Investigation of Physicochemical Properties and Microbial Contamination of Saffron Style

Saffron flower (Crocus sativus) is one of the most precious spices in the world. In this respect, thesaffron style samples were gathered from the farms of Torbat-Heidariyeh located in South Khorasanprovince during one year and their preparation was performed based on the common manufacturingstandards. Then, in order to considering the international and national standards for saffron and spicesevaluation of the desired properties of saffron style was investigated which included the moisturecontent, total ash, in acid insoluble ash, the cold water soluble extract, recognition of the coloradditives and the power of color, total counts of micro-organisms, the form and mold, Escherichiacoli, Clostridium perfringens, sulfite-reducing clostridium, and enterococcus based on physicochemicaland microbial. It was found that the tested physicochemical properties of saffron style such asthe total ash, the acid insoluble ash, the cold water soluble extract, recognition of the color additives,and the power of the color were in lower grade than the stigma. The level of Crocin, Picrocrocin, andSafranal available in the saffron style along with stigma were in different amount amounts and veryhow compared to the style. The style moisture was the only factor which its amount in stigma wasgreater than style. Statistically, the tests of moisture content, total ash, the acid insoluble ash, and thecold water soluble extract had a significant difference (p