# Why no synthetic saffron? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 14, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706 "2013-04-14T19:57:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/1 "2013-04-14T19:57:38Z")
Saffron is lovely, but hideously expensive. Why has nobody made a synthetic version of it? I know there are (so-called) substitutes such as safflower, annato, turmeric - and sometimes, synthetic food colorants are used instead - but none of these is anywhere near a properly adequate substitute for the delicate aroma and flavour of saffron. However, consider Vanilla - reasonably expensive - and there are synthetic alternatives available that are (although doubtless snorted at by purists) reasonable approximations of the real thing. So why don’t we have a substitute for real saffron? - I guess it would have to be bought in liquid form and added using a pipette. Is the chemistry too complex to reproduce? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/2 "2013-04-14T20:19:26Z")
The [vanillin molecule](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanillin) is fairly simple and seems to be readily synthesized from easily obtained precursors. The most important molecule in saffron, [picrocrocin,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron) is more complex. Perhaps more important, real saffron contains 150 other compounds that contribute to its taste and flavor. Possibly pure picrocrocin, even if it could be synthesized easily, wouldn’t give the complexity of real saffron. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/3 "2013-04-16T20:41:32Z")
Even more puzzling: Why no synthetic spices that are totally new, and do not duplicate any existing natural spices, but taste and/or smell really good? ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/4 "2013-04-16T21:14:45Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Even more puzzling: Why no synthetic spices that are totally new, and do not duplicate any existing natural spices, but taste and/or smell really good? Actually, these do exist. For example: You know the distinctive smell and flavor of cotton candy? That’s not a natural property of spun sugar-- it’s because cotton candy contains a proprietary flavor mix known as “Flossine”. Think about it, though. If your product contained one of these completely synthetic “spices”, do you think you’d want to write that on the box? Not a great marketing move, especially these days. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/5 "2013-04-17T03:11:29Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Even more puzzling: Why no synthetic spices that are totally new, and do not duplicate any existing natural spices, but taste and/or smell really good? What flavor is bubble gum, or Red Bull? Since they will interact with many of the same receptors that existing spices or flavors do, most synthetic flavors will be at least reminiscent of existing spices. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/6 "2013-04-17T03:30:46Z")
> [@colander](#): > > Think about it, though. If your product contained one of these completely synthetic “spices”, do you think you’d want to write that on the box? Not a great marketing move, especially these days. It really is interesting looking at things from the '50s and comparing them to today. I get the sense from the '50s that a big selling point was human ingenuity and mastery over nature. Even doing things better than nature. Even the things focused on nature and nature conservation seemed to be focused on the fact that ruining nature ruined it for **us** , not just a strict moral argument. Nowadays everything is focused on nature and how natural it is and how it has none of that human-created crap in it. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/7 "2013-04-17T03:53:28Z")
I guess people aren’t just mad about saffron anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/8 "2013-04-17T08:28:39Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I guess people aren’t just mad about saffron anymore. 😃 A saying: French Cuisine is a challenge to Nature; Italian Cuisine is Nature. Take your pick. Another food/culture saying I like with absolutely no relevance here is: Italians are Jews with better cooking. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/9 "2013-04-17T08:33:09Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > However, consider Vanilla - reasonably expensive - and there are synthetic alternatives available that are (although doubtless snorted at by purists) reasonable approximations of the real thing. I must be a purist, then, because synthetic vanilla is nothing like a reasonable approximation of the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/10 "2013-04-17T08:50:22Z")
Synthetic vanilla is kind of like non-alcoholic beer. There is a hint of similarity between vanillin and vanilla… but only a hint. ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/11 "2013-04-17T13:28:31Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > … > The most important molecule in saffron, [picrocrocin,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron) is more complex. Perhaps more important, real saffron contains 150 other compounds that contribute to its taste and flavor. Possibly pure picrocrocin, even if it could be synthesized easily, wouldn’t give the complexity of real saffron. I work with a guy who used to make flavorings. He says that they added a small amount of green pepper flavor to their strawberry flavoring. This caused enough complexity that people didn’t get bored with the mono-flavor. He also had a lab journal that still smelled like green peppers 3 years after he left the job! ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/12 "2013-04-17T16:16:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I must be a purist, then, because synthetic vanilla is nothing like a reasonable approximation of the real thing. Synthetic vanillin is an exact duplicate of the principle flavoring molecule in natural vanilla. Howver, it’s not the only flavor in natural vanilla. If you want “pure vanilla”, go with synthetic, but if you want a more nuanced, complex flavor, go natural. Vanillin is a very reasonable approximation, to the first order. It’s not “imitation vanilla”. It’s just not everything that vanilla is. IMHO, there are valid uses for both vanillin and vanilla, but I usually prefer the latter, especially when it’s the primary flavor, as with vanilla ice cream. But when it’s just a component of a more complex recipe, vanillin can be better by leaving out all those lovely color notes, to avoid conflicting with other elements in the recipe. Imagine isolating the principle flavoring molecule in coffee. It might be very useful for adding to a cake recipe, for example, but it would probably make terrible coffee – and every cup would taste the same! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/13 "2013-04-17T17:11:35Z")
Pure vanillin just isn’t vanilla. I can’t think of any place I’d prefer the former over the latter. It’s like drinking pure watered-down ethanol - who does that? Even Vodka and Cane are more complex than that. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-synthetic-saffron/655706/14 "2013-04-17T17:14:02Z")
**Mangetout** : I just assumed you [grew your own saffron.](http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/2405/how-to-grow-saffron/page/all)