جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « safranal » در نشریات گروه « زراعت »

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) belongs to the Iridaceae family, whose dry stigmas are the most expensive spices in the world and are widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries. Correct management of planting density is one of the most important factors in the formation of saffron yield. Choosing the appropriate planting density in saffron, while increasing the exploitation of this agriculture, increases the yield and reduces the period between planting and economic yield. On the other hand, gibberellins are classified as a diverse group of plant growth regulators that enhance some physiological and biochemical pathways in plants. Gibberellins are involved in many plant development processes and the improvement of some desirable traits such as increasing stem length, uniform flowering, reducing time to flowering, and increasing flower weight. Also, considering that the study of planting density factors and the simultaneous application of gibberellic acid hormone on the qualitative traits of the saffron medicinal plant has not been done, the purpose of this experiment is to investigate the effect of dense cultivation and gibberellic acid hormone on the antioxidant activity and effective substances of saffron.

To investigate the effects of gibberellic acid and plant density on the antioxidant activity and active ingredients of saffron, an experiment was conducted with a factorial arrangement based on a randomized complete block design at the Agricultural Research Station, University of Birjand during 2017-2018 growing season. Treatments consist of gibberellic acid (0 and 20 ppm) and plant density (100, 200, and 300 corms.m-2) with three replications. After the land preparation operation including initial plowing, disk, and land leveling, plots with dimensions of 1x2 meters were created. The distance between the plots was 50 cm and the distance between the blocks was 2 meters (including the irrigation ditches). Since it is important to choose a quality root for planting in order to create a high yield, healthy roots without wounds and scratches and free from any kind of disease were prepared and planted after weighing (the average weight of each root is 8 grams). Anthocyanin, phenol, antioxidant activity, safranal, crocin, picrocin, dry stigma yield, and photosynthetic pigments were measured. Data were analyzed using SAS 9.1 software and means were compared based on the Duncan test.  

The results showed that gibberellic acid had a significant effect on different traits (P<0.05). The highest amount of phenol (629.77 mg. 100 g dry weight-1) and antioxidant (39.53%) was obtained from the gibberellic acid treatment. Therefore, the effect of gibberellic acid at the level of one percent on stigma anthocyanin was also significant and the rate of this trait was 24% higher in the treatment of gibberellic acid application than the non-application treatment. Active ingredients of saffron are influenced by gibberellic acid treatments. The highest safranal (32.5 %), crocin (140.4 %), and picrocin (58.1%) obtained from the use of gibberellic acid, and the lowest safranal (28/3%), crocin (125.1 %), and picrocin (56.6 %) obtained from control. A planting density of 300 corms.m-2 had the highest dry stigma yield. Chlorophyll a and total were increased by application of 20 ppm of gibberellic acid by 14% and 12%, respectively, compared to the control. Plant density treatments were significantly affected only on some traits of active ingredients (safranal and picrocin) at the level of one percent and the highest these were obtained from plant density with 100 corms.m-2, but it had no significant effect on other traits. 

The current study's findings revealed that the use of 20 ppm gibberellic acid had positive effects on qualitative traits of saffron and low planting density (100 corms.m-2) affected only some traits of saffron active ingredients (safranal and picrocin) and high planting density (300 corms.m-2) affected the dry stigma yield.

Recognizing the potential role of seaweed in improving saffron yield and the utilization of micronutrient elements like Ca, Mg, Fe, and Mn to enhance stigma yield, an experiment was conducted. The study investigated the impact of foliar spraying of seaweed extract and selected nutritional elements on saffron's quantitative and qualitative traits of saffron.This research was conducted, as factorial based on a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications during 2021-2022 in Neishabur, Iran. The first factor consisted of seaweed extract (0 and 2 L.ha-1) and the second factor consisted of foliar application of nutrients including no foliar application (as control), and the defender of some elements including iron (1.5 L.ha-1 containing Fe, N, and amino acids), zinc, boron (1 L.ha-1 containing B and amino acids), manganese (1.5 L.ha-1 containing Mn, Zn and S), magnesium and calcium (2 L.ha-1 containing Ca and N). The use of all nutrients compared to the control (no-nutrients) and the use of seaweed extract compared to no-seaweed application caused an increase in flower and stigma yields. Based on the interaction effects of the experimental factors, the highest number of flowers (68.8 No.m-2) was obtained in the combined application of manganese and seaweed extract, the highest flower yield (33.5 g.m-2) was gained with the combined application of seaweed and boron, and the highest dry stigma yield (0.48 g.m-2) was obtained from the simultaneous application of magnesium and seaweed extract, which were 63.8, 16.7 and 17.0%, more than the control treatment (no-seaweed & No-nutrients), respectively. Without nutrient application, the utilization of seaweed extract resulted in a notable rise in the Picrocrocin content of the stigma by 15.9%, Crocin by 9.5%, and Safranal by 10.6% compared to the absence of seaweed application.Combined consumption of calcium with seaweed increased the content of Picrocrocin and Crocin, while simultaneous application of other nutrients with seaweed did not improve these indices. The highest and the lowest content of Safranal (37.7 and 32.35 absorption at 330 nm) were obtained from magnesium + no-seaweed and control (no-seaweed & no-nutrients) treatments, respectively. Overall, although all of the studied elements combined with seaweed extract improved stigma yield in order to increase stigma yield, application of Mg in combination to seaweed recommended and to enhance saffron quality using seaweed suggested.

