Iran produces 94% of the world's output, 10,000 yuan per 1 kg, China will be the largest consumer country

Affected by the withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear issue, the first batch of US sanctions against Iran will also begin to be enforced in recent days. Under such hardship, Iran is selling natural gas and crude oil abroad at lower prices in order to cope with the sanctions.

Besides oil, Iran has another specialty that is recognized by the whole world, accounting for 94% of global output, and that is saffron. As the country of origin, Iran produces the world's finest quality saffron. China and Dubai are the largest consumer countries, and grade-one saffron is especially expensive, reaching as much as 10,000 yuan per 1 kg. Saffron has the following 10 amazing benefits.

Saffron

1. Strengthening the physique

Long-term work pressure lowers the body's defense capacity, making it highly susceptible to viral invasion and various diseases. Saffron tea promotes macrophage function, clears away the "junk" around cells, enhances cellular immune function, and improves the body's resistance.

2. Calming the mind and steadying the spirit

Prolonged work makes a person feel irritated and slows thinking, which is a sign of oxygen deprivation in the body (especially the brain). Saffron tea can promptly promote the blood oxygen supply through human blood circulation, helping the drinker stay sharp-minded and balanced in mood.

3. Beautifying the face and nourishing the skin

Modern women bear enormous pressure from work and life, which easily causes anxiety, restlessness, reduced sleep quality, and increased blood viscosity, clogging capillaries invisible to the naked eye, slowing blood flow, and causing oxygen deprivation in the skin. In severe cases, blood stasis and pigment deposition occur, and water is squeezed out of the blood vessels, causing the skin to lose its natural luster due to oxygen deprivation and pigment-deposited spots to appear on the skin surface. Drinking saffron tea can maximize its blood-activating and hypoxia-resistant effects, noticeably improving blood microcirculation, so that every cell gets sufficient blood oxygen, water and nutrients, making every cell in the body full of vitality, while the exterior naturally shows firm, elastic skin with a delicate, luminous sheen.

Ministry of Commerce

4. Effects on the liver and gallbladder

Saffron has a cholagogic effect. Crocetin can lower cholesterol and increase fat metabolism, and can be combined with traditional Chinese medicines such as hawthorn, cassia seed and Oriental waterplantain rhizome for the treatment of fatty liver. By improving microcirculation, saffron promotes the secretion and excretion of bile, thereby lowering abnormally elevated globulin and total bilirubin, and can be used for the treatment of cirrhosis after chronic viral hepatitis. Crocetin has a chemopreventive effect on early acute liver damage caused by toxic substances, and shows promise for the treatment of chronic cholecystitis.

5. Effects on the circulatory system

Saffron extract has a stimulant effect on respiration. Under normal-pressure hypoxia conditions, it can enhance intracellular oxygen metabolism, improve the heart's ability to tolerate hypoxia, and to a certain extent reduce the damage from strenuous exercise to myocardial cells, giving it a certain protective effect on the heart.

6. Immune regulation

Clinically, saffron is used to treat various chronic diseases in humans. Through its effects of activating blood and resolving stasis, and of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory action, it enhances the body's endurance and lymphocyte proliferation response, thereby improving the body's cellular and humoral immunity and serving to regulate the movement of qi and balance yin and yang in the body.

7. Anti-tumor

Modern research shows that saffron preparations have clear tumor-inhibiting and anti-cancer capabilities.

8. Effects on the kidneys

It is believed that the pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis is closely related to platelets and the inflammatory mediators they release. Saffron has been used in animal models of nephritis interference and has achieved clear therapeutic effects. Saffron can keep the renal capillaries unobstructed, increase renal blood flow, and promote the repair of inflammatory damage.

9. Nourishing blood and qi

It is best to take saffron. Although it has side effects, as long as it is not taken in excess, there is not much of a problem, and it is also very effective for irregular menstruation and endocrine disorders, and also has anti-aging and beauty-enhancing effects. It is recommended that all ladies follow what is said about saffron's benefits and ways to take it; it can still completely improve skin tone and beautify the skin.

10. Dietary therapeutic effects

Saffron tastes sweet and slightly pungent, with a neutral nature; it enters the heart and liver meridians; it is light in body and moist in quality, enters the blood and moves and disperses, and has the effects of activating blood and removing stasis, dispersing stagnation and opening knots, and cooling blood and detoxifying. It is mainly used for irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, retention of lochia after childbirth, abdominal masses with pain, traumatic injuries, depression and stuffiness, palpitations, macules in warm diseases, and measles.

Ministry of Commerce

Iranian saffron is recognized by the whole world and exported all over the world. Iran's classification of saffron grades has been accepted and adopted by other countries. Iranian saffron can generally be roughly divided into five different grades: special grade, grade one, grade two, grade three, and yellow root.

Iranian special-grade saffron

Special grade

Special-grade saffron is sometimes also called Negin saffron in China. Its characteristics are long filaments, all red with no yellow root, intact and unbroken filaments, and dryness with no impurities. Special-grade saffron can basically be considered the best-quality saffron. In China, sometimes to highlight this superiority in quality, it is also called premium saffron or top-grade saffron.

Iranian grade-one saffron

Grade one

Grade-one saffron is somewhat inferior to special-grade saffron. Grade-one saffron is also called All Red Saffron, and its characteristics are short, small filaments and a relatively large amount of fragments. Although it is also all-red filaments with no yellow root, the filaments are incomplete, with many broken and fragmented pieces.

Iranian grade-two saffron

Grade two

The biggest characteristic of grade-two saffron is that the filaments are not all-red filaments, with some yellow heads at the tails. The dark red filaments are mixed with many yellow heads, so the appearance and quality are much worse.

Iranian grade-three saffron

Grade three

In China it is called grade-three saffron. Because it has long yellow roots and is tied into bundles, it is customarily called grade-three bundled saffron. This kind of saffron is more commonly seen in China's tourism market.

Iranian yellow-root saffron

Yellow root

Yellow root basically contains no active ingredients, so yellow root basically has no medicinal effect and is usually treated as scraps. The yellow root of this kind of saffron looks and feels very much like corn silk. Generally, yellow-root saffron is not sold on the market; it can only be ordered in bulk from Iranian saffron companies.

The above are the divisions and differences among the different grades of Iranian saffron, simply distinguished by whether there is yellow root and the degree of filament completeness. In actual purchasing, attention should also be paid to the freshness of the saffron. Freshness can generally be judged simply by color: freshly picked saffron is bright red before drying, and dark red after drying. If stored for too long, the filament color will turn black. Fresh saffron is better than old saffron, so be sure not to buy saffron whose color has turned black.