Saffron Health Benefits and Side EffectsFood Catalog / Ingredients, Herbs, and Spices / SaffronWritten by: Christopher Karam | ✔️ Medically Reviewed by: Dr. Riad M., M.D - G.P and Micheal B., M.D | Last Updated: 2020 May 31 What Is Saffron?Saffron is a threaded spice, made from the dried stigma of the Saffron Crocus flower (Crocus sativus L. Iridaceae) or Crocus Sativa flower. Saffron is a light cooking ingredient that has a deep fragrance, strong flavor, and a bright yellow and red tinge.By the ounce, high-quality saffron costs more than gold, making it the most expensive spices (per pound) in the world. Saffron costs around 5000$ per pound, behind vanilla pods which are around 600$ per pound. red saffron strands Break down and BackgroundWhat Is Saffron?Saffron is a threaded spice, made from the dried stigma of the Saffron Crocus flower (Crocus sativus L. Iridaceae) or Crocus Sativa flower. Saffron is a light cooking ingredient that has a deep fragrance, strong flavor, and a bright yellow and red tinge.By the ounce, high-quality saffron costs more than gold, making it the most expensive spices (per pound) in the world. Saffron costs around 5000$ per pound, behind vanilla pods which are around 600$ per pound. The reason why saffron is so expensive is because harvesting the stigmas of the crocus flower (the strands in the center) is very labour intensive. Every acre of land (4046 m²) makes 4 pounds of saffron. Each crocus flower yields only 3 stigmas, which are then picked by hand and dried. Each stigma strand makes a strand of saffron. Saffron’s complex fragrance is at once flowery, grassy like hay, and sweet like honey, making highly sought after by professional and home cooks. Saffron is a healthy spice that has an equally complex flavor profile, starting out floral and sweet with a slightly bitter, earthy finish on the tongue’s palate. Just a pinch can add color a dish in its signature bright, orange and gold hue. Outside of western Europe and the United States, the saffron spice is also known as autumn crocus, azafran, kashmira, kesar, and kumkuma. The 3 primary plant-based compounds found in saffron are:
Because of saffron’s delicate nature, no machinery can be used to extract saffron from the crocus flower. Production and harvesting must be entirely done by hand. A maximum of only three strands can be extracted from a single flower, and it must then be carefully dried. Each undried strand is 0.00215 grams. To accumulate a single pound of saffron (16 ounces or 454 grams), it takes roughly 70,000 flowers. A single serving of this treasured spice costs between 5 to 10$. Fortunately, very few dishes require more than half a teaspoon of saffron, which should cost less than 5$. Cultivation of SaffronThe saffron crocus flower is a perennial plant that’s capable of cloning itself, its harvested only through October to mid-November.Saffron crocus flowers thrive in dry and hot regions like the Mediterranean shrubland (maquis) or the Himalayan foothills of Kashmir. It’s grown and cultivated in very hot climates, including Iran, India, Afghanistan, Italy, France, United States, Spain, Greece, and a negligible amount in a few other countries. 95% of the world’s supply of saffron comes solely from Iran, while most of the rest is produced in the Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. Saffron crocus flowers are sensitive plants, it needs to remain in dry heat. If the ground becomes consistently moist, predators and rot can destroy it. The highly specific soil and climate requirements add to the rarity and expense of saffron. Initially, saffron grew wild and was harvested when it was available. This variation of the plant is called Crocus Cartwrightianus, which features a short stigma (the center of the flower, where pollen receptors are located). This predecessor species of saffron reproduced using seeds. Over the last few thousand years, the Crocus Sativa flower was developed, having much longer strands making the cultivation process more efficient. Saffron is a sterile plant, meaning it can only reproduce by cloning itself. This species of crocus was developed to help increase availability, keep a consistent rarity, and high price. Origins and History of SaffronSaffron’s place of origin is unclear, though it may have originated in ancient Persia (modern-day Iran), Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), Minoan civilization era, or Ancient Greece.Historical records show that the first known era of cultivation was in the Bronze Age of Greece between 2800 and 1250 BC. From there, saffron’s popularity had spread into East Asia, North Africa, and eventually North America as a rare herb in the spice trade. Saffron has been an expensive, rare, and highly prized possession among cooks and gourmands for over 2,000 years. Saffron has been used in Greek, North African, and Middle Eastern cuisines. Saffron has historically been used as a key ingredient in clothing dyes and perfumes, though this is very uncommon these days. As of the last 200 years, saffron is used primarily as a culinary spice and for all of its scientifically proven health benefits. Many dishes require saffron and others that are greatly enhanced by using this vibrant spice. Culinary Uses and RecipesSaffron is used in a large range of traditional recipes, saffron pairs well with a wide variety of both sweet and savory foods. Saffron threads take up to 12 hours to fully release their flavor, this makes it ideal for slow cooking recipes as well.An ever-growing trend has also been making saffron tea, instead of using it with other food. Some of the foods that go well with saffron include:
