Saffron vs Safflower

Introduction

When we first started sourcing Kashmiri Saffron from Kashmiri farmers in Pampore, one question kept coming up: "How do I know I'm not buying safflower pretending to be saffron?"

This is a fair worry. One spice costs more than gold by weight. The other costs almost nothing. Yet both turn your food a beautiful golden-yellow color. To someone who doesn't know what to look for, they can look surprisingly similar sitting in a shop.

Here's the uncomfortable truth we learned after years in this business: safflower is the number one fake ingredient used to trick people into thinking they're buying real saffron. Knowing the difference isn't just interesting—it protects you from fraud that costs people millions of dollars every year.

Saffron vs Safflower: Two Totally Different Plants

Let's clear this up right away. Saffron and safflower have similar names and give food a similar color, but that's where the similarities end.

Saffron comes from a plant called Crocus sativus. It belongs to the iris flower family. The part you buy is called the stigma—the tiny thread-like pieces from inside a purple crocus flower. Think of stigmas as the flower's female parts that catch pollen. Each flower makes only three of these tiny threads. Just three.

Safflower comes from a completely different plant called Carthamus tinctorius. It's related to sunflowers and thistles. What you get from safflower are the petals—the colorful outer parts of the flower. A single safflower plant can produce hundreds of petals.

This basic difference explains everything else: why one costs so much more, why the flavors are different, why the health benefits aren't the same, and why saffron earned the nickname "Red Gold" while safflower is bluntly called "Bastard Saffron" in the spice trade.

The Water Test: How We Check Every Batch for Fakes

After testing hundreds of saffron samples, we've found the water test is still the best way to spot safflower fakes at home. Here's exactly how to do it:

Step 1: Put 5-6 threads in a glass of room-temperature water.

Step 2: Wait and watch for 15 minutes. Don't stir it.

What Real Saffron Does

Real Kashmiri saffron releases its color slowly—a gentle golden-yellow that takes 10 to 15 minutes to fully show up. The threads themselves stay whole and keep their deep red color. They never fall apart or lose their shape.

When we tested our Kashmiri Mongra Saffron, the water turned that signature honey-gold color while the threads kept their trumpet-shaped tips. This is what genuine saffron looks like.

What Safflower Does

Safflower dumps its color into water almost instantly—like dropping food dye into a glass. The liquid turns blood-red or bright orange within seconds. Even worse, the threads quickly fade to pale yellow or white as all the color drains out of them.

For more ways to test saffron at home, including the baking soda test, check out our complete guide on how to identify pure Kashmiri saffron at home.

How to Spot the Difference by Looking

When we train our quality team, we teach them three visual signs that separate real saffron from safflower fakes:

Thread Shape

Saffron stigmas have a unique trumpet or flute shape at one end. If you look closely, you'll see tiny serrated (saw-like) edges along the length. The thread has real thickness to it—it's three-dimensional, not flat.

Safflower petals are flat, thin, and jagged—like tiny scraps of dried flower. They have no tube shape at all because they're petals, not stigmas.

Color Pattern

Real saffron has different colors within each thread. The tip is deep crimson-red, the middle is orange-red, and the bottom (where it attached to the flower) is yellow or cream-colored.

Safflower has the same color all the way through—usually bright orange or red with no natural color change from one end to the other.

The Smell Test

This is where fakes can't hide:

Saffron has an unforgettable smell: like metallic honey, fresh hay, and something earthy that's hard to describe but impossible to miss once you've smelled it. The taste is slightly bitter—this comes from picrocrocin, one of saffron's special natural compounds.

Safflower has almost no smell. At best, it has a faint, slightly nutty or chocolate-like scent that's nothing like saffron's powerful fragrance.

In the Kitchen: Can You Really Swap Safflower for Saffron?

People ask us this all the time. The honest answer? Only if you don't care about taste.

What Saffron Adds to Food

Saffron isn't just a coloring agent—it completely transforms a dish. In Spanish Paella, Italian Risotto alla Milanese, or French Bouillabaisse (a fish stew), saffron brings:

• A complex honey-floral flavor that no other spice can copy
• An earthy richness that anchors the whole dish
• That special smell that fills your kitchen
• The famous golden-yellow color

Take saffron out of these dishes, and you've made something completely different.

What Safflower Adds

Color. That's it.

