Abstract
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is an expensive spice crop cultivated successfully in Iran, Afghanistan, India, Greece, Morocco, Spain, and Italy. The present study was conducted during the periods 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 to evaluate the morphological, yield and quality parameters of saffron in six different regions of non-traditional areas of the western Himalayas. The two experimental factors were “year” and “location.” The experiment was conducted using a factorial randomized block design with three replications. Yield attributes, viz., number of flowers, fresh flower yield, fresh stigma yield and dry stigma yield were significantly higher in location L3 compared to other geographical locations. Dry stigma yield in location L3 was higher by 50.0, 41.2, 33.3, 14.3, and 9.1% compared to locations L6, L5, L1, L4, and L2, respectively. These were characterized by the appropriate climatic conditions, viz., high altitude, sandy-loam texture of the soil, optimum temperature, lesser relative humidity and total rainfall, demonstrating that it is possible to cultivate this spice even in non-traditional areas of the western Himalaya. Positive correlations were established for stigma yield with increased altitude and lesser rainfall. Secondary metabolites viz., crocin and picrocrocin increased significantly with the increase in altitude; however, a reverse trend was recorded for safranal content. Total phenolics and flavonoids were significantly higher in the geographical location of Kinnaur, H.P. (L1) and Bharmour, H.P. (L4). In conclusion, the assessment of different geographical locations and soil types is particularly necessary to encourage saffron production and its qualitative traits. Based on current findings, saffron can be grown successfully in some non-traditional locations of the western Himalayan regions.
Highlights
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) “(family Iridaceae),” commonly known as red gold, is one of the most expensive and valuable spice crops in the world market (Gomez-Gomez et al, 2012)
This study identified and validated favorable environmental conditions under the western Himalayas for saffron cultivation through the maximum entropy (MAXENT) model
Throughout India, only the Kashmir valley represents one of the most significant saffron growing areas situated at an altitude of 1,585–1,677 m amsl under temperate climatic conditions (Ganaie and Singh, 2019)
Summary
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) “(family Iridaceae),” commonly known as red gold, is one of the most expensive and valuable spice crops in the world market (Gomez-Gomez et al, 2012). More than 418 tons/annum of saffron are produced worldwide from an area of 108,000 ha in Iran, 7,557 ha in Afghanistan, 3,674 ha in. Saffron flowers in the range of 75–100 provide 225–300 stigma threads, which produce only 0.5 g of dry stigma (Gohari et al, 2013). Saffron cultivation is gaining interest due to its major uses in industries, viz., the textile, dye, drug and culinary adjunct, food additive, coloring, and flavoring industries; it has gained interest for it’s pharmacological properties, e.g., antioxidant, antitumor activity, anticancer, and antimutagenic activity (Moradi Rikabad et al, 2019; Mykhailenko et al, 2020)
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