Crocus sativus

Saffron. Saffron spice is the dried stigmas of Crocus sativus L. (Iridaceae), a bulbous perennial native to southern Europe and Asia Minor and cultivated in the Mediterranean countries, particularly Spain. Tme saffron should not be confused with either meadow saffron, ie, Colchicum autumnale L. (Lihaceae) also called safflower, or bastard saffron, ie, Carthamus tinctorius L. (Compositae), both of which are occasionally used to adulterate tme saffron. 

Saffron is found in the pistils of the plant Crocus sativus. Saffron is often confused with safflower, sometimes known as bastard saffron. The name of the plant. Crocus sativus, comes from the Arabic word faran, meaning yellow. The Romans and the Greeks used saffron not only as a dye but also as a spice. In the early days of Greece, yellow was the official color, and Grecian women were especially fond of clothes dyed with saffron. Because of its scarcity, saffron ranked among the most expensive dyes of the ancient world. 

Saffron is the tiny stigma at the center of the crocus flower, Crocus sativus. Because each stigma is plucked from the flower by hand, saffron is one of the most expensive spices in use today. 

Crocus sativus petals Crocin, crocetin (saffron) Food colouring... 

Pfister, S. et al.. Isolation and structure elucidation of carotenoid-glycosyl esters in gardenia fruits Gardenia jasminoides Ellis) and saffron (Crocus sativus Linne), J. Agric. Food Chem., 44, 2612, 1996. 

Carmona, M. et al., Crocetin esters, picrocrocin and its related compounds present in Crocus sativus stigmas and Gardenia jasminoides fruits. Tentative identification of seven new compounds by LC-ESl-MS, J. Agric. Food Chem., 54, 973, 2006. 

Castillo, R., Fernandez, J.A., and Gomez-Gomez, L., Implications of carotenoid biosynthetic genes in apocarotenoid formation during the stigma development of Crocus sativus and its closer relatives, Plant Physiol. 139, 674, 2005. 

Pfander, H. and Schurtenberger, H., Biosynthesis of C20-carotenoids in Crocus sativus, Phytochemistry 21, 1039, 1982. 

Moraga, A.R. et al., Glucosylation of the saffron apocarotenoid crocetin by a gluco-syltransferase isolated from Crocus sativus stigmas, Planta 219, 955, 2004. 

International Standardization Organisation, Saffron (Crocus sativus L.), ISO 3632-1, Part 1, Specification, Geneva, 1993. 

Wouters, J. and Verhecken, A., The scale insect dyes species recognition by HPLC and diode-array analysis of the dyestuffs, Ann. Soc. Entom. France, 25, 393, 1989. International Standardization Organisation. ISO 3632-1 Specification Saffron (Crocus sativus L.), Part 1, Geneva, 1993. 

P.A. Tarantilis, G. Tsoupras and M. Polissiou, Determination of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) components in crude plant extract using high performance liquid chromatography UV visible photodiode array detection mass spectrometry, J. Chromatogr. A, 699, 107 118 (1995). 

P. Lozano, M.R. Castellar, M.J. Simancas and J.L. Iborra, Quantitative high performance liquid chromatographic method to analyse commercial saffron (Crocus sativus L.) products, J. Chromatogr., A, 830, All 483 (1999). 

Crocin. Crocin is found in saffron and in gardenias. Extracting crocin from saffron is not economically viable. Saffron is obtained from Crocus sativus. Seventy thousand plants are needed to produce 500 g of saffron, which would contain 70 g of crocin. The commercial source of crocin is the gardenia bush. The town of Saffron Walden in Essex, UK, takes its name because saffron used to be produced there. 

A.V. Loskutov, C.W. Beninger, G.L. Hosfield and K.C. Sink, Development of an improved procedure for extraction and quantitation of safranal in stigmas of Crocus sativus L. using high performance liquid chromatography. Food Chem. 69 (2000) 87-95. 

Sophoroside Crocus sativus stamens (saffron) Iridaceae 181... 

Rhamnosyl(l 2)glucoside (crosatoside A) Crocus sativus pollen Iridaceae 383... 

Straubinger, M. et al.. Two kaempferol sophorosides from Crocus sativus, Nat. Prod. Lett., 10, 213, 1997. 

Saffron Crocus sativus Crocin, safranol Callus, organs ND [68-70]... 

Crocus sativus Crocetin Crocetin dine-apolitanosyl [92]... 

Crocus sativus L. Shi Hong Hua (Saffron) (root) Crocetin, crocetin geniobiose glucose ester, crocetin di-glucose ester, crotin, lycopene, beta-carotene.33-450 Ameliorating effect on ethanol-induced impairment of learning and memory. 

C. pentagyna, C. pinnatifida, C. sanguinea, Psidium guajava Crocus sativus Crocus sativus Crocus sativus... 

Crocus sativus, Croton cascarilloides, C. tiglium Croton cascarilloides, C. tiglium Croton cascarilloides, C. tiglium Croton cascarilloides, C. tiglium... 

Calendula officinalis, Crocus sativus, Daucus carota, Hippophae rhamnoides... 

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