How to distinguish between real saffron and fake saffron?

Being able to find a genuine and real saffron is not really an easy task. This aromatic spice is like gold and distinguishing real gold from fake is one of the biggest challenges. But of course, like every challenge, when you learn how to do it, you will be able to do it easily for the rest of your life. Saffron is an expensive spice. Unlike other spices, there is a minimal genetic variation in the saffron. So you can’t see really big differences between saffrons from all producer countries around the world. And also, saffron is a really easily conservable spice. If you keep saffron in a dry, dark and sealed bottle, you will have the saffron for two to five years. Differentiating the real saffron from the fake one is not impossible to learn. There are a lot of signs which indicate the real and genuine saffron. In this article, we want to speak about these signs and we will help you to find the best real saffron to buy.

Fake saffron is sweet

One of the easiest way to differ the real saffron from fake one, is tasting it. You can taste saffron strand, if you find it sweet, you can be sure that saffron is fake. Remember that saffron is really expensive spice. Because it is only a small part of the flower. For being able to collect about 1 kg of saffron spice, we need 100,000 saffron flowers. Real saffron have a bitter and slightly astringent taste and it is not sweet of course. So you should be aware about it’s taste.  

Real saffron strand have a diffuse end

Look at strands of saffron, genuine and real saffron have a diffuse end. But fake saffron don’t have diffuse end. Another sign of real saffron is it’s unique coloration.

Real saffron strand don’t have glossy end

Another sign of real saffron is the end of strand. If you see the end of the strand too glossy, you have a fake saffron. Unfortunately, some people use part of maize, color it and sell it as saffron. Maize silk is similar to saffron and due to its similarity it is used to make fake saffron. If the strand of the saffron is too glossy and shiny, you have to doubt about the saffron.  

Testing the saffron with paper or newspaper

You can take some strands of the saffron and put it between paper or newspaper and then press it. Then look at the saffron, if you see oil on the paper, you have fake saffron. But if you can’t see any sign of oil on the paper, you have a real and genuine saffron.

Real saffron can’t give color quickly

Fake saffron will give color really quickly. When you use it, you can see really strong and fast coloring process. But real and genuine saffron can’t do this. This fast coloring process occurs because of chemical coloring in fake saffron.

Testing the saffron with gasoline

Put some saffron strands in gasoline. If the gasoline is colored, your saffron is fake. Real saffron will not have this effect on gasoline. Only chemical color can react with gasoline. So if the water is colored, you can be sure that saffron is fake.