Chemical Composition and Sensory Evaluation of Saffron.

Stefano Predieri,Francesca Camilli,Edoardo Gatti,Pamela Vignolini,Massimiliano Magli,Annalisa Romani

doi:10.3390/foods10112604

Stefano Predieri, Francesca Camilli + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10112604

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Abstract

The quality and economic value of saffron, one of the most counterfeited spices, are based on three key substances that are relatively easy to measure: crocines (colour); picrocrocines (bitter); safranal (odour impact). Despite being well-known, as their concentration is correlated to sensory intensity, a detailed sensory evaluation, performed by a trained panel, supported by advanced analytical approaches, may better show the relationships between saffron composition and sensory perception. Three saffron samples of different Italian origins (Sardinia and Tuscany) were evaluated by a trained sensory panel and their chemical composition was determined by HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) and spectrophotometry. Safranal concentration and the perceived odour intensity were positively correlated while relationships between picrocrocine and bitter perception were more complex to detect. By correlating (Multiple Factor Analysis) saffron sensorial and chemical profiles, this work aims at improving saffron characterisation while providing better information on the quality of this valuable spice.

Highlights

Saffron is the spice obtained from the stigmas of Crocus sativus L., a perennial stemless herb of the Iridaceae family, widely cultivated in Iran and other countries, including India and Greece [1], and Spain [2] and Italy [3] where its cultivation has longstanding traditions and yields high-quality productions.It is well known that saffron is one of the most valuable spices in the world, traditionally used in many food preparations, and appreciated for its properties in traditional medicine as many ethnobotanical studies report [4,5,6,7]
Data obtained from the HPLC/DAD analysis of the dried stigmas are reported in
The results show that the three samples differed in trans-crocin 4 (169.97 ± 2.18, SA; 405.19 ± 3.95, CT; 249.82 ± 2.92, GR), trans-crocin 3 (61.22 ± 1.80, SA; 132.07 ± 1.98, CT; 93.90 ± 2.15, GR) and picrocrocin

Summary

Introduction

Saffron is the spice obtained from the stigmas of Crocus sativus L., a perennial stemless herb of the Iridaceae family, widely cultivated in Iran and other countries, including India and Greece [1], and Spain [2] and Italy [3] where its cultivation has longstanding traditions and yields high-quality productions.It is well known that saffron is one of the most valuable spices in the world, traditionally used in many food preparations, and appreciated for its properties in traditional medicine as many ethnobotanical studies report [4,5,6,7]. Several types of research refer to interesting pharmacological applications of saffron and its effects on several pathologies [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. This spice is commonly grown in relatively small and definite geographic areas which provide it with peculiar biochemical traits [17,18,19,20]. Saffron composition is known to affect sensory perception and consumer appreciation. 2011 [22], focused on the bitterness perception of saffron and its extracts, while Chrysanthou et al

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