Yield and qualitative and biochemical characteristics of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) cultivated in different soil, water, and climate conditions

Authors

  • Habibioallah Farrokhi P.hD student of Medicinal Plant, Shirvan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shirvan
  • Ahmad Asgharzadeh Department of Horticulture, Shirvan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shirvan
  • Malihe Kazemi Samadi Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Bojnourd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bojnourd

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36253/ijam-1216

Keywords:

DPPH activity, maximum summer temperature, saffron flower yield, safranal content, selenium, stigma yield

Abstract

Saffron is highly valued for its unique aroma, taste, color, and medicinal properties. Iran is one of the most important saffron-producing countries. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of climatic and environmental characteristics of six sites (Shirvan, Faruj, Zavareh, Torbat-e Heydarieh, Ghayen, and Birjand) on the yield and qualitative, and biochemical characteristics of saffron. The studied sites were considered as treatments. The obtained data were analyzed based on a nested design, where the village within the site was considered an experimental error, and the farm within the village within each site was considered a sampling error. The Torbat-e Heydarieh treatment with altitudes of ~1323.3 m produced the maximum saffron flower yield (0.83 g m2), stigma yield (0.098 g m2), safranal content (15.8%), picrocrocin content (30.6%), and crocins content (69.3%). Evidently that the low maximum summer temperature in the area is one of the reasons for its superiority. The correlation analysis between traits shows that the maximum summer temperature had a significant negative correlation with saffron flower yield, stigma yield, and picrocrocin and crocin content. Results showed the highest total flavonoid and phenol content and DPPH activity related to Shirvan and Faruj. Although the results showed that selenium could increase the quantitative and qualitative yield of saffron, this requires further studies to confirm it. Based on the findings, it is concluded that I) qualitative and quantitative characteristics of saffron are strongly controlled by the environmental and climatic conditions and II) Razavi Khorasan province had a significant advantage in terms of flower and stigma yield and safranal, picrocrocin and crocin content of saffron and North Khorasan province in terms of biochemical characteristics.

Downloads

Published

2021-12-27

How to Cite

Farrokhi, H., Asgharzadeh, A., & Kazemi Samadi, M. (2021). Yield and qualitative and biochemical characteristics of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) cultivated in different soil, water, and climate conditions. Italian Journal of Agrometeorology, (2), 43–55. https://doi.org/10.36253/ijam-1216

Issue

No. 2 (2021)

Section

RESEARCH ARTICLES

License

Copyright (c) 2021 Habibioallah Farokhi, Ahmad Asgharzadeh, Maliheh Kazemi Samadi

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Licence and copyright agreement for IJAM

(revised October 2020)

The following licence and copyright agreement is valid for any article published by IJAM.

Author’s certification

By submitting the manuscript, the authors certify the following:

  • They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
  • The work described has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or proceedings-type publication – including discussion papers – or as part of a published lecture or thesis); it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; and its publication has been approved by all the author(s) and by the responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – of the institutes where the work was carried out.
  • They have secured the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere.
  • They agree to the following licence and copyright agreement:

Copyright

  • The copyright of any article is retained by the author(s). More information on the transfer of copyright can be found below.
  • Authors grant our journals a licence to publish the article and identify itself as the original publisher.
  • Authors grant any third party the right to use the article freely under the stipulation that the original authors are given credit and the appropriate citation details are mentioned.
  • The article is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Unless otherwise stated, associated published material is distributed under the same licence.

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

Anyone is free to share — to copy, distribute, and transmit the work to remix — to adapt the work under the following conditions:

  • Attribution — The original authors must be given credit.
  • For any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the licence terms of this work are.
  • Any of these conditions can be waived if the copyright holders give permission.
  • Nothing in this licence impairs or restricts the author’s moral rights. The full legal code of this licence.