نشریه پژوهش های زعفران
سال چهارم شماره 2 (پاییز و زمستان 1395)

Saffron is a spice derived from the flowers of Crocus Sativus L. and it is known as one of the most valuable medicinal plants worldwide. In this study, the extract of petal and stamen were obtained from saffron wastages with methods of maceration and ultrasonic with water, ethanol and methanol as solvent. First, phytochemical screening of natural compounds was investigated. Then the content of phenolic compounds, flavonoids and tannins were measured, respectively, with the Folin-Ciocalteu, Aluminum chloride and PVPmethods. Mineral elements of plant were compared by atomic absorption and emission. The existence of phenolic compounds, Anthocyanins, steroids, tannins, phytoestrol and carbohydrates in the saffron waste were confirmed using qualitative measures. Our results clearly indicated that the extraction of phenolic compounds, flavonoids and tannins using water as the solvent is more effective than the use of other solvents. Moreover, the amount of anthocyanin in frozen sample was more than dried sample in situ of ethanol as solvent. It was shown that potassium had the maximum amount of mineral element, while manganese had the minimum amount of mineral element in petal and stamen of saffron.

Climate is the most important determinants for the geographical distribution of plant species such as saffron. The thermal stress is one of the most important factor in reducing the yield of agricultural products. South Khorasan province as a center for saffron production suffers from thermal stresses. In this study, data was used from the province synoptic and climatology stations which provided valid data. Then, analysis was conducted to identify the stressful behavior that was harmful to the Saffron. For this purpose, the maximum temperature thresholds were categorized as somewhat critical (35 to 40 degrees), critical (40 to 45 degrees) and supercritical (more than 45 ° C) groups. In the next stage, a program was written in Matlab software to extract these days from the maximum temperature database of the selected stations. Using the 90th percentile, the threshold for hot days was determined for each station. Than the maps for hot stress and maximum temperature zoning were drawn in GIS environment. The results show that the hot period months have the greatest critical and supercritical days and the critical days also has increased in March. The occurrence of stressful days has increased in recent years that might affect the flowering and yield of saffron. The South, West and Central parts of the province have possessed the greatest number of supercritical days which have reached 177 days in July in the West of province. Reduced crop yields in the stressful centers in recent years, is amongst the consequences of heat stress in the province.

In order to study the effects of some fertilizer sources and mother corm weights on qualitative and quantitative traits of saffron (Crocus sativus L.), a factorial pot experiment based on a randomized complete block design with three replications was conducted at College of Agriculture, University of Birjand during 2014 and 2015. Experimental factors consisted of different fertilizers [Bioaminopalis (3 l.ha-1), humic acid (4 l.ha-1), Yaramila complex (50 kg.ha-1) and control (without fertilizer)] and three mother corm weights included 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12 g. The results showed that the simple effects of different fertilizers were significant (p≤0.01) on leaf number (No.plant-1), fresh weight of leaf (g), leaf dry weight (g), number of daughter corms (No.plant-1), fresh weight of mother corms (g) and Picrocrocin, Safranal and Crocin contents of saffron. The simple effect of corm weight was significant (p≤0.01) on leaf number (No.plant-1), leaf length (cm), fresh weight of leaf (g), leaf dry weight (g), number of daughter corms (No.plant-1), fresh weight of daughter corms (g), daughter corms weight (g), diameter of mother corm (cm), fresh weight of mother corms (g), dry weight of mother corms (g), fresh weight of tunic (g), dry weight of tunic (g). Qualitative and quantitative traits of saffron were not affected by the simple effect of corm weight and fertilizer treatments. Also, the greatest leaf number (No.plant-1), fresh weight and dry weight of leaf (g) and number of daughter corms (No.plant-1) were observed where humic acid was applied with mother corms weighing 10-12 g. But the highest levels of Picrocrocin, Crocin and Safranal were obtained in Bioaminopalis application with 87.41, 250, 32.48 respectively. Therefore application of bio-fertilizers and reducing fertilizer use is an important step towards achieving the principles of sustainable agriculture and reduction of environmental pollution and improvement of saffron quality characteristics.

