Chemical, biochemical and volatile profiles of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) from different growing areas of Morocco

BACKGROUND:The saffron (Crocus sativus L.) planted area and production increased in the past decade in Morocco. This crop has been extended to new regions beyond its original main area due to the shift in climate conditions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the chemical characterization and the quality of saffron stigma samples collected from eleven different localities. RESULTS: According to the ISO3632 standard method, all samples were within the ISO36-32.2010 categorization range (category I and II) Contents of crocin responsible for color, picrocrocin responsible for taste, and safranal responsible for the aroma, showed significant differences between samples from different areas. The biochemical analysis revealed that samples from Boulmane (Serghina and El Mers) are rich in polyphenols (5.70 ± 0.34; 5.31 ± 0.004 mgGAE/gDM, respectively) and have an important antioxidant power (IC50 for the DPPH: 231.12 ± 1.065; 236,77 ± 2,109 respectively) compared to those from Taznakht and Taliouine known for their higher organoleptic quality. Interestingly, volatile profiling by GC-MS identified the safranal, isophorone, ketoisophorone, ß-isophorone, and 1-4-cyclohexanedione, 2,2,6trimethyl as the main volatile compounds in saffron samples from different regions.. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to be conducted in Morocco on saffron newly cultivated in new regions (Boulmane, Azilal, and Ain Leuh) and showed the higher potential for growing saffron, thus promoting the adoption of saffron as a substitute crop for the
socio-economic development in these new areas.