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Saffron (pronounced or )〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Saffron – Definition and More )〕 is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". Saffron crocus grows to and bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are the distal end of a carpel. The styles and stigmas, called threads, are collected and dried to be used mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in food. Saffron, long among the world's most costly spices by weight,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=World's COSTLIEST spice blooms in Kashmir )〕 is native to Greece or Southwest Asia and was first cultivated in Greece. As a genetically monomorphic clone, it was slowly propagated throughout much of Eurasia and was later brought to parts of North Africa, North America, and Oceania. The saffron crocus, unknown in the wild, probably descends from ''Crocus cartwrightianus'', which originated in Crete; ''C. thomasii'' and ''C. pallasii'' are other possible precursors. The saffron crocus is a triploid that is "self-incompatible" and male sterile; it undergoes aberrant meiosis and is hence incapable of independent sexual reproduction—all propagation is by vegetative multiplication via manual "divide-and-set" of a starter clone or by interspecific hybridisation. If ''C. sativus'' is a mutant form of ''C. cartwrightianus'', then it may have emerged via plant breeding, which would have selected for elongated stigmas, in late Bronze Age Crete. Saffron's taste and iodoform- or hay-like fragrance result from the chemicals picrocrocin and safranal. It also contains a carotenoid pigment, crocin, which imparts a rich golden-yellow hue to dishes and textiles. Its recorded history is attested in a 7th-century BC Assyrian botanical treatise compiled under Ashurbanipal, and it has been traded and used for over four millennia. Iran now accounts for approximately 90% of the world production of saffron. ==Etymology== A degree of uncertainty surrounds the origin of the English word "saffron". It might stem from the 12th-century Old French term ''safran'', which comes from the Latin word '. ''Safranum'' comes from the Persian intercessor ''za'farān'' (), which may be ultimately from the unattested word *''zar-parān'' (). Persian is the first language in which the use of saffron in cooking is recorded, with references dating back thousands of years. In India, it is often called 'Kesar' (Hindi: केसर). In another Indian language, Urdu, it is called Zaafraan (ज़ाफरान). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「saffron」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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