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is the most expensive agricultural product and one of the most valuable medicinal and spice plants that have many uses in the food and medicine industries. Iran is the largest producer and exporter of saffron in the world, and about 90% of the world's annual saffron production is produced in Iran, mainly in Razavi Khorasan and South Khorasan provinces. A balanced supply of nutrients is one of the main important factors in the sustainable saffron production, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Potassium and sulfur, as two essential and widely used elements, play a significant role in the synthesis of proteins, activating enzymes, transferring sugar, increasing carbon dioxide absorption and photosynthesis. Seaweed extract is also one of the compounds that stimulate plant growth and the quality of products. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of potassium sulfate and seaweed extract on the stigma quality and the content of leaf photosynthetic pigments.

This experiment was carried out in the growing seasons of 2018 and 2019, as factorial based on a randomized complete block design with three replications, in Sarayan, Iran. Experimental factors were four levels of potassium sulfate (0, 100, 200, and 300 kg ha-1) and three levels of Acadian seaweed (0, 1, and 2 per thousand). Before conducting the experiment, soil sampling was done from a depth of 0-30 cm (Table 1). Plots dimension was 2×1 m, with for planting rows in each. The distance between the plots was 0.5 m and between the blocks was 1.5 m. Before planting, the corms (8-10 g) were disinfection with benomyl fungicide. Potassium sulfate applied simultaneously with corms planting. For application of seaweed extract, after preparing the solutions with desired concentrations, foliar spraying was done using a sprayer three times in 20th February and 5th and 20th March, 2018. The flowers in the first growing season (autumn of 2017), were not harvested, because the treatments were not yet fully applied. Simultaneously with the beginning of flowering, in the second flowering season (in late November 2018), the flowers of each plot were collected daily. The stigmas were dried under laboratory condition at the shade for a week. Then, the qualitative parameters of stigma (anthocyanin, antioxidant, phenol, crocin, picrocrocin and safranal) were measured. In addition, during vegetative growth, the content of photosynthetic pigments (carotenoids, chlorophylls a, b and total) of leaves were determined. Statistical analysis of data was done using SAS 9.4 software. Means were compared using a protected LSD test at the 5% level of probability.

The interaction effect of experimental factors was significant on the content of picrocrocin, safranal and antioxidant of stigma as well as the amount of chlorophyll and carotenoid in the leaves. The highest amounts of picrocrocin, safranal and antioxidant activity were obtained in the combined application of 300 kg ha-1 potassium sulfate + foliar spraying of seaweed extract with a concentration of 2 per thousand, which were respectively, 32.8, 23.9 and 21.1% more than the control treatment (no use of potassium sulfate and seaweed extract). The highest values of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids (0.17, 0.037, 1.99 and 1.01 mg g-1 FW, respectively) were gained with the combined application potassium sulfate (100 to 300 kg ha-1) plus seaweed extract (1-2 per thousand), which were 54.4, 60.8, 131.3 and 68.3% higher than the control, respectively. The simple effect of experimental factors was significant on crocin and anthocyanin content of stigma. Increasing the application rate of potassium sulfate from 0 to 300 kg ha-1, improved the amount of crocin by three times and the amount of anthocyanin by 8.9%. In addition, the amount of crocin and anthocyanin in the condition of seaweed extract application (concentration of 2 parts per thousand) was 166.7 and 12.7% higher than the control (no-seaweed application).

Based on the results of this research, the combined application of potassium sulfate and seaweed extract is recommended to improve the biochemical properties and bioactive compounds of saffron.

Saffron, a cherished native plant of Iran, holds immense value, and its optimal growth and development hinge on the precise administration of nutrients and growth regulators. However, scant information exists concerning the nutritional attributes and the impacts of external application of growth regulators on its overall performance. This study intends to scrutinize the influence of varying concentrations of forchlorfenuron and potassium nitrate on the attributes of daughter corms as well as the ultimate saffron yield. Through this investigation, a deeper understanding of the relationship between growth regulators, nutrients, and saffron production can be attained, shedding light on the potential avenues for enhancing its cultivation and yield. This experiment was conducted as a factorial based on a randomized complete block design in the research farm of Zanjan University. According to the results, the interaction effect of forchlorfenoren 2.5 and 5 mg.liter-1 and potassium nitrate 500 mg.liter-1 decreased the number of daughter corms. Characteristics such as the weight of daughter corms of more than 7 grams per square meter, corm diameter, number of flowers per square meter, and the amount of safranal, crocin, and picrocrocin showed a significant increase due to the interaction of forchlorfenoren 5 mg.liter-1 and potassium nitrate 1000 mg.liter-1. The highest wet and dry weight of the stigma was 11.49 and 1.15 grams per square meter, respectively, with the treatment of furchlorfenoren at the level of 5 mg.liter-1. Also, the use of potassium nitrate at the level of 1000 mg.liter-1 increased the fresh and dry weight of the stigma by 10.22 and 1.01 grams per square meter, respectively. The maximum stigma length was obtained in treating furchlorfenoren 10 mg.liter-1 and potassium nitrate 250 mg.liter-1. Based on the outcomes derived from foliar application experiments, it is advisable to consider utilizing a concentration of 5 mg.liter-1 for forchlorfenuron and 1000 mg.liter-1 for potassium nitrate during the period extending from March to April. This recommendation holds under the premise that environmental conditions are conducive, encompassing factors such as favorable temperatures for foliar spraying. This practice is particularly relevant to the climatic conditions prevalent in the Zanjan region.

