Saffron Agronomy and Technology
Year:2020 | Volume:7 | Issue:4|Papers Count:9

Saffron is the most expensive agricultural product in the world and Iran is the largest saffron producer in the world. Saffron contamination in different stages of its production process leads to loss of credibility in export and the global market in addition to loss of quality. Therefore, it is necessary to select an appropriate method for inactivation of the microbial flora of saffron. Among the common methods that are used for inactivation of microorganisms, cold plasma has attracted much attention due to potential benefits such as its non-toxic nature, low operational costs, significant reduction in water consumption for decontamination, and possibility of its use for a variety of food products. Plasma is a state of ionized gas including ions, electrons, ultraviolet rays, and reactive species such as radicals, atoms and molecules which can ignite and inactivate microorganisms. In this research study, cold plasma was produced using two types of gas including nitrogen and air, and the effect of plasma radiation at 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 minutes on the chemical and microbial (Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Mold and Yeast) properties of saffron were investigated. The results of this study showed that germicidal effects of nitrogen plasma is lower than air plasma and exposure time to plasma has a significant effect on reduction of microbial load. It was also seen that inactivation of microorganisms increases with increased time of exposure to plasma exposure. Maximum microbial reduction was observed in 12 minutes. Maximum reduction in microbial load was observed at 12 minutes and 18 kilovolt voltage, which reduced the population of Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, mold and yeast by 2. 69, 2. 48, and 1. 95 log cycles, respectively, However, with increasing radiation time, the amount of crocin, picocrocin and safranal decreased (p˂ 0. 05). Reduction of crocin, safranal and picocrocin in 12 minutes was 6. 01, 4. 04, and 5. 44%, respectively.

In order to investigate the impact of Novafol biofertilizer and mother corm weight on leaf growth, chlorophyll content, and flower/stigma yield of saffron (Crocus sativus L. ), an experiment was done as randomized complete block design with three replications in the Agricultural Research Station, University of Birjand, during the growth season of 2016-17. Experimental factors were Novafol fertilizer (containing 28% of amino-acid, applied for corm soaking and fertigation in three levels: 0, 2 and 4 L. ha-1) and mother corm weight (0. 1-4, 4. 1-8 and 8. 1-12 g). The effect of Novafol biofertilizer was significant on number of flowers, flower yield, dry stigma yield and chlorophyll content. The highest flower number (16. 5 per m-2), flower yield (5. 63 g. m-2), dry stigma yield (108 mg m-2) and chlorophyll content (1. 09 mg. g-1 FW) were obtained from 4 L. ha-1, while the lowest flower number (14. 22 per m-2), flower yield (4. 55 g. m-2), stigma yield (85 mg. m-2) and chlorophyll a (0. 97 mg. g-1 FW) were obtained in the control treatment, but, there was no significant difference between two levels (2 and 4 L. ha-1) of Novafol biofertilizer. Corm weights also significantly affected all the studied traits. The highest stigma length (25. 1 mm), flower yield (10. 4 g. m2), leaf length (31. 42 cm) and fresh and dry weights of leaves (0. 29 and 0. 083 g per plant, respectively) were obtained from big corms, but the lowest of them were obtained from small ones. The interaction effect of corm weight and Novafol biofertilizer was significant on chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll contents and number of leaves per plant. The highest chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll (1. 77 and 2. 95 mg. g-1 FW, respectively) and number of leaves (7. 58 per plant) were obtained from 4 L. ha-1 of novafol biofertilizer and big corm. Overall, application of Novafol biofertilizer (4 L. ha-1) improved the vegetative and reproductive growth parameters. Planting big corms also had an important role in increasing the growth and yield of saffron.

