How harvest, cleaning and conservation good practices affect the quality of saffron: results of a research conducted in Italy

Authors

  • Valeria Leoni Centre of Applied Studies for the Sustainable Management and Protection of Mountain Areas (CRC Ge.S.Di.Mont.), University of Milan, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1468-2095
  • Luca Giupponi Centre of Applied Studies for the Sustainable Management and Protection of Mountain Areas (CRC Ge.S.Di.Mont.), University of Milan, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9618-1114
  • Davide Pedrali Centre of Applied Studies for the Sustainable Management and Protection of Mountain Areas (CRC Ge.S.Di.Mont.), University of Milan, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5522-0866
  • Marco Zuccolo Centre of Applied Studies for the Sustainable Management and Protection of Mountain Areas (CRC Ge.S.Di.Mont.), University of Milan, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8940-4655
  • Gigliola Borgonovo Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), University of Milan, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3632-8799
  • Angela Bassoli Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), University of Milan, Italy
  • Annamaria Giorgi Centre of Applied Studies for the Sustainable Management and Protection of Mountain Areas (CRC Ge.S.Di.Mont.), University of Milan, Italy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5073/JABFQ.2022.095.014

Abstract

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) spice making requires time-spending manual operations: stigmas are separated from the flower picked in bud early in the morning, and once dried they are preserved protected from light. This study verified how the correct pursuing of these good practices affects saffron quality. Few hours of exposure of the flower to the sun determined a significant decrease in the colouring strength (239.66 ± 10.33 versus 255.35 ± 11.87). The correct cleaning of stigmas determined a very significant increase of colouring strength (247.12 ± 13.32 instead of 224.35 ± 14.88) and a significant increase of flavour strength (99.72 ±7.48 against 90.31 ± 6.32, p <0.05). In 24 months, all the samples kept in the dark were still of first category of quality while the ones kept in the light dropped in second category. For all samples there was an increase of aroma strength and a decrease of the flavour and colouring strength, but only the colouring strength loss followed a significantly more sloping trendline. A detectable difference in the content of trans-crocin 4 correlated to the ageing or the way of conservation was not found, nevertheless, it was confirmed that the isomers tend towards a photostationary state where the trans isomer is more present.

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Published

2022-08-09

Issue

Vol. 95 (2022): Journal of Applied Botany and Food Quality

Section

Plant food chemistry

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