Among Iran's industrial and export products, saffron has found an important place as the most valuable agricultural product in the world. One of the ways to increase yield in saffron is to provide sufficient number of mineral elements needed by the plant. This research was conducted in order to investigate the effect of biofertilizers including seaweed extract and ascorbic acid on quantitative and qualitative traits of saffron in a farm in Shahrood and Shahrood University of Technology laboratory in 2021.

The experiment was conducted based on the randomized complete block design in three replications. Spraying consisted of seven levels (control: spraying with distilled water), 2, 3 and 4 mg/L of brown seaweed extract (Ascophyllum nodosum), 50, 100 and 150 mM ascorbic acid in the flowering stage. Seaweed extract was used under the Akadine, made in Canada, and ascorbic acid was produced by Merck, Germany. Spraying of the materials were done in three stages (20 february 2021, 5 and 19 march 2022) at 10 o'clock in the morning. During the growing season of the plant (from the fall of 2021 to the end of May 2022), no organic or chemical fertilizers were used either in the form of irrigation or in the form of soil. During this period, the use of herbicides was avoided. The number of four stages of irrigation was applied, similar to previous years. All the plots were irrigated at the same rate and in the form of flooding. Seaweed extract was used under the Akadine, made in Canada, and ascorbic acid was produced by Merck, Germany. Data analysis was done using SAS 9.1 software and the means were compared using LSD test.

The results showed that the number of saffron flowers increased with the application of seaweed extract and ascorbic acid compared to the control. The highest flower fresh weight was recorded in plants that were sprayed with 4 mg/L of seaweed extract. All levels of foliar spraying, except for the lowest level of each substance (2 mg/L of seaweed extract and 50 mM ascorbic acid) caused a significant increase in the dry weight of the stigma compared to the control. The highest stigma dry weight was recorded in plants that were sprayed with 100 mM ascorbic acid. Anthocyanin increased by 11.53, 28.84, and 23.07% in plants that received 2, 3, and 4 mg/L of seaweed extract as a foliar spray, respectively. Total phenol was significantly increased in plants that received 2, 3 and 4 mg/L of seaweed extract and 100 and 150 mM ascorbic acid. The highest amount of total phenol was equal to 6.34 mg/g dry weight, which was related to the plants that were sprayed with 3 mg/l of seaweed extract. The use of seaweed extract at all three levels of 2, 3 and 4 mg/L caused a significant increase in anthocyanin by 11.53, 28.84 and 23.07%, respectively, compared to the control. Among the measured effective substances of saffron, only safranal increased under the influence of seaweed extract. Although the use of ascorbic acid increased the amount of anthocyanin, this increase was not statistically significant.

The results of this research showed that the application of seaweed extract and ascorbic acid in the form of foliar spraying increased traits such as the number of flowers, fresh weight of flowers, anthocyanin and finally the dry weight of saffron stigma. In general, it can be said that the qualitative characteristics of saffron can be improved by using seaweed extract and ascorbic acid. Finally, within the scope of the research, it is suggested to use 4 mg/L of seaweed extract and 100 mM ascorbic acid to increase yield in saffron.

Cultivated saffron (Crocus sativus L.) boasts remarkable commercial value due to its possessing three pivotal metabolites: crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal. The significance of obtaining these metabolites, particularly crocin, from sources other than cultivated saffron has grown substantially, primarily driven by native wild saffron species in Iran. In this ongoing study, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) has been harnessed as a potent analytical tool for the identification of these metabolites in two wild saffron species, Khazar (C. caspius) and Ziba (C. specious), alongside the cultivated variety. Furthermore, bioinformatics tools have been employed to extract nucleotide and protein sequences, thereby facilitating the prediction of protein structures for genes integral to the biosynthesis process of these notable apocarotenoids in an in-silico manner. The research findings have showcased the presence of crocin across all analyzed samples, albeit in varying quantities. Specifically, the crocin content in the cultivated saffron, Ziba, and Khazar species accounted for 26.76%, 2.8%, and 0.74% of dry weight matter, respectively. However, the amount of picrocrocin and safranal metabolites in cultivated species was 8.4 and 0.03 percent, respectively, but there were no detectable amounts of these apocarotenoids in the studied wild species. , The existence of crocin in wild species has made hope for conducting research and searching in wild species for these effective substances and implementing breeding programs or genetic manipulation for the mentioned species.

