A Pinch of Saffron

South and southeast Asia is an area of high humidity: one of the major preservation concerns (especially in non-air-conditioned spaces) is the growth of fungus on materials. However, Hindu religious practices also serve to work against this preservation concern.

Palm-leaf religious books in this area, written in Sanskrit on thin palm leaves, are wrapped in cloth—specifically, saffron-colored cloth. The color saffron has religious significance: it is on the national flag of India to represent “renunciation:” indifference to material gains and dedication to work.

Saffron color is achieved by dyeing cloth with the saffron plant. This dye has significant properties that make it a good preservation agent. It has been proven to have significant antifungal and cytotoxic properties—one of the reasons that it has long been used in traditional medicine. Its antifungal properties can also be used to defend against fungus entering the religious texts and causing damage—a natural, locally-available and religiously-significant defense against a major problem.

Resources

Chemical constituents and bioactivities of the liposoluble fraction from different medicinal parts of Crocus sativus
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21639689

• contributed by Jon Sweitzer-Lamme