Safflower gives you yellow-orange coloring with zero flavor. You'll get the visual look, but your Paella will taste like seasoned rice instead of actual Paella.

There's also a chemistry problem: safflower's coloring compounds (called carthamin) break down quickly in heat. In boiling water, they lose half their color in just 4 minutes at 80°C (176°F). Saffron's coloring compounds (called crocin) handle heat much better, keeping their color through long cooking times.

Better Alternatives When You Can't Get Saffron

When you truly can't afford or find real saffron, skip safflower entirely. A mix of turmeric (for golden color) and sweet paprika (for depth) actually looks more like saffron than safflower does.

Try this ratio: ¼ teaspoon turmeric + ½ teaspoon paprika = 1 pinch saffron

But understand this: these substitutes copy the appearance, not the experience. For the real flavor, nothing replaces genuine Kashmiri saffron.

Health Benefits: Where the Differences Really Show

Both saffron and safflower have real health uses, but they help your body in completely different ways.

What Science Says About Saffron

Research on saffron's health benefits has grown a lot in the past 20 years. Here's what stands out:

Mental Health: Several clinical trials (studies with real patients) show that taking 30mg of saffron daily works as well as fluoxetine (sold as Prozac) for mild-to-moderate depression. Saffron works by affecting brain chemicals called serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate—the same chemicals that prescription antidepressants target.

For a detailed look at this research, see our analysis of saffron for depression and anxiety based on 21 clinical trials.

Brain Function: Studies show saffron may help with early Alzheimer's disease. In some trials, it worked as well as donepezil, a common Alzheimer's medication.

Women's Health: Saffron significantly reduces PMS symptoms—both physical discomfort and mood changes.

Eye Health: New research suggests saffron may help the retina (the light-sensing part of your eye) work better in people with age-related macular degeneration—a condition where your central vision gets worse as you age. We cover this in detail in our guide on saffron benefits for eyes.

What Safflower Is Used For

Safflower's benefits focus mostly on heart health and traditional medicine:

Heart Health: Safflower oil is high in linoleic acid (an omega-6 fat) and oleic acid. These healthy fats help lower LDL cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) and support heart function.

Traditional Chinese Medicine: Safflower flowers are used to improve blood flow and help restart menstrual periods that have stopped.

Skincare: Safflower oil appears in cosmetics because it moisturizes skin well.

Notice the key difference: saffron's benefits are mostly for your brain and nervous system; safflower's are mostly for your heart and skin.

Why Does Saffron Cost So Much More?

To understand saffron's price, you need to understand how it's harvested:

• 150,000 to 200,000 flowers are needed to make one pound of saffron
• Every single thread must be picked by hand before sunrise during a 2-3 week window each autumn
• The saffron crocus is sterile—it can't make seeds. It can only grow from bulbs (called corms), which means farmers can't just plant seeds like other crops
• 400 hours of work go into producing just one kilogram (2.2 pounds)

Compare this to safflower: it's a farm crop harvested by machines, grown easily from seeds, with tough roots that make it easy to grow even in dry conditions.

The high price isn't fake scarcity—it's simply what happens when a crop requires this much human labor to produce.

For the full story of how Kashmiri saffron travels from Pampore's fields to your kitchen, read our journey from Pampore to Kashmiril.

Safety Information

Saffron Dosing

• Safe daily amount: Up to 1.5 grams
• Dangerous level: More than 5 grams
• Drug warning: Be careful if you take SSRIs (antidepressants like Zoloft or Prozac). Saffron affects the same brain chemicals these medications do. While the risk of Serotonin Syndrome (a dangerous drug reaction) is low, it exists.

For detailed dosing guidance, see our article on how many saffron threads per day.

Safflower Safety

• Pregnancy: Avoid safflower flowers completely
• Bleeding issues: Safflower can slow blood clotting. Stop using it 2 weeks before any surgery
• Oil vs. Flowers: Safflower oil has different safety concerns than the flowers

The Bottom Line

Saffron and safflower are not the same thing. They're not even close.

One is a premium spice with proven health benefits, a complex flavor, and a price that reflects genuine scarcity. The other is a basic farm crop useful for cooking oil and cheap food coloring.

The confusion between them exists mainly because of fraud—not because they're actually similar.

Frequently Asked Questions