Agricultural saffron Crocus sativus L. is a medicinal, widely used and expensive plant and has important effective substances: crocin, picrocrocin and safranal, which gives it the characteristics of color, taste and smell. The search for new sources producing the aforementioned apocarotenoids makes the importance of research on it more obvious day by day. Since the country of Iran has diploid wild species with characteristics close to the sterile triploid cultivated species, in the present research, two species of Caspian saffron C. caspius and Zeiba C. Speciosus, along with the cultivated species, were investigated and 6 genes active in the production of the three mentioned effective substances , CCD2, ALDH, PSY, LCY, BCH, UGT74 (and a housekeeping gene TUB as an internal control gene with constant expression in all tissues) in two flower tissues, stigma and perianth (tepal) and in five stages (time) of flowering including: The stages of bud formation (immature bud), bud ready to bloom, newly opened flower, mature flower and old flower were investigated. Using of Real Time PCR, the expression ratio (fold change) to the internal control gene (with logarithm based on 2) was investigated in different genes and different and sometimes similar expression patterns were observed with the gene expression in the cultivated species in both the stigma and stigma tissues. Based on the results obtained in this study and the increase or decrease in the expression of some genes involved in the pathways of apocarotenoids production, at the same time as the growth of the stages from the bud to the senescence stage of the flower, it is expected from the three aforementioned substances or from other apocarotenoids in the metabolom of flowers, cases have been found in the non-triploid species and create approaches for the commercial use of Iranian wild saffron species and pave the way for its commercialization.

In order to study the effect of different chemical and organic mulch types on various soil characteristics and qualitative and quantitative yield of saffron (Crocus sativus L.), an experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications at Qaen region in during 2018-2019. The experimental treatments were application of various mulch types for weed control (no weed control, hand weeding, transparent polyethylene, black polyethylene, beeswax waste, residues of grape leaf, wheat straw, pomegranate leaf, pistachio leaf, barley straw and saffron corm dunnage). The results showed that all the treatments except black and transparent polyethylene significantly improved the potassium contents of soil compared to hand weeding treatment. Treatments of beeswax waste (0.083%), pistachio leaf (0.081%) and transparent polyethylene (0.080%) included the highest amount of soil nitrogen. The highest amount of carbon (0.838%) and soil organic matter (1.17%) was also observed in beeswax waste mulch treatment. This treatment also led to soil acidification compared to other treatments. Application of all the mulches except transparent polyethylene caused a significant increase in stigmas yield of saffron compared to non-weeding conditions. Beeswax waste and wheat straw had the highest stigma yield (4.89 and 4.32 kg ha-1), respectively; which these increased the stigma yield by 213% and 177% compared to the no weeding treatment. Black polyethylene, pomegranate leaf and grape leaf did not show a significant difference with hand weeding in terms of stigma yield of saffron. The highest amount of safranal, crocin and picrocrocin in saffron was obtained to the black polyethylene mulch treatment. In general, the results confirmed that the application of all the studied mulches with the exception of transparent polyethylene led to improving soil characteristics and saffron yield compared to no weed control treatment and are recommended to farmers.

Amino acids are organic fertilizers. Adding these organic fertilizers to the soil improves the condition of microorganisms in the soil, which their activity facilitates the absorption of some nutrients and ultimately increases the growth and performance of the plant. To investigate the effect of amino acid and mother corm weight on qualitative parameters in petals and stigmas of saffron (Crocus sativus L.), an experiment was conducted at the Research Field of College of Agricultural, University of Birjand, in 2017. 

The experimental factors included amino acid (0, 2, and 4 L.ha-1) and corm weight [0.1-4 (small), 4.1-8 (medium), and 8.1-12 g (large-sized)] which were tested in an RCBD with three replications. After the land preparation operations including initial plowing, disk, and land leveling, plots of 2 × 2 meters were created. Irrigation was done by siphoning. The saffron corms were planted in grooves with a depth of 20 cm, the distance between the rows was 20 cm, and the distance between the corms was 10 cm. The amino acid was consumed before planting by submerging the corms and with the first irrigation when the plots were flooded uniformly. Harvesting of saffron flowers was done daily for about three weeks in the first hours of the morning, taking into account the marginal effect of the remaining surface of the plots. After weighing the flower yield in each plot, the different parts of the flower (petal and stigma) were dried in an electric oven at 45 °C for 24 hours and then used to measure the quality indicators. 

The use of amino acids had a significant effect on the carotenoid content and anthocyanin of petals and stigma crocin. The highest amounts of carotenoid content (0.95 mg.g-1 FW), anthocyanin (26.28 mg.100g-1 DW), and crocin (270.4% Absorbance of 1% aqueous saffron extract at 440 nm) were obtained when amino acid was used at the rate of 4 L.ha-1. However, no significant difference was found between the two levels of amino acid in terms of all the mentioned parameters. The lowest values of carotenoid (0.71 mg.g-1FW) anthocyanin (24.23 mg.100g-1DW), and crocin (230.5) were obtained from the control treatment. Mother corm weight also exerted a significant effect on picrocrocin content. The lowest content of picrocrocin was obtained in the amount of 100.7 (Absorbance of 1% aqueous saffron extract at 257 nm) of small-sized mother corms (0.1- 0.4 g) and the highest of 108.5 of large-sized mother corms (8.1-12 g). The interaction of these two factors (amino acid and mother corm weight) had also a significant effect on the safranal of stigma, and antioxidant activity of saffron petals. The highest content of safranal (36.82, Absorbance of 1% aqueous saffron extract at 330 nm), and antioxidant (31.26%) were obtained from corm 8.1-12 g and 2 or 4 L.ha-1 of amino acid. 