Saffron (Crocus sativus L. ) is a sterile triploid geophyte plant that is propagated by corms. Considering the crucial role of quality of mother corms in saffron production, a program for "STANDARDIZATION OF SAFFRON CORMS" should be developed in Iran, a measure that has not been taken up yet. There are several obstacles that hinder us from having this comprehensive program such as lack of standard fields to produce high quality corms, lack of a clear and precise criteria for sorting produced mother corms, lack of supervision or poor supervision provided by authorized organizations on production and presentation of high quality corms and unbalanced supply and demand ratio in saffron corms markets. These are considered as the most important reasons. Moreover, mixing the healthy and infected corms as well as storage of corms, regardless of optimal temperature conditions or environmental hygiene, are considered as other challenges in the production and processing cycle of saffron. In this review, some obstacles and prerequisites for implementation of a comprehensive program for STANDARDIZATION OF SAFFRON CORMS are discussed. Moreover, useful approaches and techniques for producing standard corms such as establishment of managed fields, quality criteria for sorting harvested corms, and the principle storage of corms are outlined. In addition, some effective strategies for implementation of this program, including provision of training courses, comprehensive monitoring on services and functioning in the supply and demand market of saffron corms, helping meet the needs and demands of consumers, editing incentive plans and supportive programs for saffron producers are specifically provided.

The existence of isoform genes in plants led to creation of the different types of isomeric metabolites like these glycosylated forms. This study was conducted to investigate the identification and heterologous expression of Saffron stigmas Glycosyl transferase coding isoform gene during the pollination stage. The results have been obtained by sequencing and bioinformatics analysis of an isolated gene from saffron genomes by degenerate oligo’ s revealed that the gene is in1283 bp length and belongs to the CsUGT protein family which has Apo-plastic secretion in the cell. To evaluate the enzymatic function, firstly the isolated sequence was sub-cloned under arabinose induce promoter in pThio-UGT expression vector by the Gibson assembly technique. Then, the recombinant vector transformed into BL21-pGro7 bacteria which were able to express chaperon proteins with EL& ES subunits. Followed by destructing the bacteria cell wall via ultrasound, the pellet was suspended by PBS solution and then the soluble proteins were extracted by the boiling method. Finally, the protein electrophoresis by SDS pages 10% showed that the recombinant protein of CsUGT expressed correctly in bacteria with 69. 5 kDa molecular weight. The results obtained in this project could be applied to determine the breeding's strategies to improve qualitative and quantitative traits such as color and aroma in saffron.

The ecological footprint (EF) is a strong indicator of sustainability analysis that is used today in scientific communities. The footprint index determines the space required to support an activity by the average area needed to provide resources and absorb waste in term of global hectare (Gha). In this study, the sustainability of saffron production in the southern Khorasan province as one of the most important saffron production centers in the country was investigated due to the significant increase in saffron production in recent years. The data for this research was collected through questionnaires and interviews with 396 farmers in 2017. According to the different yield and consumption of inputs in different years, sustainability investigation was carried out for the first to sixth years. For this purpose, the amount of bio productive land directly required for production of saffron was considered as an indicator of the direct ecological footprint and amount of bio productive land needed to absorb the waste generated by the production process as indirect ecological footprint. The results of this study showed that the average indirect EF of saffron was 2. 02 global hectare (Gha), 0. 07 of which was related to farm and 0. 13 Gha was related to off farm emissions. The highest EF was allocated to the first year of production. The multi-functional ecological footprint showed that the EF land was 0. 01 Gha, EF revenue 0. 63 Gha and EF yield was 0. 003 Gha. Generally it seems that saffron production is relatively sustainable farming compared to other agricultural crops.

Lack of adequate water resources not only reduces the trend of agricultural development but also causes damage and losses in the future. This study is a comprehensive research on water resource management using water footprint approach, water footprint accounting and water use efficiency by clustering analysis. In this study, water footprint of green, blue, gray and white in saffron production are calculated using principle framework during 2008-2014. These indicators were calculated using data and common methodology. The result showed that the share of WFGreen, WFBlue, WFWhite and WFGray is 12, 39, 44 and 5%, respectively in saffron production for which a mean water footprint of 4900 m3. kg-1 is estimated. The amount of water footprint accounting and water use efficiency is calculated to be 1. 91-5. 93 m3. kg-1 and 0. 2-0. 62 kg. m-3, respectively. In assessing prioritization of provinces using two indicators, the provinces were divided into four categories. Lorestan, Kermanshah, Hamedan, North Khorasan, Tehran, Kerman, East Azerbaijan and Zanjan provinces including the lowest water footprint accounting and water footprint while these provinces have the highest water use efficiency. The category of these provinces has the first rank. Golestan, Ghazvin, Markazi, Alborz, Yazd, South Khorasan and Razavi Khorasan provinces have the second rank, Fars and Semnan have the third rank and Chaharmahal and Bakhtirai have the last rank of priority. Based on these results, considering indicators such as water use efficiency, water footprints and footprint counting can help decision makers to develop the cultivation of Saffron.

