Saffron (Crocus sativus L.), the king of spices: An overview

Saffron is obtained from the dried red stigmas of Crocus sativus L., an autumnal herbaceous flowering plant belonging to the Iridaceae family. It is largely cultivated in Iran, India, Afghanistan, Greece, Morocco, Spain and Italy. Saffron global production is estimated at 418 t y−1 on 121,338 ha. It is known as the most expensive spice in the world and as beneficial for human health due to three main bioactive compounds: crocin, picrocrocin and safranal. The demand for saffron is increasing worldwide for its interesting role in cuisine, medicine and cosmetics. Due to the reduction of its production, recent investigations have been conducted to study how to improve stigma yield, quality and antioxidant activity by selecting of corm geographical origin and climatic conditions, using biostimulants such as mycorrhizal fungi as well as choosing irrigation regimes, drying methods and storage processes. New research activities have been focused on the medicinal properties of this spice, such as its neuroprotection in the context of ocular disease, free radical scavenging and detoxifying capacities. This work offers an overview of the historical, economic, genetic, botanical, agronomic and qualitative traits of saffron as well as the properties, traditional and recent uses of the spice as well as its by-products such as tepals, stamens, styles, corms and leaves.