Medicinal Properties of Saffron

The saffron plant is a perennial meadow grass belongs to the family Iridaceae and grows from its bulbs. The flowers have six petals, three on the inner side and three on the outer side joined on the long pipe that comes out of the upper part of the ovary. The flower of Crocus sativus L. is a light purple, but it is the thread-like reddish coloured stigma of the flower that is valued both as a spice and as a natural colourant (three in number). The colour is mainly due to the carotenoids (crocin and crocetin), the flavour comes from the carotenoid oxidation products (mainly safranal and the bitter glucoside picrocrocin). Chemical analysis has shown the presence of more than 150 volatile and several nonvolatile compounds in saffron stigmas. Here, we review the medicinal applications of saffron. According to the reports and findings saffron plays a key role to cure different digestive system disorders via chemopreventive inhibition of cell proliferation induction of apoptosis, antioxidant effects and radical scavenging, genoprotective property, prevention of lipid peroxidation and anti-inflammatory processes. The outcome of the above-mentioned mechanisms shows potential therapeutic properties of saffron against liver cancer, hepatotoxicity, fatty liver, hyperlipidaemia, stomach cancer, peptic ulcer, colon cancer, ulcerative colitis, diabetes and neuropathic pain. Our study concludes that saffron has wide range of usefulness in medicine, but more research about its mechanism of action is needed.