Toasting SaffronDepending on the recipe and foods used, it’s usually best to toast your saffron strands lightly on a stovetop at medium-high heat to bring out its full fragrance and flavor.Saffron strands are very sensitive, make sure to not dry out or burn the strands when toasting or cooking with saffron. Once toasted and dry, saffron can be added to your dish to enhance the flavor. The only exception to toasting is Persian saffron, Persian saffron is already dried and would burn if heated. Steeping and Diluting SaffronThe second method for preparing saffron requires dilution (steeping). This process is to extract the flavors, nutritious plant-based compounds, and color into warm water or any other steeping liquid.This method is best for saucy or highly liquid recipes as this brings out the fragrance, taste, and color by steeping the saffron in water or broth. When making specialized rice dishes such as Spanish or Mexican rice dish or risotto, steeping saffron is a must. The same is true for water-based foods such as soups, stews, chilis, and marinated protein dishes. Traditional Methods of Cooking With SaffronTraditionally, saffron has been used in savory Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes for centuries. Due to the cultural transmission of Islam, it has also been integrated into the cuisine of southern Spain and northern Africa.In Spain, for example, roasted chicken is rubbed with saffron and stuffed with lemons, accenting the aroma and bitter notes of the saffron spice. In Iran, its a staple in a traditional Persian rice-based dish called Chelo ba Tahdig. This is a steamed rice dish loaded with walnuts and onions, in which the rice is parboiled then crisped up into a large patty. In the Valencia region of coastal Spain, rice is once again mixed with saffron to make a bed for seared prawns, lobster, or crayfish in the specialty dish called Seafood Paella. And finally, throughout the Middle East saffron is used in Shorbat el Adas (middle eastern lentil soup). This soup uses steeped saffron to its best advantage for its aromatics, flavor enhancements, and bright yellow color. Lentils are crushed and mixed with sauteed onions and rice, slow-cooked to breakdown all of the ingredients down into a paste. This decadent, spicy soup can also be served as a vegan dish and topped with sour cream or labneh (Middle Eastern yogurt). Saffron’s Nutrition FactsSaffron is a nutrient-dense cooking spice that’s sold and measured in ounces, which amounts to a metric weight of 28 grams. Each serving of saffron contains:
Saffron Health BenefitsThere are many scientifically proven health benefits to eating saffron. What sets this spice apart from other herbs and spices is that it has thousands of extensive and proven studies from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).The nutritional profile of saffron will help anyone improve their health by adding a wide range of healthy fats, antioxidants, protein, and fiber. Saffron’s nutritional benefits don’t breakdown over high-heat or slow cooking. Which makes it a versatile spice for many different cooking methods. One ounce of saffron is highly nutrient-dense, containing only 87 calories and no cholesterol, making it very lightweight, easy to digest, and heart-healthy. Only 30 mg of saffron per day is required to get all of its health benefits with minimal side effects. 1. Saffron is a powerful antioxidantSaffron contains many healthy plant-based compounds, fatty acids, and antioxidants which help your body defend against oxidative stress and free radicals. The list of antioxidants found in saffron include:
Saffron is full of healthy fatty acids that contain powerful antioxidants such as phenolic acids, coumarins, tannins, and flavonoids. Antioxidants prevent oxidation produced by metabolic processes in the body, such as your metabolism, catabolism, and anabolism. Antioxidants have the following health benefits:
2. Protects Against Cells DamageAll living organisms suffer from cell damage. Cell damage is caused by different stressors that make cells prone to oxidative and DNA-related damage caused by free radicals. This can be caused by a variety of different stressors such as:
Saffron protects the myelin sheaths (cell membrane) around the fat cells of neurons, which safeguard and transmit electrical pathways to and from the brain and nervous system. Excessive cell damage can progressively destroy DNA during cell division, which can cause illnesses and disorders such as:
Safranal, crocin, crocetin, kaempferol are antioxidants found in saffron that can help reduce oxidative and metabolic stressors. Reducing oxidative and metabolic stress can reduce symptoms of:
3. May Treat Mood Disorders and Symptoms of DepressionAnxiety, depression, and mood disorders are one of the most commonly diagnosed psychological disorders, affecting nearly 25.3 million people in the United States, close to 8% of the population.Depression and other mood disorders are a devastating side effect of stress, a poor diet, personal relationships, or other life experiences. Similar to conventional antidepressants, saffron exhibits similar results by improving and regulating certain chemicals in the brain, such as serotonin (a mood-elevating neurotransmitter). This is due to all of the antioxidants and anti-inflammatory benefits of saffron. Crocetin, crocins, and safranal reduces inflammation and promotes a healthy brain chemical balance of:
Saffron was also tested against placebos in depression studies and found to be far more effective. According to a study conducted with 5 control groups, 30 mg of saffron is as effective as certain antidepressant drugs, such as:
The results were not as effective as antidepressants, but the controlled groups suffered almost no side effects that are typically associated with antidepressants, including dry mouth, constipation, sexual dysfunction, urinary retention, and levels of sedation. Always consult a medical professional before making changes to your diet, especially if suffering from a disorder like depression. 4. Reduces Symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) affects more than 90% of menstruating women, usually before the end of the menstrual cycle (menses stage).PMS has common side effects such as emotional deregulation, physical aching, headaches, fatigue, and behavioural changes. A study conducted on women aged between 20 and 45 years old taking 30 mg of saffron supplements per day. After 4 months, 76% of women had a reduction in premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and PMS symptoms by around 50%. Multiple other research papers and studies have also shown that taking 30 mg of saffron per day has improved PMS symptoms such as:
