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Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
U.S. Department of Agriculture
  1. Home
  2. Crocus sativus

Crocus sativus (Iridaceae)

Common Names
Saffron
How this plant is used
Medicinal

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View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
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List of plant chemicals.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Chemical Name Activity Count Plant Part Low Parts Per Million High Parts Per Million Standard Deviation Reference
PHENYLALANINE 7 Bulb *
PHYTOENE 0 Silk Stigma Style *
PHYTOFLUENE 0 Silk Stigma Style *
PICROCROCIN 0 Essential Oil *
PICROCROCIN 0 Flower *
PICROCROCIN 0 Silk Stigma Style 20000.0 36000.0 *
PICROCROCIN 0 Tissue Culture *
PINENE 12 Silk Stigma Style Leung, A.Y., Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1980.
PROLINE 0 Bulb *
PROTEIN 0 Silk Stigma Style 125700.0 135800.0 1.00 Bisset, N.G., ed. 1994. Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals. CRC Press. Boca Raton, FL. 566 pp.
PROTOCROCIN 0 Silk Stigma Style *
QUERCETIN 176 Flower Abstract (See species file)
RIBOFLAVIN 15 Silk Stigma Style 56.0 138.0 1.00 *
SABINENE 5 Silk Stigma Style *
SAFRANAL 0 Silk Stigma Style 405000.0 *
SALICYLATES 7 Silk Stigma Style 0.0 *
SATIVOL 0 Essential Oil *
SERINE 1 Bulb *
STARCH 5 Silk Stigma Style 119900.0 130300.0 Leung, A.Y., Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1980.
STEARIC-ACID 8 Silk Stigma Style *
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
Download these results as:
CSV
EXCEL
PDF
List of plant activities.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Activity Chemical Count Reference
CNS-Toxic 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Coleoptophile 1 *
Colorant 6 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Comedolytic 1 *
COMP-Inhibitor 1 Dullo, A. G., et al. 1999. Efficacy of a green tea extract rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans. Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, 70: 1040-1045.
COMT-Inhibitor 1 *
Contraceptive 1 Martindale's 28th
Convulsant 3 R.J. Hixtable (Huxtable, R.J. (as T. Max). 1992. This and That:The Essential Pharmacology of Herbs and Spices. Tips 13:15-20 Huxtable, R.J. 1992b. The Myth of Benficent Nature. The Risk of Herbal Preparations. Anns. Intern. Med. 117(2):165-6; Huxtable, R.
Copper-Chelator 2 *
Cosmetic 2 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Counterirritant 3 Martindale's 28th
COX-1-Inhibitor 2 *
COX-2-Inhibitor 5 *
Culicide 1 *
Cyclooxygenase-Inhibitor 3 *
Cytochrome-P450-1A2-Inhibitor 1 *
Cytochrome-P450-Inducer 1 *
Cytotoxic 3 Matsukawa, Y., et al. The Effect of Quercetin and Other Flavonoids on Cell Cycle Progresssion and Growth of Human Gastric Cancer Cells. Planta Medica, 56(6): 677, 1990.
Decongestant 2 Nigg, H.N. and Seigler, D.S., eds. 1992. Phytochemical Resources for Medicine and Agriculture. Plenum Press, New York. 445 pp.
Degranulant 1 *