Production Practices and Quality Assessment of Food Crops. Vol. 1

240 S. A. Ordoudi and M. Z. Tsimidou
4.4. Harvesting and stigmas separation practices
Harvesting spans four to six weeks in autumn (mid October–mid November). Each
plant blossoms only for about fifteen days and harvesting, therefore, must be
timely. Intact flowers are picked early in the morning to prevent withering. Bees
are the competitors of the growers during this period. Spanish sources report that
the flowers are picked early in the morning before the petals open. In Greece, the
growers prefer to cut the stigmas directly from the bloomed plant at the base of
the petals with a slight twisting supported by the fingernail. The stigmas together
with parts of the flower are transferred in baskets to the processing areas. A great
amount of petals remains on the soil (Figure 13). On the same day the stigmas
must be removed from the harvested flowers and drying is initiated. In most cases
stigmas are removed from foreign matter by hand. Some devices blowing air may
assist the separation (Figure 14).
Yields of flowers vary considerably according to local site conditions. On average,
however, about one hectare yields one million blooms, weighing approximately
800 kg, which provide 50 kg of fresh stigmas and 10 kg of dried saffron (Corradi
Figure 13. On the left, basket carrying floral matter and stigmas. On the right, saffron petals thrown
just after harvest. Kozani, Greece.
Figure 14. On the left, hand-sorting of saffron styles, stigmas and stamens from petals. Ont the right,
air-blowing as a mechanical method for the separation of petals. Kozani, Greece.