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Production Practices and Quality Assessment of Food Crops. Vol. 1

Production Practices and Quality Assessment of Food Crops. Vol. 1

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214 S. A. Ordoudi <strong>and</strong> M. Z. Tsimidou<br />

medicines <strong>and</strong> in functional foods is expected to attract the attention <strong>of</strong> consumers<br />

to saffron the next years.<br />

Medical <strong>and</strong> pharmacological uses. Many therapeutic properties have been credited<br />

to saffron that was considered to be a kind <strong>of</strong> panacea. In general, saffron, its extracts<br />

<strong>and</strong> tinctures are used in folk medicine as an antispasmodic, eupeptic, gingival<br />

sedative, carminative, diaphoteric, expectorant, stimulant, stomachic, aphrodisiac<br />

<strong>and</strong> emmenagogue, but its extensive use as an abortifacient decreased following<br />

reports <strong>of</strong> fatalities (Consorti, 1980; Basker <strong>and</strong> Negbi, 1983; Sampathu et al., 1984;<br />

Ríos et al., 1996). In Ayurvedic preparations is used as a tonic <strong>and</strong> a promoter <strong>of</strong><br />

non-specific immunological defence (‘Rasayan’) (Dhar <strong>and</strong> Mir, 1997; Ghosal et al.,<br />

1989). In the Chinese therapeutic it is used to treat some disorders <strong>of</strong> the central<br />

nervous system (Abe <strong>and</strong> Saito, 2000; Soeda, et al., 2001). Toxicity <strong>of</strong> saffron is<br />

well known above 0.5 g <strong>and</strong> death has been reported after ingestion <strong>of</strong> 1.5 g. The<br />

medicinal use <strong>of</strong> saffron <strong>and</strong> other herbs <strong>and</strong> spices has declined in the 20th century<br />

but since the 90s saffronologists enhanced their efforts towards this direction.<br />

Abdullaev <strong>and</strong> co-workers (1993, 1999, 2002) reviewed the cytotoxic, anticancer<br />

<strong>and</strong> antitumor properties <strong>of</strong> saffron <strong>and</strong> its active ingredients in, mainly, in vitro<br />

studies but also in vivo studies. Effects to brain functions have been recently investigated<br />

(Ni, 1992; Suigiura, 1995; Abe et al., 1999; Soeda et al., 2001). Researchers<br />

working on the medical properties <strong>of</strong> saffron itself (or <strong>of</strong> other saffron plant material,<br />

e.g. corms) are mainly coming from producing countries: Greece (Liakopoulou-<br />

Kyriakides et al., 1985; Liakopoulou-Kyriakides <strong>and</strong> Skubas, 1990; Morjani et al.,<br />

1990; Tarantilis et al., 1992 <strong>and</strong> 1994a); India (Nair et al., 1991a <strong>and</strong> 1994; Salomi<br />

et al., 1991; Premkumar et al., 2001); Spain (Garcia-Olmo et al., 1999; Escribano<br />

et al., 1999a, c <strong>and</strong> 2000a) or from countries with long tradition in herbal medicine<br />

such as Japan (Abe <strong>and</strong> Saito, 2000; Soeda et al., 2001). The active constituents<br />

<strong>of</strong> saffron are considered to be crocins. Other compounds not so intensively examined<br />

in the case <strong>of</strong> saffron but known to present significant anti-stress/anti-anxiety properties<br />

such as mangicrocin may also significantly contribute to the therapeutic<br />

properties <strong>of</strong> the spice (Ghosal et al., 1989). Saffron pigments have been also used<br />

as light stabilisers for photosensitive drugs (Nagy et al., 1990). The authorised<br />

European Commission suppressed the monograph on saffron from the European<br />

Pharmacopoeia in 1987 because the product was considered as <strong>of</strong> ‘no common<br />

European interest’. Since 2002 a monograph (code 1624) on saffron for homeopathic<br />

preparations appeared in the above source.<br />

Other applications. The use <strong>of</strong> saffron for textile dyeing declined with the advent<br />

<strong>of</strong> synthetic dyes. Recent papers indicate an interest for dyeing natural expensive<br />

textiles (silk, wool, <strong>and</strong> cotton) with it. Takaoka et al. (1992) studied comparatively<br />

the colour <strong>of</strong> extracts from saffron <strong>and</strong> Gardenia jasminoides Ellis <strong>and</strong> the<br />

effect <strong>of</strong> pH <strong>and</strong> Na-L-ascorbate on colour yield on silk. The same group (1991)<br />

found that the colour properties <strong>of</strong> silk <strong>and</strong> wood dyed with the saffron extract<br />

were increased by mordanting with compounds containing Al <strong>and</strong> Sn. Tsatsaroni <strong>and</strong><br />

Eleftheriadis (1994) studied the dyeing <strong>and</strong> fastness properties <strong>of</strong> saffron on cotton<br />

<strong>and</strong> wool. Very small amounts <strong>of</strong> tincture <strong>of</strong> saffron are used in the preparation <strong>of</strong>

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