A scientific study found that being exposed to the scent of saffron for up to 20 minutes can be an effective form of aromatherapy, reducing PMS-induced anxiety and the production of cortisol (stress hormone). 5. Saffron Boosts LibidoMultiple studies have shown that saffron was able to reduce the risk of infertility problems and positive effects on erectile dysfunction (ED) as well as overall sex drive.Saffron is an aphrodisiac food that increases sex drive and improves symptoms of sexual dysfunction, in both males and females. A list of aphrodisiac foods include:
Taking 30 mg of saffron per day is the minimum intake to benefit from all of its positive health effects. Additionally, over the 4 weeks, taking saffron can counteract the libido-reducing effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants by increasing blood flow. Saffron’s largest libido-related benefit is its ability to treat low libido in women, especially those on antidepressants. 4 separate studies have shown that saffron helped increase lubrication and reduce pain associated with sexual intercourse. 6. Promotes Weight LossObesity and being overweight are rising global issues for decades now, which can lead to increased risks of cancer, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease (CHD), hypertension, strokes, as well as many other illnesses and diseases.Saffron has many healthy plant-based compounds that help with weight loss, appetite suppression, as well as reducing urges and cravings. This is due to many factors, primarily because saffron increases levels of serotonin in the brain which increases satisfaction and reduces the likelihood of overeating, which is also associated with weight gain. Saffron is a healthy, vitamin and mineral-rich, low-calorie spice that improves the ability for dieters and regular individuals to lose weight. The antioxidants crocin, crocetin, safranal, picrocrocin, have many health benefits that can help reduce weight and obesity-related illnesses and diseases such as:
All of these symptoms and illnesses can increase cravings and urges to overeat. Multiple studies have shown the effects saffron has on appetite suppression while increasing satiety, the feeling of fullness after eating. 7. Reduces The Risk of CancerSaffron is full of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that all help to increase the strength of your immune system. A stronger immune system allows for a better response and reduced risk of cancer.The nutrients found in saffron itself are especially toxic to cancerous cells by increasing the frequency of apoptosis (triggered cell death) by the cancer cells. Saffron also reduces the ability of cancer cells to express RNA and DNA synthesis, making it difficult and a much slower process for these cells to reproduce. Crocin and crocetin are especially anticancerous and antitumorous, these effects have minimal side effects on regular healthy cells. Taking around 20 to 30 mg of saffron per day can severely negate this side effect. Saffron Side Effects and DetrimentsAt normal doses, saffron has very few if any negative side effects, as the only times when saffron can be harmful is if you overeat it. Exceeding 5 grams (5000 mg) per day can potentially be very toxic, let alone expensive.Taking up to 1.2 grams per day is generally safe, while at high doses saffron can be highly toxic, which symptoms usually include insomnia, nausea, and vomiting. Additionally, there are minor cases of allergic reactions caused by saffron. For women, saffron should never be taken during pregnancy as it actively stimulates uterine contractions and drastically increases your chances of a miscarriage. Other common side effects caused by eating an excess amount of saffron include:
While these are not harmful by themselves, adulterated saffron will not provide similar health benefits, which can also lead some people to overdose accidentally much easier. 1. May Cause a MiscarriagePregnant women should never take saffron as it can cause miscarriages, although lower dosages are generally considered safe for expecting mothers, it’s highly suggested to avoid it completely to avoid any unnecessary risks.A study conducted on women working in saffron fields found that 89% of women who ate saffron regularly had a miscarriage. These rates were reduced the larger the number of miscarriages these women suffered. Always consult your medical professional before including changes to your diet, including adding different herbs and spices. Rating and RecommendationExtremely RecommendedSaffron is a versatile and highly underrated spice that is packed with vitamins and minerals, nutritious plant-based compounds, and antioxidants. Saffron’s been thoroughly studied and has many scientifically purported health benefits. Despite its expensive price point, saffron has many health benefits and minimal side effects that are beneficial to nearly everyone. Using small amounts of strands in a few dishes throughout the week will give you all of the health benefits without the risk of overconsuming. Issues only arise is when you overeat saffron, anything above 1.2 grams is a lot. Saffron should definitely be avoided if you’re pregnant as it can trigger uterus contractions which could drastically increase the likelihood of a miscarriage. Here’s the list of health benefits of saffron:
With hundreds of scientific studies and research papers make saffron a must-include in your diet. Along with its wonderful flavor and bright yellow color, it can brighten up any recipe. |
In short, at the very deepest levels of material life, there is at work a complex order, to which the assumptions, tendencies and unconscious pressures of economies, societies and civilizations all contribute.It is here that Braudel shows off his greatest skill, which is the combination of the microscopic with the panoramic. At the top level: Geography. Climate. Land. Crops. ZOOM IN Trading routes. Piracy. Economy. Cities. Technology. And then zoom into minute details like the price of wheat relative to oats in 1351 Paris. He shifts effortlessly between the global, long-term perspective and minute, specific data and anecdotes, combining the two to form a coherent understanding.
