Saffron

Statema, B. C. P.

Plant

Saffron

Zafferano

Known today as: The stigmas of Crocus sativus.
Kind: Plant, in 2 older authorities
Constituents: crocin, safranal, picrocrocin
Earliest authority here: Dioscorides (c. AD 40–90)
Qualities: Hot in the second degree, dry in the first (Galenic tradition). What the degrees mean
In other databases: Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
In the Canale glossary: On the Manner of Discerning and Healing the Bewitched, Appendix A: Part Three, Chapter 6: Remedies Given by Mouth After the Purge

Saffron: what did Canale use it for?

In the electuary and the oil for the bewitched (chs. 6, 9).

Saffron: what does modern science say?

A costly spice and dye.

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

crocin ChEMBLthe colour
safranal ChEMBLthe scent
picrocrocinthe taste

Mechanism

Crocin and safranal act on serotonin and have antioxidant effects; the mechanism in mood is unknown.

Toxic dose

Five grams has caused bleeding and collapse; twenty has killed.

Standing

Small Iranian trials find it as effective as fluoxetine in mild depression; no regulatory approval.

Hausenblas, H. A., et al. (2013). “Saffron and major depressive disorder: a meta-analysis.” Journal of Integrative Medicine 11. Verified against its record · doi:10.3736/jintegrmed2013056

Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.

Saffron: what lore surrounds it?

A cordial for the melancholic, meant to gladden the heart; its gold made it a fitting companion to gold itself in the cordial powders.

Greek myth accounts for the flower: the youth Crocus loved the nymph Smilax, and in the best-known telling the gods turned him into the crocus and her into a bindweed or yew; other versions have him take his own life, or Smilax work the change herself to escape him. In every telling the flower springs from human longing.

Used in These Compounds

Saffron is an ingredient of 4 compound medicines in the database. For Club members. Create a free account or sign in.

Saffron: what did the older authorities say?

Dioscorides: Commends the Corycian saffron of Cilicia as the best, and warns of its adulteration.
Nuremberg, 1444: The city’s saffron inspectors (the Safranschau) had a merchant burned together with his adulterated saffron, the most famous of many harsh penalties for falsifying the costliest spice of Europe.

Sources

Icy Sedgwick, on crocus folklore. Book, not indexed

Verification

Checked

October 1, 2026

Passes

Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database

Sources

2 cited: 1 verified against its record, 1 book, not indexed.

Corrections

None were needed.

What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.

Cite This Entry

Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026

Chicago: “Saffron.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified September 25, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/saffron.
MLA: “Saffron.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 25 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/saffron. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
APA: Saffron. (2026, September 25). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/saffron

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