Evaluation of Crocus sativus L. Stigma Phenolic and Flavonoid Compounds and Its Antioxidant Activity.docVIP

Molecules 2010, 15, 6244-6256; doi:10.3390/moleculeOPEN ACCESS molecules ISSN 1420-3049 /journal/molecules Article Evaluation of Crocus sativus L. Stigma Phenolic and Flavonoid Compounds and Its Antioxidant Activity Ehsan Karimi 1, Ehsan Oskoueian 2, Rudi Hendra 3 and Hawa Z.E. Jaafar 1,* 1 Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 2 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 3 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mails: hawazej@.my or hawazej@; Tel.: +6-03/ +6-012-3723585; Fax: +6-03 Received: 25 May 2010; in revised form: 5 July 2010 / Accepted: 10 August 2010/ Published: 6 September 2010 Abstract: Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) belongs to the Iridaceae family. The stigma of saffron has been widely used as spice, medicinal plant, and food additive in the Mediterranean and Subtropical countries. Recently, attention has been paid to the identification of new sources of safe natural antioxidants for the food industry. The antioxidant activities of spices are mainly attributed to their phenolic and flavonoid compounds. Saffron is one of the spices believed to possess antioxidant properties, but information on its antioxidant activity and phenolic, flavonoids compound are rather limited, therefore this research was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant activity of saffron stigmas extracted with different solvents. The phenolic and flavonoid compounds of saffron were also examined using reversed phase (RP)-HPLC. Results showed that saffron stigma possess antioxida