Title of article
Metal Determination in Iranian Saffron
Author/Authors
Feizy, Javad Department of Food Safety and Quality Control - Research Institute of Food Science and Technology, Mashhad , Ahmadi, Sima Department of Food Safety and Quality Control - Research Institute of Food Science and Technology, Mashhad , Jahani, Moslem Department of Food Chemistry - Research Institute of Food Science and Technology, Mashhad , Lakshmipathy, R. Department of Chemistry - KCG College of Technology, Chennai, India
Pages
9
From page
78
To page
86
Abstract
The present investigation reports a quantitative analysis of metals in the saffron samples collected from seven different
saffron production areas in the Khorasan Razavi province, Iran. Khorasan Razavi is the leading producer of saffron in
Iran, and more than 95% of the global production of this expensive spice is attributed to Iran. Since environmental
pollution is increasing, saffron is contaminated with various organic and inorganic contaminants such as heavy metals.
Twenty-one saffron samples were collected in the flowering season of 2018 and analyzed for metal content. The
concentration of microelements and heavy metals including Zn, Fe, Ca, Mn, Mg, Na, K, Pb, Cd, Cu, and Cr was
determined in the samples collected from three farms in each production area with graphite furnace and flame atomic
absorption spectroscopy. The results revealed that the collected saffron stigmas contain a wide range of minerals and
heavy metals with different concentrations. Potassium is the most abundant element, and Cd had the least
concentration in the saffron. It can be concluded that ecological management plans such as reducing chemical
fertilizers and improving organic fertilizers can decline the extent of heavy metals in the saffron
Keywords
Saffron , Heavy Metal , Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy , Khorasan Razavi
Journal title
Iranian Journal of Analytical Chemistry
Serial Year
2021
Record number
2703531
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