Saffron, obtained from the stigmas of Crocus sativus L (Iridaceae), is the most expensive spice traded worldwide. In addition to its culinary uses, various medicinal properties have been confirmed for saffron, which has recently captured the interest of the phytotherapy industry. The quality of saffron is determined by the presence of 3 compounds, namely, crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal, with the latter being responsible for the distinct aroma characteristic of saffron. To determine the volatiles and assess possible geographical variation, headspace analysis using 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional gas chromatography (GC) on 26 samples collected from 9 countries was undertaken. The major constituents identified include safranal, 4-ketoisophorone, acetic acid, 2(5H)-furanone, and 1,4-cyclohexanedione-2,2,6-trimethyl. Quantitative rather than a qualitative variation was noted in the samples from different origins. The levels of safranal ranged from 22.1% to 62.4%. This study represents the first report on the headspace volatiles of saffron using GC×GC-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry and clearly demonstrates the superior chromatographic potential of 2-dimensional GC compared with conventional 1-dimensional GC.

藏红花，得自番红花的柱头L（鸢尾科）是全世界交易最昂贵的香料。除了其烹饪用途之外，藏红花的各种药用特性也得到了证实，藏红花最近引起了植物疗法行业的关注。藏红花的质量取决于是否存在藏红花，藏红花和藏红花三种化合物，后者是藏红花独特的香气特征。为了确定挥发物并评估可能的地域差异，对从9个国家收集的26个样品进行了一维和二维气相色谱（GC）顶空分析。确定的主要成分包括constituent醛，4-酮异佛尔酮，乙酸，2（5H）-呋喃酮和1,4-环己二酮-2,2,6-三甲基。在不同来源的样品中发现了数量变化而不是质量变化。fra的水平在22.1％至62.4％之间。这项研究代表了首次使用GC×GC飞行时间质谱对藏红花的顶空挥发物进行报道，并且清楚地证明了二维GC的色谱潜力比传统的一维GC优越。