Journal Article

Detection of botanical adulterants in saffron powder

Ryparova Kvirencova, Jana, Hrbek, Vojtech, Hajslova, Jana, Navratilova, Klara

2023

Overview

Saffron is a unique spice obtained by drying stigmas of saffron flowers ( Crocus sativus L.). Due to its high price, economically motivated adulteration occurs relatively often. The presented study aimed to develop an effective strategy for the detection of the following potential botanical adulterants used for a saffron substitution or dilution: safflower ( Carthamus tinctorius L.), calendula ( Calendula officinalis L.) , turmeric ( Curcuma longa L.), achiote ( Bixa orellana L.), red pepper ( Capsicum spp.), mountain arnica ( Arnica montana L.), beet ( Beta vulgaris L.), and pomegranate ( Punica granatum L.). A non-target screening strategy based on ultra-high performance reverse-phase liquid chromatography coupled to tandem high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) was employed for the analysis of an aqueous ethanol plant extract. By using multivariate statistical methods, principal components analysis (PCA), and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), for processing the generated “chemical fingerprints,” metabolites unique to the investigated plants could be identified. To enable routine saffron authenticity control by target screening, an internal spectral database was developed; currently, it involves 82 unique markers. In this way, the detection addition as low as 1% ( w/w ) of all analyzed botanical adulterants in admixture with saffron was possible. The developed method was used to control 7 saffron powder samples from the Czech market, and none of the monitored adulterants were confirmed.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Admixtures / Adulterants / adulterated products / Analysis / Analytical Chemistry / Arnica montana / beets / Beta vulgaris / Biochemistry / Bixa orellana / Calendula officinalis / Capsicum / Carthamus tinctorius / Characterization and Evaluation of Materials / Chemical fingerprinting / Chemistry / Chemistry and Materials Science / Crocus sativus / Curcuma longa / Dilution / Discriminant analysis / Ethanol / Flowers & plants / Food contamination / Food Science / High performance liquid chromatography / Laboratory Medicine / Liquid chromatography / markets / Mass spectrometry / Mass spectroscopy / Metabolites / Methods / Monitoring/Environmental Analysis / pepper / Plant extracts / pomegranates / Powders / prices / Principal components analysis / Punica granatum / Research Paper / reversed-phase liquid chromatography / Saffron / Saffron crocus / Screening / Statistical methods / Stigmas (botany) / turmeric