In this study technological gap ratio of different sizes of saffron farms were analyzed using the concept of metafrontier function that estimated with data envelopment analysis. For this purpose, information of 81 farmers that were interviewed with simple random sampling in 2014 was used. Samples collected from saffron farmers were divided into three sizes; small, medium and large.The results of estimating group technical efficiency showed that mean technical efficiency for selected provinces varies between 0.86 and 0.90. This implies that, there are possibilities for either increasing total production of saffron using the same inputs or decreasing input for the current level of saffron production or a mixture of both by filling the gap between the best producer and other producers. The result of technological gap showed that large farms had a better technical performance and in comparison with small and medium farms the large farms had a higher technological gap ratio. In addition the age of farmer, ownership, number of years of experience in saffron farming were positively and significantly associated with technical efficiency of saffron production in the study area. Farmers having production problem in saffron production would have statistically lower level of technical efficiency as compared to those did not have production problem. This study suggested that training programs to accelerate farmer experience and immediate farmer's problem-solving program as measures to increase technical efficiency in saffron production.

One of the fundamental problems of Iran’s economy is its dependence on incomes gained from oil and oil products to get rid of which different policies and solutions always are considered by the country’s development plans. Increasing agricultural exports is one of such solutions. Saffron is one of the important exports of Iran. Exchange rate volatility is a key and yet ambiguous factor in exporting agricultural products. Therefore, in this study, the effect of exchange rate volatility on Iranian saffron exports was analyzed in both short-run and long-run. Accordingly, exchange rate volatility index using the generalized auto-regressive conditional heteroskedasticity model (GARCH) was calculated. Then, the effect of exchange rate volatility on saffron exports using the Johansen-Juselius co-integration test and vector error correction model (VECM) was studied. The results showed that there is a negative and significant relationship between the exchange rate volatility and saffron exports in short-run and long-run. Likewise, the results showed that the export price and the domestic production of saffron have a significant and positive impact and wholesale price of saffron has a significant and negative impact on the exports of this product. Thus, policies to control and stabilize the exchange rate and economic conditions should be applied.

With regard to the fact that production of saffron requires little capital and expertise and also as its high price may be the best way to earn income in rural areas, the present study aims to investigate saffron role in job creation for families residing in Roshtkhar Rural District. This is a descriptive-analytical research of which the field studies were carried out at the village level and family. According to the total number of households in selected villages and Cochran formula, 355 saffron grower households as household sample size was calculated. To conduct research, in addition to documentary studies and the initial visits of fields, a wide range of indices appropriate to the circumstances of villages under study were determined. Then, the data collection was carried out based on selective indicators using questionnaires on villages and families. In this study, the validity of measurement tools (questionnaires), by University professors, experts and managers of rural development was determined. The reliability of the questionnaires was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha test. To analyze the data, the statistical and spatial analyses as well as the softwares of Expert choice, SPSS and ArcGIS were used. The findings of the study revealed that saffron production highly affects the improvement of job creation in villages of Roshtkhar Rural District, and this motivates the families as an incentive to stay and live in the mentioned area. Therefore, it seems essential to set the stage for higher saffron production in these rural areas through adopting appropriate strategies.

In order to assess the environmental impacts of saffron agroecosystems during the first to seventh years in the two counties of Ghaen and Torbat-e Heydariyeh as two important poles of saffron production at different levels of inputs and livestock manure (less than 100, 100-150 and more than 150 t.ha-1), a study by using life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted in 2015. Based on ISO14044 method, LCA was computed in four steps including goal definition and scoping, inventory analysis, life cycle impact assessment (such as global warming, terrestrial eutrophication, aquatic eutrophication and acidification categories) and integration & interpretation. Functional unit was considered as one ton flower. The results showed that consumption of inputs such as fuel, livestock manure and chemical fertilizer in Torbat-e Heydariyeh was higher than Ghaen. The highest flower yield in Ghaen and Torbat-e Heydariyeh counties were obtained at the lowest levels of livestock manure (with 1.47 and 1.66 t.ha-1, respectively). The maximum value of aquatic eutrophication potential in Ghaen and Torbat-e Heydariyeh counties were related to the highest livestock manure level with 4.861 and 10.983 PO4 equiv./t flower, respectively. The highest of environmental indicator in the two counties of Ghaen and Torbat-e-Heydariyeh were calculated for the maximum livestock manure with 1.34 and 3.18 Ecox per one ton of flower. Considering the high levels of environmental impact of saffron agroecosystems especially in Torbat-e-Heydarieh, it is suggested to apply strategies such as intercropping, minimum tillage, and optimum levels of organic fertilizers.

