Quantification of Afghan Saffron’s Moisture and Main Compounds (Crocin, Picrocrocin and Safranal) for Quality Evaluation

Saffron, the stigmasof the plant Crocus sativusL.,hasattracted the worldwide interest for its specific organoleptic and pharmacological characteristics. Cultivation of saffron in Afghanistan began in recentyears and in very short time Afghan saffron hit higher record. Till now,there is no scientific study which has analyzed its characteristicsaccording to ISO methods. In this study, the maincomponentsof Afghan saffron have been described, and quality parameters along with its characteristics were analyzed accordingto ISO-3632-2test methods. The results of moisture analysis (5.12 to 5.74%)and determination of crocin (230.52-255.15) of Afghan saffron were at the range of standard as described for category I of saffron in ISO 3632-2 test methods. However, the results of some samples for safranal and picrocrocin (38.52-40.21 for safranal and 68.86-72.63 for picrocrocin) were higher than the range of category I of ISO 3632-2.