal and aldehydic, with a tobacco nuance. The club places saffron in the leather family, next to birch tar.

What else should you know about saffron?

• Saffron quality is graded under the ISO 3632 standard, which measures crocin for colour, picrocrocin for taste and safranal for aroma in the laboratory.
• The French Wikipedia entry calls saffron the most labour-intensive spice in the world to produce.
• To see where leathers sit among the other families, read the Class on the seven fragrance families.