Investigation of Physicochemical Properties and Microbial Contamination of Saffron Style

Abstract

Saffron flower (Crocus sativus) is one of the most precious spices in the world. In this respect, the<br />saffron style samples were gathered from the farms of Torbat-Heidariyeh located in South Khorasan<br />province during one year and their preparation was performed based on the common manufacturing<br />standards. Then, in order to considering the international and national standards for saffron and spices<br />evaluation of the desired properties of saffron style was investigated which included the moisture<br />content, total ash, in acid insoluble ash, the cold water soluble extract, recognition of the color<br />additives and the power of color, total counts of micro-organisms, the form and mold, Escherichia<br />coli, Clostridium perfringens, sulfite-reducing clostridium, and enterococcus based on physicochemical<br />and microbial. It was found that the tested physicochemical properties of saffron style such as<br />the total ash, the acid insoluble ash, the cold water soluble extract, recognition of the color additives,<br />and the power of the color were in lower grade than the stigma. The level of Crocin, Picrocrocin, and<br />Safranal available in the saffron style along with stigma were in different amount amounts and very<br />how compared to the style. The style moisture was the only factor which its amount in stigma was<br />greater than style. Statistically, the tests of moisture content, total ash, the acid insoluble ash, and the<br />cold water soluble extract had a significant difference (p<0.05). Furthermore, the recognition tests<br />of the color additives was completely negative in all trials in which a significant difference (p<0.05)<br />was observed in the power of color test using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer (Crocin, Picrocrocin, and<br />Safranal). In addition, the microbial contamination of samples was investigated and it showed that the<br />factors of intestinal enterococcus, Escherichia coli, the spores of sulfite-reducing anaerobes (clostridia),<br />clostridium perfringens, and Bacillus cereus were negative, while the mold and yeast, coli-form<br />and total count of micro-organisms were in a higher range compared with the microbial negative<br />factors and had a statistical significant difference (p<0.05).