The spice saffron is made from the dried stigmas of the plant Crocus sativus L. The main use of saffron is in cooking, due to its ability to impart colour, flavour and aroma to foods and beverages. However, from time immemorial it has also been considered a medicinal plant because it possesses therapeutic properties, as illustrated in paintings found on the island of Santorini, dated 1627 BC. I...

Gardenia fruit (fruit of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis) is used as a natural pigment resource and a Chinese traditional medicine. The white mesocarp turning orange or red that occurs during gardenia fruit maturation arises from the production and accumulation of the apocarotenoids, especially crocin-1, which is derived from carotenoid. Meanwhile, the major medical component geniposide is accumulat...

The accumulation of three major carotenoid derivatives-crocetin glycosides, picrocrocin, and safranal-is in large part responsible for the color, bitter taste, and aroma of saffron, which is obtained from the dried styles of Crocus. We have identified and functionally characterized the Crocus zeaxanthin 7,8(7',8')-cleavage dioxygenase gene (CsZCD), which codes for a chromoplast enzyme that init...

Saffron, the dried red-orange stigmas of Crocus sativus L, has been known as a flavoring agent, food coloring and traditional herbal medicine. Pharmacological effects of saffron are mainly attributed to crocin, crocetin, picrocrocin and safranal. These components especially crocin, have significant effects including antidepressant and anticonvulsant, analgesic, anti-cancer and other therapeutic...

Carotenoids are used in wide-ranging food applications, but they are susceptible to degradation by many factors including light. We examined the photodegradation of five kinds of carotenoids and three kinds of anthocyanins to clarify which structures of pigments were favorable to accelerated degradation by sulfides under UVA irradiation. Under UVA irradiation, crocetin and crocin were decompose...

Objective: Inhibition of lipid metabolism in breast cancer has been suggested as an effective approach for cancer therapy. Saffron-derived crocetin (Crt) and crocin (Cro) with the known anticancer activity, have shown hypolipidemic effect in diabetes and atherosclerosis. Here, we investigated the effect of Crt/Cro on lipid content in breast cancer. Materials and M...

Crocus sativus is a triploid sterile plant characterized by its long red stigmas, which produce and store significant quantities of the apocarotenoids crocetin and crocin, formed from the oxidative cleavage of zeaxanthin. Here, we investigate the accumulation and the molecular mechanisms that regulate the synthesis of these apocarotenoids during stigma development in C. sativus. We cloned the c...

To understand the role of intestinal microflora in the biological effect of functional herbs, which have been used in Korea, Japan, and China as traditional medicines, and suggest new bioactive compounds transformed from herbal constituents, the metabolic activities of the functional herb components (ginsenoside Rb1, crocin, amygdalin, geniposide, puerarin, ginsenoside Re, poncirin, hesperidin,...

Drug delivery across the skin is used for several millennia to ease gastrointestinal (GI) ailments in Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM). TPM topical remedies are generally being applied on the stomach, lower abdomen, lower back and liver to alleviate GI illnesses such as dyspepsia, gastritis, GI ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal worms and infections. The aim of the present study i...