نشریه پژوهش های زعفران
سال هشتم شماره 1 (بهار و تابستان 1399)

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different rates of vermicompost manure on biochemical characteristics and active ingredients of saffron based on a randomized complete block design with different vermicompost rates (0, 5, 10, 15t/ha) as treatments in three replications. According to the results, vermicompost had a significant effect on picrocrocin (taste), safranal (perfume) and crocin (color) of content of Saffron. The highest picrocrocin and safranal were gained in 15 t/ha of vermicompost (with 37.88% & 17.06%, respectively) and these lowest were observed in control (with 25.78% & 8.5%, respectively). Also, 10 and 15 t/ha vermicompost, caused 60% increasement in crocin content compared to control. Although petals phenol content was not significantly affected by vermicompost rates, but anthocyanin and antioxidant content of petals were significantly affected. As the highest anthocyanin, content was gained from 10 t/ha of vermicompost (16.43mg/100g) and the lowest was obtained from control (8.34mg/100g). Also the highest antioxidant content of petals was observed in 10 t/ha vermicompost (34.90%). In general, the results of this study showed that the use of vermicompost at the rates of 10 and 15 t per ha can improved the amount of active ingredients of saffron.

The aim of the present study is the analyzing of Web of Science database published articles in the saffron research field during years of 1995-2017. This study is accomplished using Scientometrics method. Obtained results from the investigation of 1582 published records at research time period showed that these records were written by 5034 authors and each paper has been written on average by 4.67 authors. Based on gathered data, Hossein Hosseinzadeh from Mashhad University of Medical Science with 68 (4.3%) published records ranked fist. Also, results showed that lead authors in this area are from Spain, Iran, and Greece. All the documents related to saffron have been published in 775 journals. Most of Saffron's articles have been published in two journals entitled the Food Chemistry and the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Finally, the results showed that Iranian researchers ranked first in the publishing of saffron field records in this period time 1995-2017 in the Web of Science. In this regard, the researchers of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences were the leading producers and pioneers of published articles. Although the findings suggest good cooperation between the authors on the subject of saffron and show that the coefficient collaboration rate has been an upward trend over the years. However, by an acquaintance of researchers of the other related fields with the saffron field, we will see an increase in the coefficient collaboration rate and comprehensive introduction of Iran red gold product in the international societies.

The aims of the present study were to compare irrigated wheat (as a high input and conventional system) and saffron (as a low input and traditional system) production systems in Khorasan-e Razavi during 2018. Data for wheat (as an annual crop) and saffron (as a 6-year perennial crop) were collected from 32 growers by using a face-to-face questionnaire in 2018. Energy efficiency indicators, economic indicators, ecological indicators for land, water and chemical fertilizers and life cycle assessment (LCA) were calculated accordingly. In this regard, four phases, which are goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation, were designed to assess life cycle index based on ISO14044 procedure. The maximum inputs for wheat system were related to nitrogen fertilizer and diesel fuel and for saffron systems were corm and electricity. Energy productivity for saffron and wheat systems were computed 0.000019 and 0.097 kg.MJ-1, and energy intensiveness were 46.93 and 33.48 MJ.$-1, respectively. Land use efficiency for wheat and saffron were calculated with 21.36 and 0.01 kg.ha-1 and economic land productivity were 1.51 and 0.52 $.kg-1day-1, respectively. Nitrogen use efficiency for wheat and saffron agroecosystems were recorded with 24.57 and 0.04, respectively. The highest emission of pollutants was belonged to eutrophication aquatic category. Aquatic eutrophication potential for saffron and wheat farming systems were computed with 9.68 kg PO4 eq./one kg of stigma and 0.26 9.68 kg PO4 eq./one tonne of seed, respectively. Environmental indicators for saffron and wheat agroecosystems were calculated with 22.62 Ecox per one kg of stigma and 0.46 Ecox per one tonne of seed, respectively.

