Saffron Flavor: Compounds Involved, Biogenesis and Human Perception

In recent years, saffron has increased in interest for both scientists and consumers, as it is the only spice able to give to food flavor, color and aroma to foods. In relation to flavor, picrocrocin is considered as mainly responsible for saffron’s bitter taste, but other compounds structurally related to picrocrocin and flavonoids have been identified and could contribute to such a property. Further studies are necessary to establish picrocrocin sensory perception, as only its taste detection threshold has been established (10 mgL). Even though it is well known that picrocrocin content is directly affected by the dehydration process of the spice, its generation pathway remains unclear. In this paper a comparison between the classical hypothesis and the alternative one is therefore presented. Among its flavor properties, picrocrocin is an excellent marker of saffron purity because till now its presence it is only reported in saffron. Also, it is especially useful in unmasking sophisticated adulterations carried out with pigments from Gardenia jasminoides, which contain the same carotenoid family as saffron. For both reasons, it is important to accurately determine picrocrocin content in order to gain the trust of saffron dealers and also for consumer satisfaction. This review summarizes the available methodologies for this proposal, giving emphasis to the gaps contained in the current ISO 3632 Standard, normally used in the international market. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________