Drying effects on chemical and sensorial characteristics of saffron

The chemical and sensorial specifications of saffron determine saffron quality. These specifications depend greatly on the saffron drying method. This research compared the effects of freeze-drying، toasting، oven-drying، and drying in the shade on saffron specifications. Saffron flower stigmas from a field in the city of Gonabad، Iran were dried by freeze-drying، toasting، oven-drying، and drying in the shade. Determination of the spectrophotometric specifications، moisture، and volatile materials were based on the international standards for saffron. Quantitative determination of safranal was done using high performance liquid chromatography. Ranking and hedonic tests were used for sensorial evaluations. One-way ANOVA and Tukey’s test were used for chemical data analysis and Friedman’s test، one way ANOVA، and Duncan’s new multiple-range test were used for sensorial data analysis. The freeze-dried and shade-dried samples had highest and lowest pigment contents، respectively. The freeze-dried and oven-dried samples had lowest and highest safranal contents (p< 0. 05)، respectively. In the sensory evaluation، freeze-dried had lowest acceptance in color and odor، and toasted saffron had the lowest texture acceptance (p< 0. 05). Overall، freeze-dried rated the lowest، but the difference with the other types was not significant (p< 0. 05). Retention of all aspects of saffron quality during the drying process is difficult. Of the controlled methods studied، oven-drying is recommended.