Saffron is a red-orange stigma of flowers in the crocus plant. Dried stigmas separated from flowers are used as spice and also as colouring agent in various foods. The manual plucking of stigmas requires labour and therefore, it is very expensive. Saffron has gained popularity as a natural source of unique bioactive compounds such as safranal, picrocrocin and crocin. Crocin is a water soluble carotenoid which makes almost 30% of the dry mass of saffron and is commercially obtained from this source.
Crocin has been shown to be an effective antidepressant, anti-anxiety, and memory enhancer. Studies have shown that consumption of 30 mg/day crocin for 4 weeks significantly improved anxiety and mood disorders in patients suffering from depression. Another research finds that daily oral consumption of saffron improves sleep quality in diabetic patients. It has been proposed that the antidepressant effect of crocin relies on triggering the synthesis of neurotransmitters – dopamine, norepinephrine serotonin and glutamate. To confirm this, an aqueous extract of saffron was administered in rats and the concentrations of dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and glutamate were determined after the administration. Saffron increased the production of these important neurotransmitters in the brain. It is also believed that being a powerful antioxidant, crocin protects brain from damages caused by free radical and is thereby helpful in maintaining brain health and mental status.