Quantification of crocin, picrocrocin and safranal in saffron stigmas obtained from sounded corms with acoustic waves

Abstract

Introduction: Plant acoustic frequency technology (PAFT) is the effect or treatment of a plant with a specific frequency sound wave.Objective: The sound waves with different frequencies and a sound pressure level 77 dB were emitted on the saffron corms in a controlled environment using aeroponic cultivation and the contents of crocin, picrocrocin and safranal in their produced stigmas were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography. For this purpose, the corms were divided into two groups. In group 1, sound waves with the frequencies of 0.5, 1 and 2 kHz were emitted on saffron corms in different stages of sprouting, flowering and the whole stage of sprouting and flowering. In group 2, sonication was performed on the corms during the flowering stage at 4, 8, 12 and 16 kHz frequencies. Results:The changes in the contents of crocin, picrocrocin and safranal were not significantly compared to the control at 0.5, 1 and 2 kHz frequencies in the stages of sprouting and flowering of corms. While the higher frequencies (4, 8, 12 and 16 kHz) in flowering stage were affected significantly, the crocin and picrocrocin content increased 8.5% and 30%, applying the frequency of 12 and 8 kHz, respectively. Also, the effect of sound exposure time per day with the frequency of 16 kHz at 15, 30 and 60 min were investigated. Conclusion:The findings showed that the corms could be affected by sounding in the different stages of growth of the corm and also in the content of secondary metabolites.

Smart-Hydroponic-Based Framework for Saffron Cultivation: A Precision Smart Agriculture Perspective

“…The aeroponic growth chamber monitored and controlled all the factors such as relative humidity, temperature, and light. The results from the experiment concluded that some metabolites show a positive effect on the quality of the saffron [48].…”

Fingerprint of Characteristic Saffron Compounds as Novel Standardization of Commercial Crocus sativus Extracts

“…Although the analysis of crocins and picrocrocin in saffron has been extensively carried out by HPLC-UV [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ] and HPLC-MS [ 12 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ], to the extent of our knowledge, very limited information can be found regarding their presence in commercial extracts [ 6 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Up to 15 crocin isomers were identified in commercial saffron extracts (affron ® ) based on the information obtained by DAD signal at 440 nm ( Figure 2 A), MS spectra ( Figure 2 B), accurate mass measurements and the fragmentation pattern obtained by MS/MS analysis.…”

Therapeutic implications of crocin in Parkinson's disease: A review of preclinical research

“…Various analytical methods are available for the quantitative determination of crocin such as HPLC (high‐performance liquid chromatography) and mass spectrometry (MS). Moreover, a quicker method was developed using HPLC‐DAD, to enhance the quantification of crocin in liquid saffron extracts, and the limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) of crocin were found to be 4.49 and 15.4 mg/L (Razavizadeh & ArabshahiDelooei, 2021; Suchareau et al, 2021). Another method using Raman spectroscopy was also used for the quantification of crocetin esters (crocin), which gave data with acceptable accuracy (Anastasaki et al, 2010).…”

“…The results demonstrated that HPLC‐DAD was superior to UV–vis spectroscopy for determining content and saffron classification for commercial applications. Furthermore, HPLC‐DAD was appropriate for evaluating three essential factors that influence saffron quality (crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal; Razavizadeh & ArabshahiDelooei, 2021; Suchareau et al, 2021). DAD, on the other hand, provided for selective and sensitive examination with the elimination of potential errors (Hollá et al, 2021).…”