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...

The present study aims to examine whether and to what extent the bioaccessibility of the major saffron apocarotenoids, namely crocetin sugar esters (CRTSEs), is affected by the presence of strong water-soluble antioxidants, ingredients of the herbs found in commercial tea blends with saffron. An in vitro digestion model was applied to infusions from these products to investigate the possible ch...

The effect of parabens on the shelf-life of crocetin esters and picrocrocin in aqueous saffron solutions was studied. Degradation of saffron crocetin esters fits a first-order kinetics model, and the results indicated that the crocetin (beta-D-glucosyl)-(beta-D-gentiobiosyl) esters were more stable than the crocetin di-(beta-D-gentiobiosyl) esters regardless of whether trans and cis isomers wer...

In this study, volatile and bioactive compositions of saffron samples collected from Khorasani region in Iran Razavi different locations Turkey containing Hatay (Kırıkhan, Iskenderun, Hassa Yayladağı counties), Karabük (Safranbolu county Yukarıbucak Ovacuma villages), Ankara (Ayaş, Nallıhan Polatlı Çukurova (Adana-Cukurova, Mersin-Tarsus Osmaniye-Kadirli counties) Antalya (Korkuteli county) wer...

BACKGROUND Allergy to Saffron (Crocus sativus) pollen has been described in people involved in processing of saffron flower stamens. Profilins have been identified as a pan-allergen in different plant pollens and foods. This molecule is an actin-binding protein with a molecular weight of 12-16 kDa found in eukaryotic species. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to generate monoclonal antibody...

Cancer continues to represent the largest cause of mortality in the world and claims over 6 million lives each year (Abdullaev et al., 2000). An extremely promising strategy for cancer prevention today is chemoprevention, which is defined as the use of synthetic or natural agents (alone or in combination) to block the development of cancer in human beings (Abdullaev et al., 2004).It is a hotspo...

background: there is much debate about effects of medicinal plants such as saffron (crocus sativus) on human health. women are highly involved in farming and processing of this plant. this study is aimed at evaluating the saffron impacts on miscarriage rate of female farmers working in saffron fields. methods: this was a prospective case-control study on pregnant female farmers during harvestin...

Saffron petal is the main by-product of saffron processing which produced at high level but it is not applied and thrown out. Saffron petal is containing of several compounds such as mineral agents, anthocyanins, flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids and kaempferol. As saffron petal is cheaper and produces in large amounts compared to saffron stigma, so, it can be considered as an appropriate sourc...

BACKGROUND In the last two decades, pioneering research on anti-tumour activity of saffron has shed light on the role of crocetin, picrocrocin and safranal, as broad spectrum anti-neoplastic agents. However, the exact mechanisms have yet to be elucidated. Identification and characterization of the targets of bioactive constituents will play an imperative role in demystifying the complex anti-ne...

Antimicrobial activities of methanolic and petroleum ether extracts of Croccus sativus L. (saffron) stigmas, were tested against various bacterial strains (Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli) and fungi (Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus fumigatus) by agar well diffusion method. Minimal inhibitory concentra...