Saffron Extract (Crocus sativus)

Saffron is the dried stigma of Crocus sativus L. (Iridaceae), and it is the most labour-intensive spice in the world: between 50,000 and 75,000 plants, each carrying one or two flowers of three stigmas apiece, go into a single pound of dried threads. Three apocarotenoids define the material. Crocin (CAS 42553-65-1, C44H64O24, MW 976.97), the diester of the disaccharide gentiobiose with crocetin (C20H24O4, MW 328.4), is the water-soluble colour principle and can exceed 10% of dry saffron's mass. Picrocrocin (CAS 138-55-6, C16H26O7, MW 330.38) carries the bitterness at up to 4%. Safranal (CAS 116-26-7, C10H14O, MW 150.22), a degradation product of zeaxanthin by way of picrocrocin, can account for as much as 70% of the volatile fraction. Thovek supplies stigma-only extract standardised either to 2.0% safranal by UV at 330 nm or to 3.0% total crocins by HPLC at 440 nm, with lower strengths made to order on maltodextrin. The method is printed on the certificate because the two figures are not interchangeable: a UV 330 nm 'safranal' value captures safranal together with related volatiles and reads differently from an HPLC assay of the free aldehyde, and a buyer who switches supplier on the number alone rather than the number plus the method will not get what the last lot delivered. Incoming stigma is purchased on ISO 3632 terms, which grade saffron spectrophotometrically on crocin at 440 nm, picrocrocin at 257 nm and safranal at 330 nm; Category I material carries a colouring strength of 200 or more, and safranal absorbance sits between 20 and 50 across all categories. Saffron is the most adulterated spice in the trade, so authenticity testing is the specification rather than an add-on. Documented adulterants include safflower sold as 'Portuguese saffron', turmeric, paprika, beetroot, pomegranate fibres, red-dyed silk, corn silk, horse hair, shredded paper, the crocus's own tasteless yellow stamens, honey or vegetable oil applied as weighting, the synthetic dyes tartrazine and sunset yellow, and - hardest to catch, because the chemistry genuinely overlaps - gardenia fruit colouring extract, since Gardenia jasminoides fruit also yields crocetin derivatives. Powdered saffron is the more vulnerable form. Every Thovek lot is screened by HPLC-DAD profile and species-level DNA identification, and origin is declared per lot. Pampore in Jammu and Kashmir grows around 90% of India's crop, and 'Kashmir Saffron' is a registered geographical indication (application 635, registered 2020-21) whose designation may be used only by registered authorised users, so material ships as Indian-origin saffron extract unless the buyer holds that right. The extract is vegan, gluten-free and free of all Annex II allergens. Brands place saffron extract in premium mood and eye-category SKUs; Thovek supplies the ingredient to specification and makes no health claim, and substantiation rests with the brand in its own market.