Crocus sativus L.

crocus_sativus_3 Crocus is a gender of the family of Iridaceae. It shows the typical botanical features of the Liliatae. More than 400 species, subspecies, varieties and forms have been described, flowering in many different colours and at different times of the year, but only one is used as a source of saffron: Crocus sativus L.

Botany and Cultivation

As the name “sativus” indicates, saffron is exclusively obtained from cultivated Crocus sativus. It is a sterile, perennial plant vegetatively propagated through its corms. Cultivations of saffron have been found in all regions surrounding the Mediterranean basin, and especially in the Eastern regions. The most important area of origin has always been and still is Persia. With the spread of Islam in the Medieval saffron spread in parallel, and reached locations such as Spain and Austria. Today, more than 200 tons of saffron are processed every year. The bulk of this material comes from Greater Khorasan. There is a small production in India, Greece, Morocco and Spain. The quantities produced by other countries are still very low. Other countries where saffron was originally grown now reconsider saffron cultivation.

However, a major drawback is labour costs. Although saffron is the most expensive spice, the tremendous differences in labour costs have led to a quick decline of saffron cultivation in Western countries. With the current all-time high in saffron market prices the cultivation becomes again feasible in certain European and Asian countries – but the quality must necessarily closely match that produced since thousands of years in the Khorasan region.

Crocus sati...

Uses

Crocus sativus is a very ancient medicinal plant, and since several Centuries has become a high quality spice plant. It is the source of saffron, which consists of the dried red stigmates of Crocus sativus. The use of saffron against various physiologic states and ailments has been thorougly documented by all ancient Mediterranean, Persian and Arabian cultures throughout several millennia. The interest has never stopped: Even today much research is dedicated to saffron, using modern analytical, pharmacological and clinical methods to confirm the traditional uses of saffron.

Saffron has been attributed many effects. Reported traditional uses were, among others:

Emotional balance: Even today, saffron preparations are traditionally used to improve well-being and mood. In Persia people say that a cup of saffron tea will bring back your good humour.
Septic inflammations and infections of the eye: This was one of the major indications in ancient Egypt and Greece.
Stimulation of circulation
Stimulant and aphrodisiac, prevention of premature ejaculation
Supportive treatment of various forms of cancer

Modern pharmacological and clinical research has confirmed all these effects, e.g.:

Antidepressive effects: A saffron extract has been demonstrated to possess antidepressive effects in clinical trials against placebo and the synthetic antidepressants fluoxetine and imipramine, without having the adverse effects of the latter.
Antiinflammatory effects in vivo
Blood lipid lowering effects in vivo
Stimulating and potentially aphrodisiac effects have been examined in vivo with various saffron constituents.
Chemopreventive effects in vivo and anti-tumour effects in vitro have been demonstrated in various models. Saffron extracts are not simply cytotoxic, they have been shown to selectively affect the cancer cells while being non-toxic to healthy cells.

Saffron is presented in many forms. In Persia and the Mediterranean, many kinds of food are flavoured with saffron, including rice, butter, cheese, convenience food, diverse types of bread, pastries, sweets and many beverages.

Safety

Saffron is considered very safe even in extremely high doses of more than 1.5 g/day. Occasional reports of toxicity seem to be related to the ingestion of “meadow saffron” = Colchicum autumnale, which is in fact a poisonous plant.

The usual dose range for the improvement of mood is approximately 30 mg per day. No adverse effects are known with this quantity.

Adulterations

crocus_sativus_5_saffron_stamens With saffron being an extremely expensive herbal raw material, adulterations have always been a major problem. Typical adulterants include flowers of other species cut to stripes, such as Calendula officinalis L., Carthamus tinctorius L., Onopordon acanthium L., Cynara cardunculus L., Zea mays (the stigmates), Crocosmia aurea POPPE ex HOOK (Cape saffron), Arnica montana L., Scolymus hispanicus L., Papaver rhoeas L., Punica granatum L., Sutera atropurpurea, Crocosmia crocosmiflora LEMOINE, rootlets of various Allium species (Allium schoenoprasum, Allium porrum L.), the outer leafs of onions, Capsicum powder, cut and dyed grassy plants, powdered sandal- and campech wood, or Curcuma powder.

These adulterants are partly produced using industrial methods. Adulterants of animal or synthetic origin include dyed gelatine fibres, meat fibres from salt meat or dried meat, and synthetic dyes, even paper strips.

Typical additions to increase the weight of the commercial material are water, syrup, glycerol, honey or fatty oils. Lycopodium powder is added to avoid the sticking together of the stigmates.

Alternatively the addition of inorganic salts such as calcium carbonate, barium sulphate, magnesium sulphate, potassium nitrate, potassium carbonate or borax was observed. Sometimes pre-extracted saffron is sold.

These adulterations only occur when the material is not traceable to its origins. They can be avoided, and good qualities may be expected whenever full traceability is established starting from cultivation down to extract manufacturing.

Our Saffron Activities

Despite the long tradition of saffron use and much field work having been invested in Crocus cultivation techniques, little is known about the differences in quality of saffron chemotypes, whereas such differences are in fact reported from traditional use.

Our screening and cultivation project was triggered by the frequency of adulterants and the intransparency of trading channels. Our initial and still ongoing work consisted in the screening of local qualities of various traceable origins. In parallel, we evaluated the impact of cultivation, harvesting and processing techniques on the overall quality of saffron, assessed by its phytochemical composition. The developed techniques allow us to optimize the cultivation conditions for elevated contents in safranal and/or crocins.

We are currently consulting saffron growers in various countries in projects aimed on establishing saffron cultivations with over-average quality, following the rules defined in the WHO guideline on Good Agricultural and Collection Practise (GACP), and the principles of organic cultivation.