Saffron Crocin

What is Saffron?

Saffron is one of the most precious spices in the world. The threadlike red stigmas—and the yellow hue they impart—are quite literally the stuff of legend. The spice originates from a flower called crocus sativus—commonly known as the “saffron crocus.” It is believed that saffron originated and was first cultivated in Greece, but today the spice is primarily grown in Iran, Greece, Morocco, and India. Saffron is extremely subtle and fragrant. The slightly sweet, luxurious taste is totally enigmatic—it’s tricky to describe but instantly recognizable in a dish.

Why Saffron is so expensive?

Each flower produces only three threads (stigmas) of saffron, and it blooms for only one week each year. The saffron must be harvested—by hand!—in the mid-morning, when the flowers are still closed in order to protect the delicate stigmas inside. It takes about 1,000 flowers to produce just one ounce of saffron.

What is Crocin?

The main components in saffron are carotenoids like crocins and crocetin, monoterpene aldehydes like picrocrocin and safranal, and flavonoids. Crocin, which is responsible for the color of saffron, is the most abundant compound in saffron. It has been known that saffron is useful to cure various illnesses, for example, neuronal diseases like depressive disorder; it is also useful for preventing diabetes complication, metabolic syndrome, and cancer in both clinical trials and animal model studies. In pharmaceutical industry, Crocin and Safranal could be used as tablets and other dosage forms. According to World Health Organization (WHO), researchers are currently trying to use medicinal plants such as saffron which can be potentially introduced as a new natural drug.

The difference between crocin and saffron

1. One of the primary difference between “saffron extract” and “saffron powder” is that in the latter, due to the presence of moisture in the stigmas of saffron, for the most part, absorb the fungal agents such as aspergillus which produces aflatoxin. Thus, the saffron which is badly kept and stored in poor conditions, cannot be sold in developed countries such as the US and Europe. “Saffron extract” does not face such complications.

2. Secondly, “saffron powder” and saffron stigma’s tend to lose its rich color and darken over time when stored in bulk, and finally, in due course of time, it will lose the active compound, meaning decrease in quality. “Saffron extract” on the other hand maintains its quality and color indefinitely.

3. Further, in order to extract saffron’s active components by traditional and common methods, an enormous amount of solvent and a variety of equipment are needed, however, the efficiency is low and the process is expensive.

In common method, 200 liters of solvent are needed for extraction of only one kilogram of saffron; therefore, on one hand, the cost and time of extraction increase and on the other hand, complete solvent drainage does not happen affecting the product. Subsequently, the final product lacks the sufficient purity and quality to be used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic fields.

• Finally, due to the insolubility in low density of crocin in saffron powder, saffron extracting is a must, which leads to enrichment and condensing the active components. This helps to have a product with higher amount of crocin.

We implemented a new protocol, which made us capable of optimizing the saffron extraction, and now we have an end product with the following characteristics;

• Extremely high quality and pure extract.

• Absence of any toxic compounds such as aflatoxin

• Long period of storage without special requirements or any added preservatives.

• Reduction in the volume of saffron stigma exportation but increase in the added value.

• Directly usable in the food industry with the highest quality in terms of colour, flavor, and aroma with no time wasted on processing and preparation.