Spice of saffron

Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of the saffron crocus (Crocus sativus), a species of crocus in the Iridaceae.

A C. sativus flower bears three stigmas each the distal end of a carpel. The dried stigmas of the saffron crocus, in their natural form, as coupe saffron and powder, are produced worldwide at an annual rate of 50 tones. Spain is the world’s foremost export and perhaps producer of saffron.

Cultivated saffron grows mostly In Iran, Spain, India and some tome France, Italy and countries around the Mediterranean basin. Several hundred flowers are needed to produce one gram of saffron.

Saffron’s bitter taste and an iodoform or hay-like fragrance results from the chemicals picocrocin and safranal. A carotenoid dye, crocin, allows saffron to impart a rich golden-yellow hue to do\ishes and textiles.
Spice of saffron

Bay Laurel

Bay Laurel
Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis, Lauracae) also known as Sweet Bay is a tree which is cultivated throughout Turkey, Israel, Russia, Italy and France although, increasingly, commercial crops of leaves is being exported from Greece and Mexico. A similar crop is found in China but the variety is different and the leaves contain an essential oil having a marked phenolics odor not unlike that of West Indian bay.

The leaves yield about 2% essential oil when steam distilled. The leaves are 6–12 cm long and 2–4 cm broad, with a characteristic finely serrated and wrinkled margin. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants; each flower is pale yellow-green, about 1 cm diameter, borne in pairs together beside a leaf (Herb). The fruit is a small black berry about 1 cm long, containing a single seed.

Component of the essential oil
Alpha–pinene
cineole (45 – 50%)

Beta–phellandrene
1- linalool
1-alpha-terpineol
geraniol
euogenol
methyl eugenol
geranyl and eugenyl esters

Bay Laurel