The results of this research showed that the planting of larger mother corms and the use of amino acids can be useful in improving the quality characteristics of petals and effective substances of saffron stigma. Since no statistically significant difference was observed between the consumption levels of two and four liters per hectare of amino acids in most of the studied traits, to reduce production costs, two liters per hectare of organic input of amino acids can be suggested. This amount can vary depending on the characteristics of the soil in each region. The results of this study indicated the beneficial effects of amino acid on improving biochemical traits and effective ingredients which is appropriate for the organic production of saffron.

Saffron is one of the most valuable plant species in the world and it’s medicinal and spice applications have a long history. It is referred to as “red gold,” due to the high market price attributable to hand-harvesting and low production volumes. Saffron, dried stigmas of Crocus sativus L. (Iridaceae), was traditionally used as food spice worldwide to provide color, taste, and odour in several food recipes. The contents of these active compounds varies from region to region. About 150 volatile and non-volatile compounds and about 50 main compounds have been identified in saffron. Water-soluble carotenoids specifically characterize crocin which identify color of the saffron. Picrocrocin and glycoside safranal are responsible for bitterness while safranal provides odor and aroma properties. Saffron is one of the medicinal plants that have many uses in traditional medicine, including antispasmodics, helping natural digestion, soothing gums, anti-inflammation, anti-cancer, anti-anxiety, anti-depression perspiration enhancer, stomach tonic, sexual stimulant, expectorant, pain killer, anti-running nose and premature menstruation can be mentioned. 

articles about pharmacokinetics of saffron have been reviewed in this research. According to prevalent Neurodegenerative diseases, we selected eight illnesses in this paper including: Depression, Anxiety, Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Schizophrenia, Epilepsy, Stroke. Then, approximately all recent researches related to these diseases has been reviewed. 

Saffron has the ability to scavenge free radicals because of its main constituents including carotenoids, safranal, picrocrocin, crocetin, crocin and quercetin. It has also the inhibitory effects on lipid peroxidation of membrane and, thus, protects cells from oxidative stress. Accordingly, several studies have been demonstrated that saffron has antioxidant activity and reduces oxidative damages in hippocampus, following improvement of spatial learning memory and muscle skeletal during ischemia. All of the investigations on the brain ischemia demonstrated that Saffron has neuroprotective roles. Saffron significantly reduces infarcted areas, which are induced by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) in mice, by increased expression of gamma-glutamylcysteinyl synthase (gamma-GCS), the main enzyme for glutathione synthesis. Saffron therapy led to decreased inflammation and increased effects of hypothermia therapy in mice hypoxic ischemia-induced brain injury. Several animal model investigations showed that Saffron and its components have neuroprotective roles via inhibition of the production of free radicals and enhanced antioxidant activities in the ERK1/2 pathway-dependent manner. In Iranian traditional medicine, saffron has been used to cure obstructions inside brain to protect it from oxygen deprivation. Traditionally, the topical use of saffron in the boiling water is good for severe headaches and insomnia. Hopefully, some natural products have antidepressant effects like Saffron. Therefore, new drugs developed from extracts of natural products, especially those that have been shown to have low side effects in the treatment of depression, are becoming increasingly desirable. Antidepressants mainly work by increasing the availability of serotonin and certain other neurotransmitters, thereby reducing depressive symptoms. Depression and anxiety are two frequent and challenging comorbidities of AD. Studies have shown that patients with severe AD were more likely to have depression. Moreover, depression and anxiety could accelerate the progression, and increase the mortality of AD patients. Patients are likely to benefit from saffron because of its antidepressant and anti-anxious effects. Furthermore, Saffron has anti-inflammatory effects because it includes flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and crocins. 

Saffron has four biological active compounds: crocin, crocetin, picrocrocin and safranal. These four compounds are responsible for the high value of the medicinal and nutritional effects of saffron. In addition, saffron contains two essential vitamins: riboflavin (vitamin B2) and thiamine (vitamin B1). In this study, an overview on recent scientific articles on the effective roles of saffron and its compounds in the treatment of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, anxiety, epilepsy, stroke, etc. has been done.

