style to the ovary. Second-quality saffron
often includes the pale, relatively flavorless
styles.
Saffron Flavor Saffron flavor is characterized
by a notable bitterness and a penetrating, hay-
like aroma. It arises largely from another
sugar-hydrocarbon combination, picrocrocin,
which may be up to 4% of the fresh weight of
the stigmas, and is probably a defense against
insects and other predators. The combination
itself is bitter. When the stigmas dry out and
their cell structures are damaged, both the
drying heat and an enzyme act on picrocrocin
to liberate the hydrocarbon portion, which is a
volatile terpene called safranal. Drying the
saffron stigmas thus moderates the bitterness
and develops the aroma. Several chemical
relatives of safranal round out the overall
aroma.
Using Saffron Saffron is typically used in
small quantities — a few threads, or a “pinch”