SAFFRON ADULTERATION ,

GRADE CHECK AND PRICE

PREDICTION

ZAID RAFI DENTO

PROBLEM STATEMENT
How can adulterated Saffron deteriorate your health?

Adulterated food can lead to toxicity in the body which subsequently generates liver disorder,
kidney problems and even heart failure.
Saffron is a well-known and expensive spice in the food industry. It is mainly classified into
grades ranging from high to low based on its colour.As the grade of saffron decreases so
does the value.But unfortunately it's adulterated by adding colour just to increase the grade
of saffron and the net profit of the seller.Many customers despite knowing this fact risk
buying it, as they have no way of telling whether it’s adulterated or what’s the grade of the
saffron an is it worth the price.Only experienced people in this field can check it.So each day
when thousands of customers buy saffron they are in need of a service for that solves this
problem for them.

MARKET ASSESSMENT
It is clearly shown in the image below that although this saffron is consumed throughout the
world but producers are very limited that includes INDIA as well.Plus Kashmiri saffron
(INDIAN) produced is much more nutritious and valuable from others i.e Iranian Saffron.
Saffron is used not only as a spice but is used in cosmetics, medical field as well.It is
available on the market in thread, liquid, and powder forms and is widely used to produce
food preservatives, nutritional supplements, aromas, beauty products, and skincare
products.Plus the medical segment is expected to be the most significant revenue
contributor. The significance of the market in herbal remedies in Iran, India, and China is
expected to drive segment growth during the forecast period. It is intended to help battle free
radicals, which cause various diseases such as chronic inflammatory disease, asthma,
diabetes, and cancer.

TARGET SPECIFICATION AND

CHARACTERISATION
So saffron the market that is in dire need of quality and adulteration check services is not
just limited to the food industry.
. But this problem can be solved and can be further provided as a service which does the
following:

1. Checks for adulteration in the product.

2. Determines the grade/quality of saffron.
3. Determines the value/price accordingly.

This can be accomplished by a computer vision model to be more precise at the initial stage
to get going we only require a well trained image classifier.But then for us to convert it into a
service we also need the measure of the adulteration percentage and the grade of the
saffron for that we need well labelled image data of saffron and up to date price list of saffron
according to the location of our customer to provide him/her with the worth of the product.
This will ensure customer satisfaction in terms of quality and price.

External Search(information sources)

https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/saffron-market

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0956713522007472

BENCHMARKING
There are also traditional ways to check the quality of saffron like:

Cold Water Test

Simply take a few strands of Saffron and place them in cold water. You will notice that the
colour is being released in the water, which will happen for both pure and impure saffron
strands. After 15 - 20 minutes, you will find that the entire glass has turned yellowish,
maintaining uniformity.

Read Also: 7 Benefits of Kesar for Skin And Health

However, if you find a deep red color in the water, then it is a definite sign of adulteration.
You might also find that the water is turning bright yellow or prominent red color stains in the
water. Moreover, a pure saffron thread will never lose the red color. However, if you keep
fake Saffron for an hour in this cold water, it may turn white.

Taste test

The most common hack to identify real and fake Saffron is to understand the taste profile.
Fake Saffron is coloured red using foreign substances, and it lacks the true flavor of Saffron
which is sweet. You might get a bitter or metallic taste. Thus, you are not only losing the
Kesar benefits but also its wonderful taste.

On the other hand, real Saffron has a very strong scent, along with an earthy and floral taste.
Even if the water test fails, your taste buds won't make a mistake.

Finger/Palm Rubbing Test

Dip the saffron threads for a few seconds in cold water, and then place them on your finger
or palm. Now, rub the threads with two fingers back and forth for a few seconds. If it is a pure
saffron thread, then it won't break.
However, if the Saffron threads are adulterated, then upon rubbing, they will turn into dust or
might even turn into liquid. Thus, the health benefits imparted by this Indian spice, along with
Saffron benefits for skin, are also lost due to fake saffron usage.

Smell Test

The most competent quality of pure Saffron is its taste and smell. Saffron usually has a very
sweet and floral smell. If you take the aroma of your Saffron, it will be similar to the honey
and hay mixture.

Other than this, if you have bought adulterated Saffron, you will get a pungent smell from the
spice. This is due to the high level of chemical usage in the form of Safranal and Picocrocin.

