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Crocus sativus

Image of Crocus sativus

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae
 Division: Magnoliophyta
  Class: Liliopsida
   Order: Asparagales
    Family: Iridaceae
     Genus: Crocus
      Species: Crocus sativus

English name: Saffron (It is obtained from anthers of two spp).

Crocus sativus (Kumkum)  is a famous medicinal herb. It is a genus of perennial flowering plants, native to a large area from coastal and subalpine areas of central and southern Europe (including the islands of the Aegean), North Africa and the Middle East, across Central Asia to western China.

It is a shrub. Leaves are seen towards the base of the stem and are compactly arranged, either 2 to 3 flowers, these are in a bunch or one solitary flower is found besides each leaf, flowers are violet in colour. On every flower, there are 3 yellow coloured stamens. In a seed the ovary is trilobed and in each lobe many round seeds are found. The stalk of gynaecium is made up of three fibers and each fiber has a red coloured stigma. This is known as kesar. Each flower yields three fibres of kesar and twenty flowers yields 120 mg. kesar. The plant flowers in autumn.

Chemical composition: It contains a dye, volatile oil 8 to 13.4 %, crocin and picrococin. (Kashmiri kesar is brown, thin, smells like lotus and has a colour similar to that of the rising sun. It is considered to be the best, Balhikaj kesar is thin, whitish and smells like kevada. It is of moderate quality. Parasdeshaj kesar is thick, whitish and smells like honey, It is of inferior quality.)

Medicinal Uses: Crocus sativus (Saffron) is a famous medicinal herb with a long history of effective use, though it is little used at present because cheaper and more effective herbs are available. The flower styles and stigmas are the parts used, but since these are very small and fiddly to harvest they are very expensive and consequently often adulterated by lesser products.

The styles and stigmas are anodyne, antispasmodic, aphrodisiac, appetizer, carminative, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, sedative and stimulant. They are used as a diaphoretic for children, to treat chronic haemorrhages in the uterus of adults, to induce menstruation, treat period pains and calm indigestion and colic. A dental analgesic is obtained from the stigmas. The styles are harvested in the autumn when the plant is in flower and are dried for later use, they do not store well and should be used within 12 months. This remedy should be used with caution, large doses can be narcotic and quantities of 10g or more can cause an abortion.

It improves complexion and hence is used for application on hyper pigmented lesions of the skin. Its paste is applied on wounds. For weak eye sight, a mixture of rosewater and kesar is put in the eyes. Its paste is also used in hepatitis. It is useful in nervous debility, migraine, rheumatoid arthritis, pain caused by vata, loss of appetite. liver disorders, heart diseases and blood disorders, Kesar is used in dysuria. It is also useful in impotency, dysmenorrhoea, amenorrhoea and painful labour, It is very useful in small pox.