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) as the most expensive spice in the world, has a special situation among Iran's export products. In addition to Iran, this plant is cultivated in Spain, India, Italy and Greece. The purpose of saffron cultivation is to harvest its stigma and long style, which is transparent red in color and has a lot of medicinal and nutritional value. The performance of saffron is related to several factors such as soil, density, planting method, corm size, geographical location, atmospheric factors such as temperature fluctuations, especially during flowering time, rainfall, crop management and exploitation period. Therefore, in order to make saffron cultivation feasible, it is necessary to identify the susceptible areas in terms of climatic factors in the country in order to increase the production of saffron in the country. One of the ways to increase the yield of saffron is to increase its cultivated area by identifying areas prone to cultivation and production of this valuable medicinal plant for domestic use, export, and also to extract the important compounds in its essential oil. Therefore, this study was conducted in order to investigate the different areas prone to saffron cultivation in Lorestan province and the effect of the weather conditions of each city on the important compounds in saffron essential oil.  This study was performed to investigate the compatibility of saffron and also changes in its essential oil components in different parts of Lorestan province. The experiment was conducted in the crop year 2020-21 as a randomized complete block design with three replications. In this study, 12 different cities of Lorestan province including Khorramabad, Boroujerd, Doroud, Kuhdasht, Azna, Aligudarz, Selseleh, Delfan, Aleshtar, Poldakhtar, Doreh Chegni and Romeshkan were considered as the experimental treatment.  The results showed that the effect of location treatment on fresh weight of flowers, fresh weight of stigmas, dry weight of stigmas, ratio of fresh weight of stigmas to fresh weight of flowers, maximum moisture and volatiles, safranal, crocin and picrocrocin was significant at 1% probability level. The results showed that out of 12 studied cities, the amount of saffron yield was economic only in 4 cities Boroujerd, Azna, Khorramabad and Selseleh. Among these four cities, the highest flower yield (79.66 g.m-2), fresh weight of stigma (6.77 g.m-2), dry weight of stigma (1.13 g.m-2) and stigma to flower ratio ( 0.085) was obtained in saffron cultivated in Azna city. The results also showed that the highest amount of safranal essential oil was obtained in saffron cultivated in Dorud city with a maximum absorption of 54. Also, the highest amount of crocin (maximum absorption 343.5) and picrocrocin (maximum absorption 144) were obtained. After Borujerd city, the amount of picrogrosin present in saffron essential oil cultivated in Elshatr (maximum absorption 126.5) and Selesh (maximum absorption 122) cities was more than other cities of Lorestan province, and the difference between them was statistically significant. Saffron essential oil cultivated in Kohdasht city (maximum absorption 80.5) had the lowest amount of picrocrocin. There was a difference between the saffron cultivated in different cities of Lorestan province in terms of the maximum amount of moisture and volatile substances, and it was found that the saffron cultivated in Borujerd city had the highest amount of moisture and volatile compounds at the rate of 0.094%, and after this city, Dure Chegeni had the highest amount of moisture and volatile compounds of 0.082%.  Investigating the feasibility of saffron cultivation in different parts of the country can increase its production in order to increase the country's exports. There have been different climatic areas in the country that have the ability to produce saffron, but currently they are unknown and the feasibility of cultivation should be done in them. In this study, it was found that saffron production was not possible in all the cities of Lorestan province, and the results showed that only 4 cities had the ability to produce saffron economically, and the highest production rate was in Azna city. Also, considering that the quality of saffron essential oil depends on its ingredients, based on these results, it was determined that the highest amount of safranal, crocin and picrocrocin was obtained in the saffron essential oil grown in cities with moderate climate such as Borujerd and Durud.

In recent years, the use of saffron spice is increasing due to its medicinal properties and effective components. In addition to increasing crop production, increasing the quantity and quality of secondary metabolites is considered one of the most important objectives of plant breeding programs. On the other hand, the saffron plant has low genetic diversity due to the nature of vegetative propagation and induction of variation through mutagenesis is a suitable tool to achieve the desired diversity. Gamma radiation is one of the most widely used physical mutagens in plant breeding programs. In order to investigate the effect of gamma-ray on some growth and phytochemical indices of saffron plants, an experiment was conducted in an unbalanced complete randomized design with three treatments (Control, 15 and 18 Gy) at Yazd University. In this experiment, 15 and 18 Gy doses of gamma irradiation (Co60) were applied at Karaj Nuclear Agricultural Research Institute to induce mutations on collected saffron corms from Qaen, South Khorasan in August 2017. In this study, picrocrocin, safranal and crocin were measured in a 1% aqueous solution at 254, 330 and 440 nm wavelengths, respectively. Based on the results of this experiment, the effect of irradiation on picrocrocin and crocin was significant (P <0.001) and the observed amounts of these compounds (93.77 and 263.02) at the dose of 15 Gy were significantly higher than 18 Gy (92.34 and 262.73), while in terms of safranal content, the difference between radiation levels was not significant. Leaf area index and harvest index were also significant and showed the highest amount of these two indices at 15 Gy dose (3.06 and 0.14). In this study, although gamma radiation treatment could not significantly change the number of daughter corms between different levels of radiation and control, a significant reduction in relative chlorophyll content and an average weight of corms were observed compared to the control (without radiation). In general, the results of this study showed that in phytochemical traits as well as harvest index and leaf area, 15 Gy had a significant advantage over plants without radiation, but at higher levels of gamma radiation, probably due to degradation of genetic content and its effect on some biochemical parameters, 18 Gy plants failed to show acceptable results.

