Crocetin esters present in saffron (Crocus sativus L.) stigmas and in Gardenia jasminoides Ellis fruit are the compounds responsible for their color. Of the fifteen crocetin esters identified in this study, five new compounds were tentatively identified: trans and cis isomers of crocetin (beta-D-triglucoside)-(beta-D-gentibiosyl) ester, trans and cis isomers of crocetin (beta-D-neapolitanose)-(beta-D-glucosyl) ester, and cis crocetin (beta-D-neapolitanose)-(beta-D-gentibiosyl) ester. The most relevant differences between both species were a low content of the trans crocetin (beta-D-glucosyl)-(beta-D-gentibiosyl) ester, the absence of trans crocetin di-(beta-D-glucosyl) ester in gardenia, and its higher content of trans crocetin (beta-D-gentibiosyl) ester and cis crocetin di-(beta-D-gentibiosyl) ester. With the same chromatographic method it was possible to identify, in a single run, ten glycosidic compounds in saffron extracts with a UV/vis pattern similar to that of picrocrocin; among them, 5-hydroxy-7,7-dimethyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-3H-isobenzofuranone 5-O-beta-D-gentibioside and 4-hydroxymethyl-3,5,5-trimethyl-cyclohexen-2-one 4-O-beta-D-gentibioside were tentatively identified for the first time in saffron. Of these ten glycosides, only the O-beta-D-gentibiosyl ester of 2-methyl-6-oxo-2,4-hepta-2,4-dienoic acid was found in gardenia samples, but it was possible to identify the iridoid glycoside, geniposide.

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In this work, oil obtained from seeds of different red grape varieties, grown in the Autonomous Regions of Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia (Spain), was characterized by determining physicochemical and sensory quality parameters, stability, and the composition in fatty acids and sterols. The physicochemical quality parameters (free acidity, peroxide index, K 270 and wax) scored high (meaning low quality) compared with virgin olive oils, while the negative sensory attributes stood out over the positive ones. Therefore, the oil was not considered suitable for table use without undergoing a refining process. The samples showed high linoleic and low linolenic acid contents, while b-sitosterol was the main sterol found. Drying grape seeds with hot air before extraction gave higher physicochemical quality, total phenolic content and stability, and lower wax content in comparison to air-drying of seeds. The drying process affected the sterol composition but not the fatty acid composition.

The stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) technique is used to determine volatile constituents in Monastrell grapes. The method proposed involves a maceration step lasting 2 h and a sorption time of 6 h. The coefficients of variation obtained were <4% in the case of the volatile compounds and <2% for the internal standard. The behavior of the volatiles during grape ripening was studied, and 34 compounds were determined, among which geranyl acetone, geranyl butyrate, farnesol, and a bicycloterpene, tentatively identified as 6-methylene[3.1.0]byciclohexane, were recorded for the first time in this variety. The highest terpene and norisoprenoid contents together with the lowest values of C6 compounds were observed during the fifth week of ripening, meaning that this would be the optimal time for harvesting in terms of volatile compounds.

A dehydration postharvesting treatment is necessary to convert Crocus sativus L. stigmas into saffron spice. Three different dehydration treatments were evaluated: dehydration at room temperature; dehydration with hot air at different temperatures (70, 90, and 110 degrees C); and dehydration following traditional processing in Castille-La Mancha (Spain) with three different heating sources (vineshoot charcoal, gas cooker, and electric coil). The time (between 28 and 55 min) and mean temperature (between 54 and 83 degrees C) conditions for traditional dehydration were established for the first time. The highest coloring strength was obtained when saffron was submitted to higher temperatures and lower times. These findings may be supported by the fact that samples dehydrated at high temperature were more porous than those dehydrated at room temperature, as was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The higher the temperature during the process, the higher the proportion of trans-crocetin di-(beta-D-gentibiosyl) ester, although trans-crocetin (beta-D-glucosyl)-(beta-D-gentibiosyl) and trans-crocetin di-(beta-D-glucosyl) ester decrease while cis-crocins did not change significantly. A thermal aging process reveals that the trans-crocetin di-(beta-D-gentibiosyl) ester increases when saffron is resubmitted to a heating treatment before it is decomposed by the extreme conditions. The picrocrocin extinction during the aging process does not imply a consistent generation of safranal.