The purposes of this study were evaluation of field age and climatic conditions on corm frequency under Khorasan province (such as Boshruyeh and Torbat-e Heydarieh) and the effects of mother corm weight and ecotype on flower yield, vegetative criteria and quality traits of saffron. The effect of field age and climatic conditions on daughter corm frequency was done as nested design with eight field ages and two climatic conditions under Boshruyeh and Torbat-e Heydarieh regions with three replications. In order to study the effect of mother corm weight on yield of vegetative tissues, flower indices and quality traits of saffron was done as factorial layout based on randomized complete block design with seven corm weights (including 0-2, 2-4, 4-6, 6-8, 8-10, 10-12 and 12-14 g) and two climatic conditions (such as Boshruyeh and Torbat-e Heydarieh regions) with four replications in planting boxes at Islamic Azad University of Mashhad in 2011. Survey results on field age and climatic conditions revealed that daughter corms of Torbat-e Heydarieh ecotype were heavier than other ecotype in the 5th and 6th years. The results of the other experiment on the mother corm weight and ecotype on flower and corm yield of saffron showed that the higher corm weights were enhanced flower yield at the first year, and had positive effects on flowering potential and field efficiency in other years due to improvement in vegetative growth and daughter corm production with higher weight in the later years. The results showed that mother corm weight with >8 g in the 5th– year and 6th-year fields is an applied approach for increasement in saffron field productivity and efficiency. Also, Torbat-e Heydarieh ecotype had higher contents of humidity, Crocin, and Picrocrocin compared with other ecotype, but Safranal content was higher for Boshruyeh ecotype.

This study was done to evaluate the effects of humic acid on qualitative and quantitative properties of saffron in two types of humic acid, solid type and liquid type (saffron). The factorial experiment was carried out based on a randomized complete block design with three replications in Billevar, Kermanshah province during growing season of 2015-2016. The factors were investigated included four different levels of saffron (0, 1, 2 and 3 lit/ha) and four levels of solid humic acid (0, 10, 20 and 30 kg/ha). The results showed that the effect of humic acid in comparison of control treatment was increased flower number per hectare, yield of wet flower, yield of wet and dry stigma, weight and diameter of corm and leaf length, 42.72%, 44/46, 130.3, 78.61, 65.76, 49.93 and 102.5% respectively, by using 20 kg/ha of solid humic acid and 3 liters/ha of saffron. Picrocrocin percentage of stigma was increased from 8.71% to 13.61% by using 10 kg/ha of solid humic acid and 2 lit/ha saffron. The treatment using of 10 kg/ha of solid humic acid and 3 lit/ha saffron have most effective on increasing of Safranal comparison of control treatment that this treatment increased Safranal percentage from 7.19 to 11.59 %. Using of 20 kg/ha of solid humic acid and 2 lit/ha saffron increased Crocin percentage from 7.208 to 14.26 in comparison of control treatment. Also the result showed that effects of humic acid on elements of leaves saffron was significant. In fusion treatment30 kg/ha of solid humic acid and 3 lit/ha saffron Fe, Zn, P, Cu and Mn was increased 39.67, 52.44, 110.28, 112.27 and 144.88%, respectively.

Agritourism can play an important role in the economy of a region by introduce its agricultural products. In this study, while trying to identify the potential and constraints of agricultural tourism development in Torbat Heydarieh, have been introduced strategies for its improvement and will be taken small step in order to strengthen and introduce Saffron brand Torbat Heydarieh and increase export potential. For this purpose, the SWOT method was used to examine the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities available. After identifying these factors using experts 'and farmers' views, a hierarchical analysis method was presented to prioritize and determine the appropriate saffron tourism strategy and appropriate strategies. The results of the study in prioritizing SWOT factors showed that the strengths of the area among other factors and among the factors underlying the strength of the factor are also the highest importance of saffron fields in achieving the study goal based on both the views of farmers and experts. Also, Quantitative Strategic Matrix Analysis (QSPM) showed that, for the development of Saffron tourism in Torbat Heydarieh, and better known of this product, the conservative strategy with a score of 0.156 was the highest in viewpoint of farmers and has been identified as the most attractive strategy. While, according to expert’s viewpoint, the defensive strategy had the highest rank with a score of 0.288 and was the most appropriate strategy. In general, it is suggested that the time and place of harvesting of saffron fields be introduced using various advertisements in Iran and other countries and for the recognition and branding of this product to all parts of the world, investing and providing appropriate support.