To investigate the effects of foliar application of Acadian seaweed extract® and Biomix poultry manure® on qualitative traits and secondary metabolites of saffron, an experiment was conducted as a factorial arrangement based on a randomized complete block design with three replications in the city of Ferdows the during growing season of 2017-2018. Experimental treatments included four levels of Acadian seaweed extract® (0, 1, 1.5, and 2 kg. l000 L-1 water) and four levels of liquid Biomix poultry manure® (0, 2, 4 and 6 L. l000 L-1 water). Measured traits included phenol, anthocyanin, crocin, picrocrocin, safranal, and fresh and dry stigma yield. Results showed the effect of treatments was significant on the studied traits. So that saffron stigma picrocrocin in treatment of 2 kg. l000 L-1 Acadian seaweed extracts® was 26% more than the control. Liquid poultry manure® also had a significant effect on secondary metabolites of saffron, so that saffron stigma picrocrocin in treatment of 6 L. l000 L-1 Biomix poultry manure® was 24% more than the control. Interaction between Acadian seaweed extract® and Biomix poultry manure® had a significant effect on anthocyanin, crocin, safranal, and phenol content. The highest increase was observed in 2 kg. l000 L-1 Acadian® and 6 L. l000 L-1 Biomix poultry manure®. Also, the use of seaweed extract® had a significant effect on stigma yield, so that the yield of fresh stigma (13%) and dry stigma (20%) in the treatment of 2 kg. l000 L-1 seaweed extracts® was higher than the control. According to the results of this study, the use of seaweed Acadian® (2 kg. l000 L-1 water) alone or in combination with Biomix poultry manure® (6 L. l000 L-1water) can play an important role in enhancing the yield and quality characteristics of saffron.

In order to investigate the effects of humic acid as liquid form and mother corm weight on flower yield and active substances of saffron, a field experiment was conducted as factorial layout based on a randomized complete block design with three replications during June, 2016 at saffron research farm of College of Abouraihan, University of Tehran located in Pakdasht, east south of Tehran province. Experimental factors were consisted of four levels of humic acid (0, 25, 50 and 100 L.ha-1) and mother corm weights including small (3-5g) and large (8-10g). Humic acid was applied in early September companion with first irrigation. The results showed that number of flower, fresh weight of flower, and dry weight of stigma and number of days to flowering was significantly influenced by humic acid levels while stigma length was not affected by humic acid. The highest number of flowers (11.3 No.m-2) was obtained in 25 L.ha-1 humic acid as well as large corms, while the lowest was recorded in control (2.3 No.m-2). Also humic acid application improved active ingredients. The highest value of picrocin (92.2%) was obtained from 25 L.ha-1 humic acid as well as large coms. The most safranal (44.81%) was obtained in 50 L.ha-1 humic acid and the least content was observed in control (32.68%). Totally, the results indicated that use of humic acid, while improving soil properties, water saving, dissolution and release of elements, and subsequently more uptake by the roots of large corms led to improved flower characteristics and the active ingredients of saffron stigma.

In order to investigate the effect of salinity levels, bio fertilizer and nano fertilizer of Fe on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of saffron, a factorial experiment was conducted as a combined analysis in location by a randomized complete block design with three replications. Bio fertilizer was applied at four levels of zero, 500, 1000 and 1500 kg ha-1 and nanoparticles of Fe was applied at two levels of non-consumption and application of four liters per hectare. These factors were investigated in two locations with different irrigation salinity (2.29 and 4.49 dS m-1). The results showed that there were the highest values for traits of weight of flower, number of flowers, dry weight of stigma and weight of stigma + style in irrigation conditions with a salinity of 2.29 dS m-1. In the mentioned traits, under the conditions of irrigation with salinity of 2.29 dS m-1, there was no significant difference between the application and non-application levels of nano fertilizer of Fe; However, in the conditions of irrigation with salinity of 4.49 dS m-1, the application of nano fertilizer of Fe compared to non-application, caused a significant increase of 35.5, 33, 32.8 and 34.1% of these traits, respectively. Comparison of mean for triple interaction showed that at both salinity levels of 2.29 and 4.49 dS m-1, in the absence of bio fertilizer, the application of nano fertilizer of Fe could significantly increase the amount of crocin. However, in the application of different levels of bio fertilizer, the application of nano fertilizer of Fe reduced significantly the amount of crocin. The highest amount of safranal was observed in salinity of 4.49 dS m-1 and in the treatments of application of 500 and 1500 kg per hectare of bio fertilizer and application of nano fertilizer of Fe as well as non-application of bio fertilizers and nanoparticles of Fe. Irrigation with salinity of 4.49 dS m-1 in bio fertilizer levels (except for 500 kg ha-1) caused a significant increase in picrocrocin. In generally, it seems that for achieving higher yields, irrigation with less saline water and in case of irrigation with water by more than salinity of 4.2 dS m-1, the use of nano fertilizer of Fe to moderate the effects of salinity is recommended.