Everything, both in the short and long term, and at the level of local events as well as on the grand scale of world affairs, is bound up with the numbers and fluctuations of the mass of people.The predominant feature of the ancien régime is malthusianism. From the 16th century on, Europe is constantly on the brink of overpopulation. Epidemics and famines establish balance, and occasional recessions in population create great wealth for the survivors. "Thus in Languedoc between 1350 and 1450, the peasant and his patriarchal family were masters of an abandoned countryside. Trees and wild animals overran fields that once had flourished." France had 26 general famines just in the 11th century; 16 in the 18th.
Famine recurred so insistently for centuries on end that it became incorporated into man's biological regime and built into his daily life. Dearth and penury were continual, and familiar even in Europe, despite its privileged position. [...] Things were far worse in Asia, China and India. Famines there seemed like the end of the world. In China everything depended on rice from the southern provinces; in India, on providential rice from Bengal, and on wheat and millet from the northern provinces, but vast distances had to be crossed and this contribution only covered a fraction of the requirements.Slowly, expansion and improvements in agricultural productivity doubled the global population, which Braudel calls "indubitably the basic fact in world history from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century".
A lapse in vigilance, an economic setback, a rough winter, and they multiplied. In 1420, packs entered Paris through a breach in the ramparts or unguarded gates. They were there again in September 1438, attacking people this time outside the town, between Montmartre and the Saint-Antoine gate. In 1640, wolves entered Besancon by crossing the Doubs near the mills of the town and 'ate children along the roads'.He writes about the global ebb and flow of epidemics over the course of centuries, and how they were aided by global trade. And to illustrate their effect, he brings up statistics like the annual number of plague victims in the town of Strauling between 1623 and 1635 (702). He tells us of Montaigne, who as mayor of Bordeaux fled the town (like all rich people would) and abandoned his post during the 1585 plague. He quotes the diaries of Samuel Pepys ("the plague making us cruel, as doggs, one to another"). He quotes Francois Dragonet of Fogasses, a rich Avignon citizen of Italian origin, whose leases provided for a time when he would be obliged to leave the town (which he did in 1588, during a fresh plague) and lodge with his farmers: 'In case of contagion (God forbid), they will give me a room at the house... and I will be able to put my horses in the stable on my way there and back, and they will give me a bed for myself.' The dead pile up in the streets (Defoe: "for the most part on to a cart like common dung"), the palaces of the rich are looted.
Montaigne tells how he wandered in search of a roof when the epidemic reached his estate, 'serving six months miserably as a guide' to his 'distracted family, frightening their friends and themselves and causing horror wherever they tried to settle'.Superfluity and Sufficiency: Food and Drink
Thus there became established in Europe, with certain regional variations, 'a complicated system of relationships and habits', based on wheat and other grains, which was 'so firmly cemented together that no fissure was possible' according to Ferdinand Lot. Plants, animals and people each had their place in it. In fact the whole system was inconceivable without the peasants, the harnessed teams of animals, and the seasonal labourers at harvest and threshing time, since reaping and threshing was all done by hand. The fertile lowlands called on labour from poor land, inevitably wild highland regions. Innumerable examples (the southern Jura and Dombes, the Massif Central and Languedoc) demonstrate that the partnership was a basic rule of life, repeated on many occasions. An immense crowd of harvesters arrived every summer in the Tuscan Maremma, where fever was so prevalent, in search of high wages (up to five paoli a day in I796). Malaria regularly claimed innumerable victims there.
Wheat's unpardonable fault was its low yield: it did not provide for its people adequately. All recent studies establish the fact with an overwhelming abundance of detail and figures. Wherever one looks, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, the results were disappointing. For every grain sown, the harvest was usually no more than five and sometimes less.Until very late, agricultural production was fertilizer-limited. In southern Europe half the field would lie fallow every year, and this only really changed after the industrial revolution. Trade happened on local exchanges, which combined with laws against "hoarding" made local shortages problematic. In the 16thC total maritime trade was perhaps 1% of total consumption. White bread was a luxury until the latter half of the 18thC. Flour doesn't keep well, so every town had a mill that worked daily (about 1 mill per 400 people); any interruption eg because of the river freezing immediately created supply problems.
Rice is an even more tyrannical and enslaving crop than wheat.The key difference between rice and wheat is that the former can produce ~7.3 million kcals per hectare, whereas wheat can only reach 1.5 million. Unlike wheat, there was no need for fallow land, and by the 13thC in China a system of double (or sometimes triple) crop was established. "And thus the great demographic expansion of southern China began."
