SC - Saffron-WARNING

[LrdRas at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/23/99 12:01:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
TerryD at Health.State.OK.US writes:

<< As a cute little side note, .....<snip>..... 
 Bear >>

There are several species of autumn crocus. The crocus used to make 
colchicine is different than the saffron crocus!!!!. Colchicum autumnale is 
most commonly known as autumn crocus, but in various regions it is known as 
naked-ladies, colchicum, and meadow saffron. It should be noted that it's not 
a crocus, and it's not saffron, and should definitely not be used in place of 
saffron in cooking because eating any part of this plant can kill you.

The autumn crocus is native to Europe but has been introduced to Canada and 
the U.S., where it is both grown in gardens and lives as a wild escapee in 
meadows and woodlands. It's a perennial herb in the lily family (Liliaceae) 
which grows from a corm (a solid bulb) that can unfortunately be mistaken for 
a wild onion. The rapierlike leaves grow about a foot high, and in the early 
fall one or two leafless stalks sprout from the corm; each stalk produces a 
single white-to-purplish-pink flower that resembles a crocus.

The extreme toxicity of this plant has been known since the times of ancient 
Greece, but in the fifth century, herbalists in the Byzantine Empire 
discovered it could be used to treat rheumatism and arthritis, and the Arabs 
began to use it for gout. The useful active ingredient in the plant is an 
alkaloid called colchicine, which is still used to treat gout and which has 
anticancer properties.

The colchicine crocus is highly poisonous and none of it's parts should be 
consumed. The powerful chemical is used to induce genetic mutation in plant 
breeding and will do the same thing with human genes. It is also used for 
cancer research and treatment. 

Quote- "Colchicine has proven to have a fairly narrow range of effectiveness 
as a chemotherapy agent, so its only FDA-approved use is to treat gout. 
Colchicine also causes teratogenic birth defects in lab animals, and so 
pregnant women with gout should not use colchicine-containing drugs. 

Colchicine poisoning resembles arsenic poisoning; the symptoms (which, 
because it is a mitotic poison, occur 2 to 5 hours after the toxic dose has 
been ingested) include burning in the mouth and throat, diarrhea, stomach 
pain, vomiting, and kidney failure.   Death from respiratory failure often 
follows. A specific antidote doesn't exist, Less than than two grams of the 
seeds is enough to kill a child.

Colchicine, a water-soluble alkaloid found in the autumn crocus, blocks or 
suppresses cell division by inhibiting mitosis, the division of a cell's 
nucleus. Specifically, it inhibits the development of spindles as the nuclei 
are dividing. Normally, the cell would use its spindle fibers to line up its 
chromosomes, make a copy of them, and divide into two new cells with each 
daughter cell having a single set of chromosomes. With colchicine present, 
the spindle fibers don't form, and so the cell can't move its chromosomes 
around. The cell may end up copying some or all of the chromosomes anyway, 
but can't parcel them out into new cells, and so it never divides".- 
(Budavari, Susan, ed. 1989. The Merck Index: An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, 
Drugs and Biologicals. Rahway, NJ, Merck & Co.)



When ordering saffron crocuses make sure to spicifically state that you want 
saffron crocuses and not just any fall blooming crocuses
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