Comparative evaluation of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants of petal of three species of saffron (Crocus caspius, C. sativus, C. speciosus)

Nowadays, the use of a wide range of medicinal herbs such as saffron and its aromatic compounds is increasingly being regarded as natural sources of antioxidant properties. In addition to saffron stigma, saffron petal is a rich herbal source of antioxidant compounds. The present study was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications to study some of the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants of two species of wild saffron in Guilan Province compared with agronomic saffron (C. sativus). The results of this study showed that total phenol, flavonoids and anthocyanins in agronomic saffron were significantly higher than those in the other two species. The amount of flavonel in C. speciosus and the level of antioxidant activity (DPPH) in C. caspius were significantly higher than other species. The level of PPO activity in C. sativus and C. speciosus was significantly higher than that in C. caspius. However, there was no significant difference in the level of POD activity among the three studied species. Therefore, according to the results of this study, petals of different species of saffron are good sources of non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants and can be used as an available natural antioxidant in the food and pharmaceutical industries.