Essential Oils from Flower Petals of Saffron (Crocus sativus)

Saffron petal is the main by-product of saffron processing which produced at high level but is not applied and thrown out. Saffron petal is containing of several compounds such as mineral agents, anthocyanins, flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids and kaempferol. As saffron petal is cheaper and produces in large amounts compared to saffron stigma, so, it can be considered as an appropriate source for different purposes. The field experiment was carried out under drayland farming system in 2015 and 2016. The vegetative parts of the plants were treated with spraying foliar fertilizer as Delfard(D) (7 kg ha-1 ) and Phloral (P) (2.5 kg ha-1) with three replications. In this study essential oils from flower petals of saffron extracted by water distillation method (Calavenger apparatus), and volatile also phytochemical compounds were evaluated by gas chromatography (GC), and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Total of 27 volatile components were identified. Main components from Saffron petal essential oil foliar fertilizer treatment D1 were Methyl pentanoate (67.2), Isophorone (17.2%) and Hexanal (3.0%) and Saffron petal essential oil foliar fertilizer treatment P1were Methyl pentanoate (57.6%), 3,3,5-trimethyl-cyclohexene (57.6%), Hexanal (4.3%). Differences in compound proportion and composition were observed among the treatments. The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the changes in the phytochemicals compounds of essential oils from flower petals of saffron from Damavand which cultivated in dry farming in a Cold and semi-steppe climate, it was representative of many dryland regions of Iran with about 330 mm rainfall Comparison with foreign samples. This is the first research conducted on Iranian saffron volatiles according to their geographical origin. Various methods were selected to extraction essential oil from Crocus sativus L. Finally, the results of this experiment showed the compatibility and successful of the growth and production of saffron quantitatively and qualitatively in dryland conditions of relatively high areas.