The problem then is that on one hand we have a series of striking achievements, on the other, human misery. As usual we must ask: who is to blame? Man of course. But maize as well.While wheat yielded maybe 5 grains for every one planted, maize would yield 150x or more. It grows easily and requires little effort on the part of the farmer (perhaps 50 days per year). "The maize-growing societies on the irrigated terraces of the Andes or on the lakesides of the Mexican plateaux resulted in theocratic totalitarian systems and all the leisure of the peasants was used for gigantic public works of the Egyptian type."
The world of men with hoes was characterized - and this is the most striking fact about it - by a fairly marked homogeneity of goods, plants, animals, tools and customs. We can say that the house of the peasant with a hoe, wherever it may be, is almost invariably rectangular and has only one storey. He is able to make coarse pottery, uses a rudimentary hand loom for weaving, prepares and consumes fermented drinks (but not alcohol), and raises small domestic animals - goats, sheep, pigs, dogs, chickens and sometimes bees (but not cattle). He lives off the vegetable world round about him: bananas, bread-fruit trees, oil palms, calabashes, taros and yams.Eating Habits
Things had begun to change in the West by the middle of the sixteenth century. Heinrich Muller wrote in 1550 that in Swabia 'in the past they ate differently at the peasant's house. Then, there was meat and food in profusion every day; tables at village fairs and feasts sank under their load. Today, everything has truly changed. Indeed, for some years now, what a calamitous time, what high prices! And the food of the most comfortably-off peasants is almost worse than that of day-labourers and valets in the old days.
The peasant often sold more than his 'surpluses', and above all, he never ate his best produce: he ate millet and maize and sold his wheat; he ate salt pork once a week and took his poultry, eggs, kids, calves and lambs to market.Spoons and knives were old customs, but the fork dates to the 16thC and spread from Venice.
Anne of Austria ate her meat with her fingers all her life. And so did the Court of Vienna until at least 1651. Who used a fork at the Court of Louis XIV? The Duke of Montausier, whom Saint-Simon describes as being 'of formidable cleanliness'. Not the king, whose skill at eating chicken stew with his fingers without spilling it is praised by the same Saint-Simon! When the Duke of Burgundy and his brothers were admitted to sup with the king and took up the forks they had been taught to use, the king forbade them to use them. This anecdote is told by the Princess Palatine, with great satisfaction: she has 'always used her knife and fingers to eat with'.In the West, eggs were accessible to most people, as were cheese and milk. Butter remained limited to Northern Europe. Fish were generally an important source of nourishment, but with large regional variation. The Atlantic coast was particularly advanced in its exploitation of the ocean.
The Baron de Tott has left a humorous description of a reception in the country house near Istanbul of 'Madame the wife of the First Dragoman', in 1760. This class of rich Greeks in the service of the Grand Turk adopted local customs, but liked to make some difference felt. 'A circular table, with chairs all round it, spoons, forks nothing was missing except the habit of using them. But they did not wish to omit any of our manners which were just becoming as fashionable among the Greeks as English manners are among ourselves, and I saw one woman throughout the dinner taking olives with her fingers and then impaling them on her fork in order to eat them in the French manner'.
Fish was all the more important here as religious rulings multiplied the number of fast days: 166 days, including Lent, observed extremely strictly until the reign of Louis XIV. Meat, eggs and poultry could not be sold during those forty days except to invalids and with a double certificate from doctor and priest. To facilitate control, the 'Lent butcher' was the only person authorized to sell prohibited foods at that time in Paris, and only inside the area of the Hotel Dieu.Sugar was brought from the East, with a lot of regional variation in consumption. "In 1800 England consumed 150,000 tons of sugar annually, almost fifteen times more than in 1700." But in other parts of Europe it was virtually unknown. Cultivation of sugar was a labor- and capital-intensive enterprise, and often in sugar colonies there was no space left for any other crops: food had to be imported.
The great innovation, the revolution in Europe was the appearance of brandy and spirits made from grain - in a word: alcohol. The sixteenth century created it; the seventeenth consolidated it; the eighteenth popularized it.Stills existed in the West before the 12thC, but things took a while to get going. And the stills would remain primitive until 1773. The drinks started out as medicine. Various guilds fought hard for the privilege of producing Brandy in France. Further north where they had no vines for brandy, grain spirits were most popular. "By the early eighteenth century, the whole of London society, from top to bottom, was determinedly getting drunk on gin."
At nearly the same time as the discovery of alcohol, Europe, at the centre of the innovations of the world, discovered three new drinks, stimulants and tonics: coffee, tea and chocolate. All three came from abroad: coffee was Arab (originally Ethiopian); tea, Chinese; chocolate, Mexican.Samuel Pepys drank his first cup of tea on September 25, 1660. A century later the English were consuming it by the boatload.
