saffron

Ingredients

crocin, caretenoid esters, crocetin, dicarboxylic acid

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Used as an additive in iron-gall inks at saffron to iron weight ratios of 0.03 (Sample 11), 0.17 (Sample 9), and 1 (Sample 10) (p. 69). The historical optimum is approximately 0.166 g of saffron (p. 70).

Evidence

"saffron can resist a wide range of pH variations. The existence of dicarboxylic acid and its esters (crocin, caretenoid esters and crocetin) and nitrogen compounds in the chemical composition of saffron could be responsible for its high resistance to pH change. (p. 69)"

Remarks

Saffron acts as an inhibitor of iron-gall ink corrosion. It resists pH changes due to its complex chemical composition, including dicarboxylic acids with 16 carbon atoms and stable conjugated systems (p. 69). It prevents color changes by filtering light (p. 71).