Purpose

Saffron is widely used for its medicinal and culinary properties. Its stigmas are the most expensive part comparing with the flowers that are discarded during production. For that, the objective of this work was to determine the phytocomplex of stigma and flower material (except stigma) of saffron from Algeria. Crocin, picrocrocin and safranal contents were quantified to classify its quality according to ISO/TS 3632 standards. The antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of extracts were also investigated.

Methods

Crocins, total phenolic content, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and anthocyanins were detected and quantified by HPLC-DAD and spectrophotometric analyses. The antioxidant potential was evaluated by 4 in vitro assays. The antimicrobial activity against seven bacteria and two strains of Candida albicans was also evaluated.

Results

The results revealed that the chromatographic analysis showed the presence of 20 phenolic acids and flavonoids in the plant samples, with the highest concentrations in stigmas. Crocin derivatives were found only in stigmas, except that trans-crocetin (β-D-gentiobiosyl) which was present also in flower material. The highest total phenolic, total flavonoid and total flavonol contents were observed in stigmas and the highest level of anthocyanins and hydrolysable and condensed tannins in flowers. This extract showed a stronger protection effect from β-carotene bleaching and a higher TAC. The both extracts had some antimicrobial effect.

Conclusions

These results point out that flower material could be considered as natural bioresource of polyphenolic compounds, with higher biological activities which remain to be exploited.

Graphic Abstract

中文翻译：

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阿尔及利亚藏红花的增值：柱头和花朵作为生物活性化合物的来源

目的

藏红花由于其药用和烹饪特性而被广泛使用。与生产过程中丢弃的花朵相比，它的柱头是最昂贵的部分。为此，这项工作的目的是确定来自阿尔及利亚的藏红花的柱头和花材料（柱头除外）的植物复合体。根据ISO / TS 3632标准，对番红花，微花红素和sa的含量进行定量，以对其质量进行分类。还研究了提取物的抗氧化和抗菌性能。

方法

通过HPLC-DAD和分光光度法分析检测并定量出番红花，总酚含量，类黄酮，酚酸和花色苷。通过4种体外测定法评估抗氧化剂的潜力。还评估了其对七种细菌和两株白色念珠菌的抗菌活性。

结果

结果表明，色谱分析显示植物样品中存在20种酚酸和类黄酮，柱头中的浓度最高。藏红花衍生物仅在柱头被发现，除了反花红素（β-D-龙胆生物基）也存在于花朵中。在柱头上观察到最高的总酚，总黄酮和总黄酮含量，并且在花中花青素和可水解和浓缩的单宁含量最高。该提取物显示出更强的β-胡萝卜素漂白保护作用和更高的TAC。两种提取物都有一定的抗菌作用。

结论

这些结果指出，花卉材料可以被认为是多酚化合物的天然生物资源，具有更高的生物活性，有待开发。

图形摘要