On 3 February 1695 the Princess Palatine wrote: 'At the king's table the wine and water froze in the glasses.' [...] When the severity of the weather increased, as in Paris in 1709, 'the people died of cold like flies'.(2 March). In the absence of heating since January (again according to the Princess Palatine) 'all entertainments have ceased as well as law suits'.No fireplaces set in the wall before the 12thC. They spread fast, but the design was deficient and they were not very useful for warming homes. In the early 18thC, new chimney designs utilizing the draught vastly improve the fireplace.
Subject to incessant change, costume everywhere is a persistent reminder of social position. The sumptuary laws were therefore an expression of the wisdom of governments but even more of the resentment of the upper classes when they saw the nouveaux riches imitate them.In societies that remained stable over time, so did dress. China, Japan, even Algiers. "The Indian women in New Spain in Cortes' day wore long tunics, sometimes embroidered, made of cotton and later of wool: and so they did still in the eighteenth century. Male costume, on the other hand, changed - but only to the extent that the conquerors and missionaries demanded clothing decently concealing the nudity of the past." Even in Western Europe in the early 19thC, peasants were still wearing simple coarse cloth that had not changed much for centuries. "In fact, the further back in time one goes, even in Europe, one is more likely to find the still waters of ancient situations like those we have described in India, China and Islam. The general rule was changelessness." The long robes which had persisted from Roman times were only abandoned around 1350.
Tradition was both a strength and a straitjacket. Perhaps if the door is to be opened to innovation, the source of all progress, there must be first some restlessness which may express itself in such trifles as dress, the shape of shoes and hairstyles? Perhaps too, a degree of prosperity is needed to foster any innovating movement?People in Europe were dirty. In the late 18thC people in Paris might bathe once or twice per year.
The West even experienced a significant regression from the point of view of body baths and bodily cleanliness from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. [...] After the sixteenth century, public baths became less frequent and almost disappeared, it was said because of the risk of infection and in particular the terrible disease of syphilis. Another reason was no doubt the influence of preachers, both Catholic and Calvinist, who fulminated against the moral dangers and ignominy of the baths. Although rooms for bathing survived in private homes for a long time, the bath became a means of medication rather than a habit of cleanliness.The Spread of Technology: Sources of Energy, Metallurgy
There are times when technology represents the possible, which for various reasons - economic, social or psychological men are not yet capable of achieving or fully utilizing; and other times when it is the ceiling which materially and technically blocks their efforts. In the latter case, when one day the ceiling can resist the pressure no longer, the technical breakthrough becomes the point of departure for a rapid acceleration. However, the force that overcomes the obstacle is never a simple internal development of technology or science, or at any rate not before the nineteenth century.Energy was the key problem. Coal had been used in Europe since the 11thC and in China perhaps as early as 4000 BC, but it took very long to realize how much potential it had. Instead the sources of energy were human power, animals, wind and water, and wood.
The precondition for progress was probably a reasonable balance between human labour and other sources of power. The advantage was illusory when man competed with machines inordinately, as in the ancient world and China, where mechanization was ultimately blocked by cheap labour.In the Old World, camels and mules were indispensable for transportation. Oxen were everywhere, mostly for working the land but also for transportation. Later farming practices replaced them with horses, but that required improvements in harnesses and other horse technology improvements (and it would take very long for these advancements to spread - "The Chinese were still using wooden saddles and ordinary ropes instead of reins in the eighteenth century.") Lavoisier estimated 1.8 million horses and 3 million oxen in France.
The West experienced its first mechanical revolution in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Not so much a revolution, perhaps, as a whole series of slow changes brought about by the increased numbers of wind- and watermills. The power from these 'primary engines' was probably not very great, from two to five horse-power from a water-wheel, sometimes five, at most ten, from the sails of a windmill. But they represented a considerable increase of power in an economy where power supplies were poor. And they undoubtedly played a part in Europe's first age of growth.
The uses of the water-wheel had become manifold; it worked pounding devices for crushing minerals, heavy tilt hammers used in iron-forging, enormous beaters used by cloth fullers, bellows at iron-works; also pumps, grindstones, tanning mills and paper mills, which were the last to appear. We should also mention the mechanical saws that appeared in the thirteenth century.Watermills provided power for mines, which saw a rise in the 15C: they raised ore, ventilated galleries, pumped water, etc. On the eve of the industrial revolution there were perhaps 500,000 watermills in Europe.
It was an integral part of the coal revolution that modernized England after 1600, enabling fuel to be used in a series of industries with large outputs: the manufacture of salt by evaporating sea water; the production of sheets of glass, bricks, and tiles; sugar refining; the treatment of alum, previously imported from the Mediterranean but now developed on the Yorkshire coast; not to mention the bakers' ovens, breweries and the enormous amount of domestic heating that was to pollute London for centuries.
There was thus an often imperceptible or unrecognized industrial pre-revolution in an accumulation of discoveries and technical advances, some of them spectacular, others almost invisible: various types of gear-wheels, jacks, articulated transmission belts, the 'ingenious system of reciprocating movement' , the fly-wheel that regularized any momentum, rolling mills, more and more complicated machinery for the mines. [...] It is revealing to see how European travellers unfailingly comment on the contrast between the primitive machinery in use in India and China, and the quality and refinement of its products.