In order to identify weedspeciesand their community structure in saffron fields of Kashmar and Khalil-Abad counties, 45 farms were selected randomly based on cultivation area during 2014- 2015. In each farm weed species were counted separately and also the geographical information of each farm was recorded by GPS. These data were used for mapping of weed species and geographic distribution in ArcGIS software. The results showed that 82 weed species belong to the families of Astraceae, Brassicaceae, Poaceae and Caryophyllaceae had the highest frequency, respectively. The most important weeds in the surveyed area based on the abundance index were: downy brome (Bromus tectorum L.), Hordeum spontaneum C. Koch, from grasses and hoary cress (Cardaria draba (L.) Desv.), Holosteum glutinosum F.et M, Russian knapweed (Acroptilon repens (L.) DC), Sisymbrium subulatum E.Fourn , creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense (L.) scop) from Broad leaves. Annual weeds had the greatest species diversity (53 species), biennial weeds had the lowest species diversity (4 species), and perennial weeds were intermediate (25 species). 82 percent of weeds were broadleaf, and 18 percent were narrow leaf weeds. The weeds such as Bromus tectorum L., Holosteum glutinosum F.et M, Acroptilon repens (L.) DC, Descurainia sophia (L.) Schar, and Cardaria draba (L.) Desv., were dominant species in Kashmar, while Cardaria draba (L.) Desv., Hordeum spontaneum C. Koch, Sisymbrium subulatum E.Fourn, Hordeum murinum L., Cirsium arvense (L.) scop, and Malcolmia africana (L.) R.Br., were dominant species in Khalil-Abad . Cardaria draba was problematic and dominant species at both locations.

Sincethe Taguchi approach has been proposed as analternativefor experimental design, this method was used to compare experimental design of saffron (Crocus sativusL.) emergence affected by zeolite and drought stress. For this porpous, an experiment was conducted as factorial layout based on a CRD at three replications in Agricultural Research Station,University ofBirjand during 2013-2014.Zeolite in three levels: Zero (Z0), one (Z2) and two (Z3) as weight percentage and irrigation scheduling in three levels: traditional irrigation (I1), deficit irrigation as 70% moisture depletion (I2) and full irrigation (I3) considered as treatments. Then, this study also designed with Taguchi layout (L9).Emergence parameters consisted of: emergence rate (R50), emergence uniformity (GU), time for emergence 5 to 95 percentage of corms (D05, D50, D90 and D95). Results showed that zeolite level had no significant effect on emergence parameters but irrigation scheduling decreased D90 and D95 (P≤0.05). The D90 reduction were 10 (I2) and 16% (I3) compared with control (I1), respectively.D95 for I2 and I3 decreased about 11 and 17% compared with I1, respectively. Zeolite level and irrigation scheduling (interaction level) showed a significant effect on D90 and D95 (P≤0.05) and the lowest value for mentioned parameters observed in Z3I3. Z3I3 determined as the best treatment based on Taguch method and had the highest value for R50 and the lowest value for GU, D50 and D95. Maximum root mean square error (RMSE) for Taguchi approach was 0.9946 day compared with Factorial layout. Maximum value ofmean bias error (MBE) was 0.8945 day. In order to save time and cost, based on the results, it is recommended to use Taguchi approach for evaluation of plantsemergence.

During the last decade, the synthesis of metal nanoparticles with approximately 1-100 nm have received considerable attention. These nanoparticles have various usages in diffrents fields of sciences and technology. In this study, silver nano-particles were synthesized by the petals and stamens extract of Crocus sativus L. The silver nano-particles were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), In-frared Spectroscopy (IR), Ultraviolet/Visible Spectroscopy (Uv/Vis) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). All techniques were confirmed the synthesis of silver nano-particles. The size of silver nano-particles was calculated by X-ray diffraction (18 nm). The size of nano-particles in TEM images of silver nano-particles was accordance with X-ray diffraction (18 nm). Furthermore, the amount of phenolic compounds and flavonoids of Petals and stamens of Crocus sativus L. were investigated in four solvents with different polarities (Ethanol, Methanol, Chloroform and Ethyl acetate). The results showed that, the ethanol and methanol extracts of Petals are enrich in phenolic and flavonoid compounds, (32.68×10-3 mg/g and 87.6×10-3 mg/g, respectively). Also, the least amount of phenolic and flavonoid compounds of all tissues (Petals and stamens) was extracted in the chloroform extracts. In additions, the antioxidant capacity (IC50) of Petals and stamens were investigated. Methanol extract of all tissues were extracted and the antioxidant capacity were determined as quenching the 2,2-diphenyl 1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). The results showed that petals have higher antioxidant capacity than stamens of Crocus sativus L (IC50=5.79 and 14.71 mg/ml, respectively).