Saffron is one of the most important crops and medicinal plants in Iran. The research was accomplished in order to investigate the effects of Benzyl aminopurine hormone treatment, application of bio-fertilizers (Phosphate Barvar2 and mycorrhiza) and maternal corm weight on the quantitative indices of saffron cormlets and flowers yield as a factorial based on randomized complete block design with three replications was conducted in Yasouj region. Experimental treatments consisted of large (7.1-10 g) and small (4-7 g) corms, priming with benzyl aminopurine at concentrations of 0, 250 and 500 mg/l and biofertilizer levels (no fertilizer, Mycorrhiza (Glomus mossea) and fertilizer, Phosphate Barvar2) were used. The results showed that all quantitative traits of saffron corm were significantly affected by hormonal priming and maternal corm weight (except for corm weight); But biofertilizer had only significant effect on corm number and flower dry weight. The Hormonal priming at a concentration of 250 mg/l increased the number and weight of corms by 30 and 27%, respectively, and the dry weight of stigma and filament by 26% compared to control. Also, all flower components and number of corms were significantly increased by using larger maternal corms than small corms. The use of bio-fertilizers as compared to no fertilizer increased 13 and 59% corm number and weight, respectively. Phosphorus and zinc content in corms increased only under the influence of mycorrhiza fertilizer application. Whereas, with the use of benzyl aminopurine and mycorrhiza fertilizer, the iron content increased twice as much as the control. Generally 250 mg/l application of benzyl aminopurine, bio-fertilizers and larger corms (7.1-10 g) it had a positive effect on most of the measured traits

Saffron is the most valuable spice known in the world. Crocin, picrocrocin and safranal are known as saffron color, taste and aroma indices, respectively. Drying is one of the most important steps affecting the final quality of saffron in terms of crocin, picrocrocin and safranal content. In this study, the efficiency of drying process by oven method based on important variables such as temperature, time and thickness of saffron layer was modeled by artificial neural network method. Modeling results of saffron drying process by oven method showed that if crocin changes under momentum learning rule and tangent transfer function with 8 neurons and 25, 55 and 20% of the data were used for evaluation and test training respectively; the coefficient has the highest correlation coefficient (0.914). Whereas for the changes of picrocrocin, the Levenberg learning law and the tangent transfer function in the number of neurons, 12 designed the best networks with 50, 25 and 25% of data for training, evaluation and testing, respectively (R = 0.986). Safranal changes were also predicted by the Levenberg learning law and Sigmoid transfer function in neuron number 8 with 35, 45 and 20% of the data for training, evaluation and testing with appropriate correlation coefficient of 0.981 and predicted by its network.

In this study, the quantitative and qualitative analysis has been done to examine the phenolic, flavonoid and antimicrobial activity of methanolic, ethyl acetate and N-hexane extracts of the corm and leaves of Jo-ghasem (Crocus pallasii subsp. haussknechtii (Boiss. & Reut. ex Maw)B.Mathew. The plant species have been collected from three different habitats (Gaaza, Ziba and Veysian) in Lorestan province in 2018. The extraction was done by Maceration method. The results of the qualitative analysis showed that the aqueous extract of corm contains more phenolic and flavonoid compounds than the other two extracts. In contrast, quantitative analysis of extracts using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was performed. This method showed that Jo-ghasem corm was contained 3 phenolic compounds of Chicoric acid, Chlorogenic acid and Syringic acid and 2 flavonoid compounds of Kaempferol and Apginine. In this study, the antibacterial effects of ethyl acetate, methanol and N-hexane extract on Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus gram-positive bacteria were investigated using agar well diffusion method. According to the results, methanol extract of leaves and corm from all three regions had the most effect on both bacteria compared to N-hexane extract. This is the first qualitative study to identify the chemical compound s of Jo-ghasem corm.