The quality and quantity of saffron are affected by several factors, including climatic and environmental conditions. In order to investigate the effects of corm transfer date and weight on qualitative characteristics and yield of saffron (Crocus sativus L.), an experiment was carried out as a split factorial in time based on randomized complete blocks design with three replications in two harvests at the Southern Kerman Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center (Sfandagheh station) in 2017-2018. Experimental treatments were three corm transfer dates (4 June, 5 August and 5 September) and four corm weights (6-8, 8-10, 10-12 and 12-20 g). Crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal contents, flower number and dried stigma yield were measured. The results showed that the effect of corm transfer date and weight and their interaction were significant on the all traits during two years. A separate analysis of the studied factors in two years showed that in the first year, the effect of corm transfer date was significant on taste, aroma, number of flowers and saffron yield but not significant on its pigment content. Effect of corm weight and interaction of corm weight and transfer date were significant on all quality and yield traits of saffron. The results in second year showed that the effect of corm transfer date and weight and their interaction were significant on color and flavor, but for flower traits and yield, only the effect of corm transfer date was significant. Qualitative traits were affected by the corm size and its transfer date. 12-20 g corms had the highest safranal, picrocrocin and crocin content compared to other weight groups. Therefore, it can be concluded that, for the production of high-yield and quality saffron (premium saffron), it is recommended to use large mother corms (above 10 grams) and cultivation in June.

This research was carried out as factorial experiment basis on randomized block design with four replications on a three-year saffron farm in Mashhad at 2017/2018 crop year. The experimental factors were different concentrations of silica (0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.2 and 1.5 lit/ha) and the number of spraying times (Once, twice and three times). Silica spraying (with Crapsil brand) was performed on February 6, March 1 and March 6, 2017.The results showed that the main effect of silica, the number of sprays and their interaction on all studied traits were significant. Mean comparisons of the experimental factors revealed that at the concentration of 1.2 lit/ha silica and two times of spraying, the highest number of flowers per plant(693 flowers), leaf dry weight(3.56 gr/plant), fresh weight of corm(67.25 gr/plant), stigma length(3.8 cm), fresh and dry weight of stigma(1656.5 and 14.39 kg/ha respectively),Safranal (33%) and crocin (192.75%) obtained. The highest amount of picrocrocin (66.35%) was obtained at the concentration of 1.5 lit/ha and two times of spraying. Therefore, the application of silica with the concentration of 1.2 lit/ha in the two stages of spraying was the best treatment and was able to increase the number of flowers per plant, fresh weight of corms and dry weight of stigma 26.5, 106 and 21.2 percent, respectively compared with the control treatment.

Modifications in saffron quality characteristics due to storage time between samples harvested from two consecutive years have not been studied well. For this purpose, saffron samples harvested from 2016 and 2017 were analyzed using proton transfer reaction-time of flight-mass spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS) and ISO 3632 trade standard procedures to determine volatile compounds as well as crocin and picrocrocin contents, respectively. The results of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) analysis revealed that 11 main compounds including safranal, acetic acid, 2(5H)-furanone, isobutanal, biogenic aldehyde fragment, 4-ketoisophorone, acetaldehyde, butyrolactone, acetone/propanal, methanol, and isophorone were responsible for the overall VOCs profile of saffron, as accounted for more than 80% of the identified VOCs. Comparisons between samples stored from two years showed that safranal, acetic acid, 2(5H)-furanone, biogenic aldehyde fragment, and butyrolactone compounds were significantly increased for samples stored from 2016 (between 56-82 percent) compared with the samples obtained from 2017. On the contrary, isophorone isomers contents as safranal precursors, decreased their contents relatively. Similarly, crocin and picrocrocin contents measured by ISO method differed significantly between samples of two studied years. For all the studied samples, color and flavor factors of saffron reduced by 20 and 14% on the average for  samples stored from 2016 in comparison with amples obtained from 2017, respectively. According to results of principal component analysis, change in crocin, picrocrocin, and main volatile compounds of saffron including safranal, acetic acid, 2(5H)-furanone, isobutanal, and isophorone could be considered as an indicator for distinguishing the current year’s harvested samples from the samples stored since previous years.

Saffron (Crocus sativus) as an important medicinal and economical plant of Iran is rich in flavor, aroma and color, along with medicinal properties in addition to nutritional benefits. The effect of chitosan on Crocin and Safranal amounts as two important medicinal components and expression of their controlling genes in suspension culture of saffron was subjected as the aim of this study. For this purpose, saffron bulbs were cultured in ½ MS medium being treated with 100 and 150 mg/l of chitosan under cell suspension medium and callus optimal growth conditions. Samples were taken at 24 and 72 hours after the application of treatment in 3 replications. Measurement of secondary metabolites was done with HPLC and analysis of genes’ expression was performed with real-time PCR. The results showed that after the use of 100 and 150 mg/l of chitosan and after 24 and 72 hours, the two CsLYC and CsGT-2 genes expression significantly increased. Also, the results showed that Safranal and Crocin levels by the use of chitosan are significantly different at both harvesting times, so that 150 mg/l at harvest time of 72 hours after application of the treatment had the highest amount of Crocin and Safranal. Usage of chitosan as a bio-stimulant in the growth of medicinal and economic plants of saffron increased the amount of valuable secondary metabolites in the cell suspension culture of the plant.