Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, 31587-77871 Karaj, Iran.
German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, DSMZ, Braunschweig, Germany.
Food Chem. 2019 Oct 15;295:387-394. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.05.116. Epub 2019 May 17.
Saffron is appreciated by its colour, taste, and aroma. To examine the effect of abiotic and biotic stress on these main properties, in the span of 2014-2016, saffron stigmas were collected from major different saffron cultivation areas of Iran and saffron quality was estimated. The quality of saffron was assessed by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy following the ISO3632:2011 standard. However, the composition and concentration of crocetin esters, picrocrocin, safranal, and kaempferols, the most critical compounds determining the properties and quality of saffron can vary with the geographical origin and virus effects, being more accurate High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Diode Array Detection (HPLC-DAD) methods were used to analyze saffron quality. Using HPLC-DAD we analyzed saffron plants grown at various conditions (considering altitude, temperature, and precipitation/rainfall) and in presence/absence of virus infections; we found that edaphoclimatic and cultivation conditions significantly determine the quality of the spice and the presence of virus modifies the content of its metabolites.
藏红花以其颜色、味道和香气而受到赞赏。为了研究非生物和生物胁迫对这些主要特性的影响，在 2014 年至 2016 年期间，从伊朗主要的不同藏红花种植区采集了藏红花柱头，并评估了藏红花的质量。根据 ISO3632:2011 标准，采用紫外可见光谱法评估藏红花的质量。然而，藏红花中最重要的决定其性质和质量的西红花酸酯、苦味酸、藏红花醛和山奈酚的组成和浓度可能因地理起源和病毒影响而有所不同，更准确的高效液相色谱和二极管阵列检测 (HPLC-DAD) 方法用于分析藏红花的质量。使用 HPLC-DAD，我们分析了在不同条件（考虑海拔、温度和降水/降雨量）下生长的藏红花植物和存在/不存在病毒感染的情况；我们发现，土壤气候和栽培条件显著决定了香料的质量，而病毒的存在则改变了其代谢物的含量。