With the coming of steam, the pace of the West increased as if by magic. But the magic can be explained: it had been prepared and made possible in advance.Iron
Today production is calculated in thousands of tons; 200 years ago they talked about 'hundredweights', which were quintals, the equivalent of fifty present-day kilograms. That is the difference in scale. It divides two civilizations. As Morgan wrote in 1877= 'When iron succeeded in becoming the most important production material, it was the event of events in the evolution of humanity.'In 1800 metallurgy was still mostly traditional, the economy was dominated by textiles. Metallurgical products other than luxury items did not travel.
We are speaking of the period before the first smelting of steel, before the discovery of puddling, before the general use of coke for smelting, before the long sequence of famous names and processes: Bessemer, Siemens, Martin, Thomas. We are speaking of what was still another planet.There were two major advances: an early one in China which stagnated by the 13thC, and the later one in Europe leading up to the industrial revolution.
After two smeltings in the crucible, the product obtained enabled the Chinese to cast ploughshares or cooking pots in series - an art that the West discovered only some eighteen or twenty centuries later. [...] Another triumph of Asiatic smelting by crucible was the manufacture - thought by some to be of Indian origin, by others Chinese - of a special kind of steel, 'high quality carbonized steel', as good as the best hypereutectoid steels made today. The nature of this steel and the secrets of its manufacture remained a mystery to Europeans until the nineteenth century. [...] What is so extraordinary is that after this incredibly early start, Chinese metallurgy progressed no further after the thirteenth century. Chinese foundries and forges made no more discoveries, but simply repeated their old processes. Coke-smelting if it was known at all - was not developed. It is difficult to ascertain this, let alone explain it. But Chinese development as a whole poses the same problem time after time: veiled in mystery, it has not yet been resolved.In Europe, the water-wheel was crucial in the development of iron-smelting, starting with blast furnaces in the 14thC. Water powered enormous bellows and pounding devices - ironworks had to move from forests to riversides. Generally everything was made in small workshops with a master and 3 or 4 workers, but these tended to be concentrated: Brescia had perhaps 200 arms factories.
Innovations penetrated only slowly and with difficulty. The great technological 'revolutions' between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries were artillery, printing and ocean navigation. But to speak of revolution here is to use a figure of speech. None of these was accomplished at breakneck speed, and only the third - ocean navigation - eventually led to an imbalance, or 'asymmetry' between different parts of the globe.Gunpowder
The Chinese junks, despite their many advantages (sails, rudders, hulls with watertight compartments, compasses after the eleventh century, and a large displacement volume from the fourteenth), went as far as Japan but did not venture beyond the Gulf of Tonkin to the south.Shipbuilding technology in Europe drew from diverse traditions. The 15thC Portuguese caravel was a marriage of north and south. There was a fairly long history of exploration: the Faroes and Greenland were found multiple times in the first millenium. The Vivaldi brothers attempted to reach the Indies at the end of the 13thC, but were lost at sea. In the 15thC the Chinese started making some voyages of exploration under the Muslim eunuch admiral Cheng Huo. The seventh and last voyage reached Hormuz. Then everything just stopped.
The Atlantic consists of three large wind and sea circuits, shown on a map as three great ellipses. The currents and winds will take a boat in either direction with no effort on its part, as both the Vikings' circuit of the North Atlantic and the voyage of Columbus demonstrate.For this to be achieved, "Europe had to be aroused to a more active material life, combine techniques from north and south, learn about the compass and navigational charts and above all conquer its instinctive fear." Perhaps the growth of Capitalist forces was what made these voyages possible. But it was not entirely a matter of money: both China and Islam were rich societies at the time.
What historians have called the hunger for gold, the hunger to conquer the world or the hunger for spices was accompanied in the technological sphere by a constant search for new inventions and utilitarian applications - utilitarian in the sense that they would actually serve mankind, making human labour both less wearisome and more efficient. The accumulation of practical discoveries showing a conscious will to master the world and a growing interest in every source of energy was already shaping the true face of Europe and hinting at things to come, well before that success was actually achieved.Transport
Up to the eighteenth century, sea journeys were interminable and overland transport went at snail's pace. [...] The 'defeat of distance', as Ernst Wagemann calls it, was only to be achieved after 1875, with the laying of the first intercontinental cable. True mass communication on a world scale did not appear until the age of the railway, the steamship, telegraph and telephone. Very little changed in terms of the means of transportation across this time. Paul Valery pointed out that 'Napoleon moved no faster than Julius Caesar'. Stone/paved roads increased speeds a bit, but these long remained exceptions. The 18C saw improvements with paved roads + stagecoaches, prefiguring the railway. These were the result of large-scale investment, what economic growth made possible in practice what was possible technically much earlier.Roadside inns and staging houses important. Typically these had to be reached by evening. "A Neapolitan traveller described these inns more simply in 1693: 'They are nothing but... long stables where the horses occupy the central part; the sides are left for the Masters.' [...] Amenities and speed were the privileges of populated and firmly maintained, 'policed', lands: China, Japan, Europe, Islam."
