SCREENING OF ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY AND ANTIPROLIFERATIVE EFFECTS OF VARIOUS EXTRACTS OF SAFFRON PLANT (CROCUS SATIVUS L.)

Abstract

Saffron is a plant classified in the spice family. This plant and its by-products have been documented for their diverse array of biological effects, including anti-proliferative and antioxidant capacities.

This study aimed to assess the biological impact of saffron by-products by analyzing the total phenol content in methanolic and ethyl acetate extracts of five Crocus sativus by-products, specifically tepals, tunics, spaths, corms, stigmas, and leaves. Soxhlet extraction was employed to determine the biological activities of extracts from different parts of the plant. Antioxidant activity was assessed using a quantitative DPPH assay and a β-carotene linoleate model system. Additionally, the antiproliferative activity of our extracts was gauged through an MTT assay on human malignant cells, specifically U373 and A549.

Our findings demonstrated that various extracts from the Crocus plant exhibited substantial antioxidant activity, actively scavenging free radicals (Corms extracts showed highest activity 65%) and extracts of stigmas demonstrated an effective reduction of β-carotene oxidation 40%. Moreover, the plant extracts displayed a significant capacity to diminish cancer cell viability and impede the proliferation of U373 (Green leaves 10.6% of control growth) and A549 cells (36.8% was achieved with the tunics extract) in a concentration-dependent manner.

In this study, the extracts manifested both antioxidant and antiproliferative activities. Consequently, further investigations are warranted to explore additional biological properties of this widely utilized spice.