Saffron: An Insight of Important Medicinal and Nutritional Values

Saffron: Looking beyond the taste and aroma

Abstract

Saffron (Crocus sativus) is costliest spices in the world due to high nutritional values. It has also been used in traditional medicine for treatment of different types of illnesses since ancient times. Many of these medicinal properties of saffron can be attributed to a number of bioactive compounds like safranal, crocin, picrocrocin and crocetin as well as highly active antioxidants. This review is aimed to explore the nutritional and medicinal values of saffron and highlight the recent advances in the field.