The same process can be observed everywhere: any society based on an ancient structure which opens its doors to money sooner or later loses its acquired equilibria and liberates forces that can never afterwards be adequately controlled.Barter remained the general rule over most of the globe up to the 18th century. Depending on local conditions barter could be partially replaced by primitive currencies such as cowrie shells. Often a highly valued/circulated commodity plays the role of money, for example salt in Senegal. Iceland had dried fish, Alaska and Russia furs. Other places used cloth, gold dust, copper bracelets, animals, sugar, cocoa. In some places these lasted for a very long time: Corsica "was not annexed by a really efficient monetary economy until after the First World War."
Their production was irregular and never very flexible, so that depending on circumstances, one of the two metals would be relatively more plentiful than the other; then, with varying degrees of slowness, the situation would reverse, and so on. This resulted in upsets and disasters on the exchanges, and led above all to those slow but powerful fluctuations which were a feature of the monetary ancien regime. It is a well-known truth that 'silver and gold are hostile brothers'.In general the flow of specie after the age of exploration was from the New World and Europe, and into the Indies and China, as that is what the Europeans exchanged for commodities from the East.
The 'jingle of coin' thus found its way into everyday life by many different paths. The modern state was the great provider (taxes, mercenaries' pay in money, office-holders' salaries) and recipient of these transfers; but not the only one. Many people were well placed to benefit: the tax-collector, the salt-tax farmer, the pawnbroker, the landowner, the large merchant entrepreneur and the 'financier'. Their net stretched everywhere. And naturally this new wealthy class, like their equivalent today, did not arouse sympathy.
Introduction. Cocoa plant is a small (4 to 8 m height) evergreen tree. In India, it is mainly cultivated in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu mainly as intercrop with Arecanut and Coconut. Slowly the area under cultivation is being promoted by many chocolate producing companies as contract farming. However, for successful cultivation the dry months should not exceed 3 to 4 months. This limits the distributions of cocoa to within 20 0 latitude on either side of the equator. Cocoa tolerates a minimum temperature of 15 0 C and a maximum of 40 0 C, but temperature around 25 0 C is considered as optimum. Cocoa is a crop of humid tropics and so it was introduced as a mixed crop in India in areas where the environments suit the crop. ... Plant protection in cocoa. ... give 1 kg of fermented and dried beans. Under normal cultivation practices, each cocoa tree yields about 1-2 kg annually. GUWAHATI: Cocoa cultivation may no longer be the monopoly of the south. For, the northeast is all set to embark on massive cocoa cultivation. To start with, cocoa will be grown in about 1,000 acre ... Cocoa is one of the important cash crop which fetches good revenue for small farmers. Currently India is importing 40% of its need. Its demand in India is increasing 15% annually. Cadbury India, Jindal Cocoa, Amul, Campco are encouraging cultivation in India. Botany of COCOA , Climate and Soil requirement for COCOA , Varieties suitable for COCOA , New improved varieties of COCOA , Propagation and nursery management of COCOA , Preparation of land for COCOA cultivation, Planting of COCOA , Mulching in COCOA , Weeding process in COCOA , Irrigation process of COCOA , Harvesting and Processing of COCOA , Plant protection of COCOA . Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) a native of Amazon base of South America got its entry into India in the early half of the 20th century. Administratively it is conferred plantation status like coffee, tea and rubber but is seldom recognized as a plantation crop under the Indian Agrarian Administrative Sector. It is also one of the supporter of Agro-based industry in India. India produces cocoa in small quantity. Some of the major cocoa producing states are Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. Economic Importance of Cocoa Plantation. First of all, cocoa is a companion crop in irrigated coconut and areca nut gardens. Because it needs partial shade. What started with a modest cultivation in 1990s has transformed Andhra Pradesh into a leading producer of cocoa in the country now. The State’s cocoa production stood at 10,903 metric tonnes (MT ... Cocoa Cultivation Guide: Cocoa Cultivation. Introduction of Cocoa Cultivation:-Cocoa is also called as “cacao” (derives from the Spanish word cacao) and this is mainly grown for its bean from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter are extracted.Cocoa beans are mainly used in the production of chocolate, cocoa powder and cocoa butter whereas cocoa butter is also used in the cosmetic industry.
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Sir hum log kerala gaye the tbhi vahan se humne fruits and seeds laye the.8368040643 cocoa seedsMunnar 9447597258, 9207053663Thanks for watching my videoAs u... Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) a native of Amazon base of South America got its entry into India in the early half of the 20th century. Administratively it is co... Chocolate are prepared from cocoa seeds, which are extracted from pod. One pod Contains 28 to 32 Beens. Freshly collected beens can be easily grown. to know ... Cocoa plant upclose on a spice plantation in Kerala, India. Look at the size of those fruits!! Information about Cocoa CultivationThe official YouTube channel for Manorama News. Subscribe us to watch the missed episodes.Subscribe to the #ManoramaNews Y...
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