Clinical Applications of Saffron (Crocus sativus) and its Constituents: A Review

Abstract

Clinical Applications of Saff ron ( Crocus sativus ) and its Constituents: A Reviewthe fi rst record being cited with the keywords of "saff ron + clinical trial" in Scopus ® belongs to the publications of 1998. The number of such papers has been increased through [2004][2005][2006][2007][2008][2009][2010][2011][2012], 62 % of which being original clinical trials (32 papers). However, 66 countries were cited for the authors' affi liations of the cited documents in Scopus ® with the keyword "saff ron". Most articles were published by the Iranian and Spanish researchers (22.3 % by Iranian and 10.7 % by Spanish authors) and more than one-third of the clinical trials were documented by the Iranian scientists (37.3 %). Several useful pharmacological eff ects of saff ron or its active components have been shown in animal studies along with the few clinical trials, including: anticonvulsant [ 3 , 4 ] , antidepressant [ 5 , 6 ] , anti-infl ammatory [ 7 , 8 ] , antitumor [ 9 ] , radical scavenger eff ects [ 10 ] and learning and memory improving [ 11 -13 ] . Protective eff ects of saff ron extracts on goenotxins-induced oxidative stress have been reported [ 14 , 15 ] . There are numerous studies about antioxidant eff ects of Introduction ▼Crocus sativus L (commonly known as saff ron) is a perennial stemless herb from the Iridaceae family that is largely cultivated in Iran and some other countries including Spain, India and Greece [ 1 ] . C. sativus grows up to 20-30 cm height and has 5-11 true leaves that are shielded and covered by 5-11 non-photosynthetic and white leaves (cataphylls). In October, the plant blooms striped purple with a honey-like smell [ 2 ] . Important constituents of saff ron that are pharmacologically active are bitter principles (e. g. picrocrocin), volatile agents (e. g. safranal), and dye materials (e. g. crocetin and its glycoside crocin) [ 1 ] . Although research into eff ects of saff ron is not a new subject and ancient Persian literatures recommend using saff ron as a medicine for treating several diseases, the number of cited documents in medical databases such as Scopus ® have increased over the last 20 years, most of them (78.51 %) being original research. Furthermore, Abstract ▼Commonly known as saff ron, Crocus sativus L and its active components have shown several useful pharmacological eff ects such as anticonvulsant, antidepressant, anti-infl ammatory, antitumor, radical scavenger eff ects, learning and memory improving eff ects, etc. There has been an increasing body of data on saff ron use in medical databases within the last 20 years. In the current review, the strengths and weaknesses of some of the clinical trials about diff erent pharmacological eff ects of saff ron will be discussed C. sativus extract has been studied in 8 antidepressant clinical trials in comparison to placebo or some antidepressant drugs, in which saff ron showed eff ectiveness as an antidepressant drug. Clinical trials on anti-Alzheimer eff ect of saff ron demonstrated that it was more eff ective than th...

Saffron: a natural product with potential pharmaceutical applications

“…[53] Assignment into 13 groups to receive: (1) normal saline, (2) paraffin, (3) diazepam (3 mg/kg), (4-7) saffron aqueous extracts at different doses (56, 80, 320 and 560 mg/kg, respectively), (8)(9)(10) crocin at different doses (50,200 and 600 mg/kg), (11-13), [11][12][13] safranal at different doses (0.05, 0.15, 0.35 ml/kg, respectively).…”

“…[6] Regarding saffron's pharmacological properties and possible therapeutic uses, several reviews and minireview papers have been published concerning the biological activity of saffron and its constituents. [1,3,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] In parallel, the possible uses of saffron and its active constituents lead to an increasing number of research studies, some of which have drawn some very useful and intriguing results of active ingredients of saffron, especially against malignancies, cardiovascular and Alzheimer's disease. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] In this minireview, we aim to summarize and critically address previous and current evidence regarding the biological/ pharmacological activities of saffron and its active ingredients and their possible therapeutic uses.…”

Safranal and its analogs inhibit Escherichia coli ATP synthase and cell growth

“…It has been documented that very high concentrations of saffron and its constituents are required to cause the pharmacological effects and these concentrations are non-toxic in animal studies and human trials [73]. In mice models peritoneum administered lethal dose (LD 50 ) values for saffron stigma and petal were found to be 1.6 and 6 g/kg, respectively [74].…”

An Extensive Review on the Relationship between Food and Mood

“…2014) showed the effectiveness of saffron as an antidepressant drug. Clinical trials conducted on women with premenstrual syndrome showed that saffron could reduce suffering symptoms more than the placebo and similar to standard treatments [41] . Lopresti et.al.…”