The Power Of Saffron Extract: A Natural Solution For Weight Loss And Mood Enhancement

1.About Saffron extract

The product is extracted from the upper part of the style and stigma of Crocus sativus L., an iris plant. The main ingredients include picrocrocin, carotene compounds, safflower aldehyde, eucalyptol, pinene and other substances, and also contain a small amount of Isorhamnetin, kaempferol, vitamin B1 and vitamin B2, etc. Saffron extract is a powerful scavenger of hydroxyl free radicals and superoxide free radicals. It can resist oxidation reactions, improve mitochondrial function, inhibit optic nerve cell apoptosis, improve microcirculation, improve immunity, resist arteriosclerosis, and resist oxidation. It has the functions of lowering blood lipids, promoting choleretics and liver protection, preventing and treating osteoporosis, and protecting kidneys.

Source plant

2. Plant origin

Basic source] It is the upper part of the style and stigma of the iris plant Crocus sativus L.

【Alias】Crocus, saffron.

[Distribution] There is a small amount of experimental cultivation in Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Xinjiang, etc. in China, and it is cultivated abroad in Spain, Iran, Italy, Germany, France, Greece, Austria, the former Soviet Union and Japan.

【Plant Form】Perennial herb. The underground bulbs are spherical and covered with brown membranous scale leaves. There are 9 to 15 leaves, grown from the bulb, sessile, narrow and linear, 15 to 20 cm long and 2 to 3 cm wide. The leaf margins are recurved and finely hairy, and the base is surrounded by 4 to 5 broad scales. . Flowers terminal, 2.5-3 cm in diameter; perianth 6-piece, obovate, lavender, flower tube 4-6 cm long, thin tube-shaped, 3 stamens, large anthers, arrow-shaped base, 3 pistils, connate carpels , the ovary is lower, the style is slender, yellow, the top has three deep lobes, extending out of the flower tube, drooping, dark red, the top of the stigma is slightly enlarged, with an opening in the shape of a funnel. The capsule is elongated, with three blunt edges, about 3 cm long and 1.5 cm wide. It reaches the ground when the fruit is mature. The seeds are numerous, spherical, and the seed coat is textured. Flowering period from early to mid-November

3.Chemical composition

1). Volatile oil The volatile oil component in the pistil (stigma) of saffron corolla is produced by the degradation of carotenes such as zeaxanthin and has a special structure. It is mainly safranal in trimethylcycloethylene derivatives, accounting for 50% of the total volatile oil. 72%, it is the degradation product of crocin, and is also one of the quality control indicators of the traditional Chinese medicine Zangsafflower. Some scholars have identified 46 compounds from saffron volatile oil, accounting for 90.99% of the total volatile oil. Among them, 5 ketone compounds accounted for 6.16%, 5 aldehyde compounds accounted for 2.39%, 6 alcohol compounds accounted for 4.98%, 6 acid compounds accounted for 19.77%, 8 olefin compounds accounted for 36.42%, and olefin oxides 2 compounds accounted for 5.74%, 8 alkane compounds accounted for 12.5%, 2 ester compounds accounted for 0.48%, and 4 other compounds accounted for 2.55%. Among the identified volatile oil components of saffron, the ones with relatively high content are mainly olefins and olefin oxides, which are terpenoid compounds. In addition, the ones with relatively high content are acid compounds.

2). Flavonoids Flavonoids are mainly distributed in the perianth of saffron. Common ones include vetch glycoside, quercetin-3-p-coumaroylglucoside, kaempferol-3-glucose-6-acetylglucoside and Kaempferol-3-glucose-glucoside, delphinidin, trimethyldelphinidin, etc.

3). Volatile oil precursors. Part of the volatile oil precursors produced through different degradation pathways during the drying and storage of saffron stigmas are glycoside compounds of trimethylcyclohexene derivatives, mainly including crocin and so on. Crocein is the main bitter component in saffron. It can be converted into safranal under acidic or alkaline conditions or under the action of enzymes. This is also the reason why the safranal content in different varieties is different.

4). Conjugated polyenes and their glycosides Conjugated polyenes and their glycosides are the main colored components in the traditional Chinese medicine saffron. It mainly includes the following two categories: (1) Carotenoids and their glycosides Crocetin is the main component of carotenoids and their glycosides. Including the carotenoid crocetin and its glycosides, such as gentiobioside, glucoside, digentisic acid glycoside, gentioglucoside and diglucoside; B-crocetin, C-crocetin, etc. (2) Carotenes mainly include A and B-carotene, such as lycopene and zeaxanthin.

5). Others mainly include phenols, chitinase, triterpene saponins and steroidal saponins.

4.Pharmacological action

1). Effect on the uterus Saffron extract has an exciting effect on both the isolated uterus and the in vivo uterus of mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs and cats. Pregnant uterus is more sensitive; the order of intensity of various safranin extracts is: decoction > ethanol extract > volatile components > ether extract. The effect of uterine excitement can be partially blocked by ergotamine ethanesulfonate, which is insensitive to atropine. Therefore, it is believed that part of the effect on the uterus is a direct effect on uterine myocytes, and part is related to adrenergic receptors.

2). Effect on the circulatory system Saffron extract can lower the blood pressure of anesthetized dogs and cats for a long time and has an exciting effect on breathing. When reducing blood pressure, the renal volume decreases, indicating renal vasoconstriction, and also has a constrictive effect on toad blood vessels. It has a significant inhibitory effect on the isolated toad heart. According to chemical analysis, the components that inhibit the heart are related to potassium salts. Therefore, future pharmacological research on saffron should first remove potassium salts.

3). Anti-tumor effect Saffron preparations have obvious anti-tumor and anti-cancer abilities, especially saffron extract (dimethylcrocetin) on leukemia, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma, colon cancer, papillosarcoma, and flat cell tumor and soft tissue sarcoma, etc. all have strong inhibitory effects. Its anti-cancer mechanism may be to destroy the DNA synthase system, that is, to destroy the DNA-protein contact mediators such as topoisomerase II that are critical to cellular DNA synthesis, thereby inhibiting the synthesis of DNA and RNA, thereby inhibiting the growth of tumor cells. effect. In addition, crocins also inhibit the activity of cellular protein kinases and the expression of proto-oncogenes.

4). Effect on liver and gallbladder Saffron extract has a choleretic effect, and its active ingredients are α-crocetin sodium salt and crocetin ester. α-Saffron acid can lower cholesterol and increase fat metabolism. It can be used with traditional Chinese medicines such as hawthorn, cassia, and Alisma to treat fatty liver.

5). Antioxidant effect Saffron extract, especially crocin, can effectively inhibit the activity of oxygen free radicals and xanthine oxidase, showing antioxidant biological activity.

6). Protect the kidneys. By studying the rat C-BSA nephritis model, it was found that proteinuria and renal pathological damage were reduced in rats in the experimental group. Among them, saffron mainly inhibits cyclooxygenase and reduces the synthesis of prostaglandins, thereby unblocking renal capillaries, increasing blood flow, and promoting the repair of inflammatory damage. It is suggested that saffron can interfere with the occurrence of renal inflammation by improving the release of platelets and inflammatory mediators.

7). Intervention in arrhythmia Crocemic acid, the active ingredient in saffron extract, has a good effect on ventricular arrhythmia models induced by aconitine, ouabain and calcium chloride, providing experiments for the use of saffron in the treatment of arrhythmia. This provides a feasibility basis for further development and research on saffron as a traditional Chinese medicine preparation against arrhythmia and myocardial ischemia, suggesting that saffron may be called a new type of preventive health-care traditional Chinese medicine for preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.