Saffron is an important commercial good in Iran and it is important to pay attention to its mechanization from production to packaging. Upon arrival of saffron to the laboratory's qualitative process, an initial assessment is carried out by an expert on the basis of its apparent features. However, human error in determining the quality of saffron based on its apparent features is inevitable. Use of artificial intelligence techniques can be effective in reducing human errors while mechanizing the system. This research was a diagnostic study and its database consisted of 113 samples of saffron with 7 features, which were collected by the researchers on October 2016 from the credible Saffron laboratory under the supervision of an expert. Sample qualitative analysis was performed with the help of features in four different classes including excellent, good, average and second grade average. Artificial neural networks was used to classify saffron. After analyzing and comparing the generated models using multilayer perceptron neural networks and learning vector neural network, the highest accuracy of classification on the training and testing samples was obtained to be 75. 93 and 75. 75%, respectively. The accuracy obtained indicated that the multi-layer perceptron neural network model can be used as a decision-making tool by an expert or independently in saffron lab centers.

Developing countries try to participate in trade agreements to achieve safer target markets and reduce trade barriers. Iran is also is in trade agreements such as Economic Cooperation organization (ECO) and Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP). While it is generally believed that presence in trade agreements generally has positive effects on countries trade flows, there is no guarantee for positive effects on all countries and products. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to answer whether or not Iran’ s membership in trade agreements has led to increase in saffron exports to member importing countries due to the importance of saffron exports for Iran. For this purpose, the gravity model and saffron exports data in the period of 2001-2014 were used. The results showed that income and population of saffron importers has positive and significant effects, while geographical distance and economic crisis has negative and significant effects on saffron exports. Based on the results, Iran’ s membership in trade agreements has a significantly negative effect (-3. 475) on Iran’ s saffron exports. In other words, membership in trade agreements cannot lead to increase Iran’ s saffron exports to member trading countries in agreements. It seems that exporters have not been able to take advantage of membership in trade agreements despite adequate capacities. Therefore, it is suggested that the exporting companies of saffron use the institutional and legal framework provided by participating in these trade agreements to undertake long-term marketing strategies and increase Iran's saffron export to its trading partners and develop the basket of destination export markets.

Climate change is one of the most serious environmental challenges and its long-term effects can have serious economic, social and environmental consequences. The agricultural sector is one of the most vulnerable sectors in terms of climate change. In this regard, this study is aimed at investigating factors affecting adaptation strategies by saffron farmers of Torbate Heydarieh using the stratified random sampling method, logit model and a five-part questionnaire. Data were collected by completing 380 questionnaires from saffron farmers in Torbate Heydarieh in 2018. The descriptive results of the study showed that most saffron farmers believe in increasing temperature, reducing rainfall and the emergence of drought and frostbite. Reducing water supply, reducing yield of saffron, reducing economic efficiency, unemployment and migration are among the consequences of climate change in Torbat-e Heydarieh. Also, 63% of saffron farmers are willing to use adaptation strategies according to the results. The results of the Logit model estimation show that the variables of agricultural experience, land size, access to credit, extension services, media exposure and education affect the likelihood of choosing adaptive strategies. However, the variables of mechanization level and side occupation did not have a significant effect on the likelihood of choosing compatibility strategies. Therefore, government policies should provide the bank with confidence in providing bank facilities to saffron farmers who provide saffron farmers with the ability and flexibility to manage water resources, soil and other inputs in response to climate change.