Baking Soda Test

Take a cup of water and mix at least two tablespoons of baking soda in the water until the
mixture looks uniform. Now, add a few saffron threads to it and stir for 2-3 seconds. If the
mixture looks yellowish, it denotes that you have bought pure quality saffron.

However, if the mixture turns maroon or reddish, you have fallen prey to cheaters. This also
deprives you of the Kesar powder benefits.

But overall these methods are traditional ones that often don’t work
and are time consuming, plus customers want an easier option like
ours to check the quality with just a click of photo plus ours as
mentioned above is just not limited to quality check but price
prediction service is also there.

APPLICABLE PATENTS(related)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0956713522007472

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359224413_The_detection_of_saffron_adulterants
_using_a_deep_neural_network_approach_based_on_RGB_images_taken_under_uncontro
lled_conditions

APPLICABLE CONSTRAINTS
As mentioned in the target and characterization section, the main motive is to provide three
services to the saffron customers.Although its a big opportunity it comes with certain
challenges.The amount of research done in this field with the intersection of machine
learning is much less compared to the other major fields.So to start with considerable
amount of research needs to be done.Continuous data collection and maintenance will alSO
be required.Another challenge is that customer count is not humongous and is well
diversified.So we to reach out to most of the customers to make good profit.

BUSINESS MODEL
It is also known as saffron crocus, and each flower produces only three stigmas. So, if you
buy 1 pound of Saffron, it has been made from 50000 to 75000 flowers, which makes
Saffron, locally known as “Kesar”, quite expensive. However, other than pure Saffron, their
adulterated version is also available in the market, and the cheaters are playing it safe to
keep the demand and supply chain in accord. Thus, it is your priority to understand whether
the food that you are going to consume is adulterated or not.A service that checks for
adulteration in the product, determines the grade/quality and value/price of the saffron
accordingly.This service can be initially provided freely to the public then after getting a
substantial amount of customer base a minimal amount can be charged for the same.
Running Saffron Ads and saffron company brand endorsements will also contribute to the
revenue on the platform apart from the service charge.Additionally, the market of saffron is
growing at 8% CAGR so, the future of this product is bright as well.
Plus running costs will be considerably low so the gross profit will be much higher.

According to Ayurveda, Saffron has many health advantages, particularly during winter.
Kesar powder benefits include keeping you warm and even preventing bacteria-borne
illness. Saffron has been used to treat extensive ailments such as cough, heartburn,
insomnia, depression, dry skin, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's.

CONCEPT GENERATION
First of all this well labelled image data needs to be collected manually by an expert in
Saffron and a database of updated prices of various categories of saffron needs to be
maintained . Then a regression and classification model needs to be developed from
scratch. Although getting a good accuracy initially may be difficult,but that isn’t a big
impediment and will be solved eventually.
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
The development of the product will be the same as any other and will follow the traditional
steps in the machine learning life cycle of a product and we have options like Sage Maker for
deployment.

FINAL PRODUCT
The service we provide will need an user-friendly and aesthetic UI.It can be either provided
on a web or an app platform or maybe both. Plus, image quality and other parameters need
to be checked on the front end itself without calling the api.The trained model will be
deployed on Amazon's Sage Maker . Additionally, options like designing and developing
backend through flask or django also can be taken into consideration. Taking user
experience and reviews in serious consideration, changes should be made to the product.

PRODUCT DETAILS
The product/service based on a clear image of the saffron product the deployed model will
predict its cost and grade as well as whether it’s adulterated or not.
Tools/frameworks used while developing and deploying the model,UI can be
pytorch,Sagemaker,React js etc.
Initially a team of computer vision experts, front end developer, MLOps expert, marketing
experts and a good network in the saffron industry will be required.

CONCLUSION
Most of the adulterated Saffron contains corn silk. The dishonest sellers spray the corn silk
with strong color and chemicals to make it look pretty much like natural Saffron. Other than
this, different fillers are also being used, such as sawdust, starch, rice flour etc., to increase
the quantity and price of Saffron.Adulterated food can lead to toxicity in the body which
subsequently generates liver disorder, kidney problems and even heart failure. So, if an
initiative is taken to launch a product to check for these things in the saffron industry.It has
the potential to change the saffron industry and both buyers and the service providers will
benefit from it.Most importantly the saffron buyers can rest assured about the quality of the
product they buy.