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Saffron spice, the most valuable spice worldwide, is the dried stigma that only represents 7.4% of Crocus sativus flowers. Other parts of the flowers different to stigmas are discarded. Flower harvest and all the postharvest steps to produce saffron spice are performed manually. Mechanization of flower collection, stigma separation, and dehydration process is a revolution in saffron spice production, which increases the productive capacity making it possible to extend the uses of C. sativus flowers, beyond the production of saffron spice. Flowers possessed high-phenolic content and excellent antioxidant properties that could contribute to their application as functional ingredients.

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BACKGROUND: Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is one of the most valuable spices and nowadays its main use is as a foodstuff. Numerous papers have been published on saffron aroma and its volatile content, but nothing has been written about the aroma quality of samples available on the market to consumers. The aim of this study was to analyse and compare 418 commercial samples of saffron belonging to different ISO categories. Ultrasound-assisted extraction (USAE) with an organic solvent and dynamic headspace desorption (DHD) followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry were used to screen for saffron volatile composition.

The feasibility of Raman spectroscopy for predicting the content of crocetin esters (crocins), and coloring strength was assessed. 114 samples from Greece, Iran, Italy and Spain were divided into two sets: a calibration set with 49 samples and a validation one with 65 samples. Calibration models for crocetin esters (r 0.97, RMSEC 0.92, RMSEP 0.97, RPD 3.46) and coloring strength (r 0.95, RMSEC 12.2, RMSEP 11.3, RPD 2.59) were built in the spectral region 1700-955 cm(-1) using partial least-squares (PLS) regression. The calibration models were validated using cross-validation, leaving one sample out (r 0.97, RMSECV 1.09 for crocetin esters and r 0.93, RMSECV 14.5 for coloring strength). The crocetin esters content as determined by liquid chromatography fluctuated between 18.8 and 31.7 mg/100 g saffron. The corresponding values, as calculated using the Raman method, fluctuated between 19.2 and 32.0 mg/100 g saffron. The coloring strength determined by the reference method ranged from 177.0 to 296.7 units, while with the Raman method the values were between 186.8 and 297.6 units. The results, as compared to the reference methods (liquid chromatography and UV-vis spectrophotometry), show that the proposed methodology gives data with acceptable accuracy. The proposed models can be used as a tool for rapid screening of quality in saffron samples.

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