Bioecology And Introduction of Saffron (Crocus Sativus L.)
Keywords:
Crocus sativus L, morphologically saffron, origin and distribution, SoilAbstract
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is an autumnal flowering geophyte whose dried stigmas, well known for their aromatic and coloring power, have been used since immemorial time as a spice in human nutrition, for medicinal purposes and as a dye. Many doubts remain on its origin; it was probably selected and domesticated in Crete during the Late Bronze Age. It has a reverse biological cycle compared with the majority of cultivated and spontaneous plants: flowering first in October-November, then vegetative development until May, which means that the vegetative development is not directly important for production of stigmas, but for the production of new corms. It is a representing an alternative viable crop for sustainable agriculture. Here we review the main biological, genetic and ecological traits associated with agronomic management techniques of saffron in relation to environmental conditions.
References
Abdullaev F.I., Espinosa-Aguirre J.J. (2004) biomedical properties of saffron and its potential use in cancer therapy and chemoprevention trials, Cancer Detect. Prev. 28, 426–432.
Ahmad A.S., Ansari M.A., Ahmad M., Muzamil S.S., Yousuf S., Hoda M.N., Islam F. (2005) Neuroprotection by crocetin in a hemiparkinsonian rat model, Pharmacol. Biochem. Be. 81, 805–813.
Ait-Oubahou A., El-Otmani M. (1999) Saffron cultivation in Morocco, in: Negbi M. (Ed.), Saffron: Crocus sativus L., Harwood Academic Publishers, Australia, pp. 87–94.
Azizbekova N.S.H., Milyaeva E.L. (1999) Saffron in cultivation in Azerbaijan, in: Negbi M. (Ed.), Saffron: Crocus sativus L., Harwood Academic Publishers, Australia, pp. 63–71.
Bali A.S., Sagwal S.S. (1987) Saffron – a cash crop of Kashmir Agr. Situation India, pp. 965–968.
Basker D., Negbi M. (1983) the use of Saffron, Eco. Bot. 37, 228–236.
Bisset N.G. (1994) Herbal drugs and phytopharmaceuticals, Medpharm Scientific Publications, Stuttgart.
Bosser A., Belin J.M. (1994) Synthesis of β-ionone in an aldehyde/xanthine oxidase/β-carotene system involving free radical formation, Biotechnol. Progr. 10, 129–13
Brandizzi F., GrilliCaiola M. (1998) Flow cytometric analysis if nuclear DNA in Crocus sativus and allies (Iridacee), Plant. Syst. Evol. 211, 149–154.
Caballero-Ortega H., Pereda-Miranda R., Abdullaev F.I. (2007) HPLC quantification of major active components from 11 different saffron (Crocus sativus L.) sources, Food Chem. 100, 1126–1131, and references therei
McGimpsey J.A., Douglas M.H., Wallace A.R. (1997) Evaluation of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) production in New Zealand, N.Z. J. Crop Hort. Sci. 25, 159–168.
Molina R.V., Valero M., Navarro Y., Garcìa-Luis A., Guardiola J.R. (2004b) the effect of time of corm lifting and duration of incubation at inductive temperature on flowering in the saffron plant (Crocus sativus L.), Sci. Hort. 103, 79-91.
Negbi M. (1999) Saffron cultivation: past, present and future prospects, in: Negbi M. (Ed.), Saffron: Crocus sativus L., Harwood Academic Publishers, Australia, pp. 1–18.
Sampathu S.R., Shivashankar S., Lewis Y.S. (1984) Saffron (Crocus sativus L.): Cultivation, processing, chemistry and standardization, Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 20, 123–157.
Straubinger M., Jezussek M., Waibel R., Winterhalter P. (1997) Novel glycosidic constituents from saffron, J. Agr. Food Chem. 45, 1678– 1681.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
User Rights
Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC), the author (s) and users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution).
Rights of Authors
Authors retain the following rights:
1. Copyright and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,
2. the right to use the substance of the article in future works, including lectures and books,
3. the right to reproduce the article for own purposes, provided the copies are not offered for sale,
4. the right to self-archive the article.