Nutrition management is one of the most important parameters in determining the yield and quality of saffron (Crocus sativus L.). In order to study the effects of foliar application on flower and corm yield of saffron, a field experiment was conducted as factorial layout based on a randomized complete block design during growing season of 2016-2017 at a private farm in Bojd village of Birjand, Iran. Treatments included three levels of seaweed (Acadian) (control, 1 and 2 liters per thousand), three levels of Urea (such as control, 7 and 10 per thousand) and two levels of micronutrient (MICROMIX ECOQUEL) fertilizers (including control and 2 per thousand). The results revealed that the effect of seaweed on all measured traits was positive and significant. The application of 2 l.ha-1 seaweed was increased dried weight of stigma, the number of flower, corm dried weight and dried weight of leaf up to 65.32, 37.06, 61.99 and 16.15 percent compared to control, respectively as (P≤0.01). The effect of Urea foliar application on the all measured traits was significant. The highest dry yield of stigma by 41.3% as compared to control was produced in 7 kg.ha-1 urea foliar application. The effect of foliar micronutrient was positive and significant on all measured traits. Generally, application of 2 L.ha-1 of seaweed, 7 kg of urea and 2 kg of micronutrient had the highest yield in most of the measured traits. Overall, the use of ecologic fertilizers while reducing the consumption of chemical fertilizers and mitigating environmental pollutions, will be an effective and promising step towards sustainable agriculture.

Saffron is herbaceous, perennial and semi tropical plant belongs to Iridaceae family that cultivated in Southern Khorasan province as an importance crop. Considering the importance of irrigation water content in saffron yield, this research was conducted to determine the water requirement of saffron in a research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand in the crop year 2018-2019. Six mini lysimeter were used to carry out this research. Three lysimeter were used to calculate the evapotranspiration of the reference plant (grass) and in the other lysimeter saffron cultivate. Irrigation of each experimental unit was carried out based on field capacity by weight method. Based on the results obtained from the water balance equation, the potential evapotranspiration of the reference plant and saffron values were estimated 1138.81 and 764.12 mm, respectively. The length of various growth stages of saffron, including the initial, developmental, middle and end stages, was 30, 50, 55 and 65 days, respectively. Finally, based on the FAO method, the coefficient of variation was plotted and the average crop coefficient at four stages of plant growth was 0.48, 0.84, 1.27 and 0.37, respectively. Also, the effects of four- stages of plant growth on potential evapotranspiration of the reference plant, saffron and crop coefficient were significantly different at 1% level.

Nowadays, saffron is considered as a strategic medicinal plant in Iran. Apocarotenoids are also known as economic compound in saffron stigmas. Therefore, isolation and functional analysis of genes involving in carotenoid metbolism in saffron has a great importance. In this study, regarding the role of CsCCD1 gene in saffron apocarotenoids biosynthesis, it was targeted for studying the genomic structure of Iranian saffron CCD1. ProtParam, SOPMA, ProtScale, Pfam, ProtComp, SignalP, TMHMM, TargetP and ChloroPwre are the softwares used for studying the physicochemical and physiological charachterizations of CCD1 protein. Swiss-Model server was used for investigate the 3D structure of CCD1 protein followed by Ramachandran plotting for structural validation of 3D model. The results of phylogenetic analysis showed that amino acid structure of CsCCD1 protein have the most similarity to CaCCD. It is also found that CsCCD1 protein has no signal sequence and transmembrane domains. In addition, the results of this study demonstrated that CCD1 protein belongs to carotenoid oxidase family and it is stable In vitro. The results of this study can provide valuable information on the behavior and response of the CCD1 enzyme in the pathway for the synthesis of apocarotenoids in saffron, and these results can be useful in future protein engineering programs.