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      Safranal: From an Aromatic Natural Product to a Rewarding Pharmacological Agent

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          Abstract

          Safranal, the main component of Crocus sativus essential oil, is thought to be the main cause of saffron unique odor. It is now about eighty years that this compound has been discovered and since then different scientific experiments have been done investigating its biological-pharmacological activities. Safranal effects in CNS have been more attractive to scientists and an escalating number of papers have been published regarding its neuropsychological effects. These promising properties of safranal propose its presence as a therapeutic agent in future, although there is a great need for further clinical trials and toxicological studies. In this review article, according to Scopus ®, Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge®, Scientific Information Database (SID) ® and Pubmed ® all papers published until July 2012 were thoroughly discussed and a brief note of each study was prepared.

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          Most cited references85

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          Radical scavenging activity of Crocus sativus L. extract and its bioactive constituents.

          Radical scavenging activity is involved in aging processes, antiinflammatory, anticancer and wound healing activity. Hence, in the present study the DPPH radical scavenging activity of a natural product that possesses biological properties, an extract of Crocus sativus L. (saffron), grown in Crocos, Kozani (Greece), and some of its bioactive constituents (crocin, safranal) was studied. It was shown that a methanol extract of Crocus sativus exhibited high antioxidant activity, although it contains several active and inactive constituents. In trying to approximate a structure-activity relationship, two bioactive constituents of saffron extract were tested, namely crocin and safranal. Crocin showed high radical scavenging activity (50% and 65% for 500 and 1,000 ppm solution in methanol, respectively), followed by safranal (34% for 500 ppm solution). All the tested samples showed high radical scavenging activity, probably due to the ability to donate a hydrogen atom to the DPPH radical.Thus, saffron grown in Greece can be used promisingly in functional foods, drinks with antioxidant activity, in pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations for their antioxidant activity and probably for their antiaging activity. Saffron can also be used internally in the form of powder or other pharmacotechnical formulae as a food supplement with antioxidant properties.
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              Anxiolytic and hypnotic effect of Crocus sativus aqueous extract and its constituents, crocin and safranal, in mice.

              Saffron stigma (Crocus sativus L.) is used for insomnia and anxiety in traditional medicine. In this study, the anxiolytic and hypnotic effects of saffron aqueous extract and its constituents, crocin and safranal, were studied in mice. Agents were administered intraperitoneally in mice before the experiments for the evaluation of hypnotic activity (induced by sodium pentobarbital, 30 mg/kg, i.p.), anxiolytic activity (elevated plus maze test), locomotor activity (open field test) and motor coordination (Rotarod test). The aqueous extract reduced the locomotor activity dose dependently. At low doses, saffron showed a significant increase in the time on the open arms of the maze. When using the Rotarod method, the aqueous extract showed considerable effect on motor coordination of the mice. In the hypnotic test, only a dose of 0.56 g/kg of saffron increased the total sleep. Crocin showed no anxiolytic, hypnotic or myorelaxation effects. Safranal, in higher doses, 0.15 and 0.35 mL/kg, showed anxiolytic effects. Safranal increased the total sleep time dose dependently. This constituent at lower doses (0.05 and 0.15 mL/kg) decreased some locomotion activity parameters. Safranal demonstrated no effects on motor coordination. The results showed that saffron aqueous extract and safranal have anxiolytic and hypnotic effects. (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Iran J Basic Med Sci
                Iran J Basic Med Sci
                IJBMS
                Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences
                Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (Mashhad, Iran )
                2008-3866
                2008-3874
                January 2013
                : 16
                : 1
                : 12-26
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Pharmaceutical Research Center, Department of Pharmacodynamy and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, I.R. Iran.
                [2 ]Pharmaceutical Research Center, Department of Pharmacodynamy and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
                Author notes
                [* ]Corresponding author: Hossein Hosseinzadeh, Pharmaceutical Research Center, Department of Pharmacodynamy and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. Tel: +98-511-8819042; Fax: +98-511-8823251; Email: hosseinzadehh@mums.ac.ir
                Article
                IJBMS-16-012
                3637901
                23638289
                4b1c4497-427a-48a9-8e9d-edf44e481aee
                © 2013: Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 5 August 2012
                : 6 October 2012
                Categories
                Review Article

                crocus sativus,review,safranal,saffron
                crocus sativus, review, safranal, saffron

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