Detection of botanical adulterants in saffron powder

Abstract

Saffron is a unique spice obtained by drying stigmas of saffron flowers (Crocus sativus L.). Due to its high price, economically motivated adulteration occurs relatively often. The presented study aimed to develop an effective strategy for the detection of the following potential botanical adulterants used for a saffron substitution or dilution: safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), calendula (Calendula officinalis L.), turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), achiote (Bixa orellana L.), red pepper (Capsicum spp.), mountain arnica (Arnica montana L.), beet (Beta vulgaris L.), and pomegranate (Punica granatum L.). A non-target screening strategy based on ultra-high performance reverse-phase liquid chromatography coupled to tandem high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) was employed for the analysis of an aqueous ethanol plant extract. By using multivariate statistical methods, principal components analysis (PCA), and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), for processing the generated “chemical fingerprints,” metabolites unique to the investigated plants could be identified. To enable routine saffron authenticity control by target screening, an internal spectral database was developed; currently, it involves 82 unique markers. In this way, the detection addition as low as 1% (w/w) of all analyzed botanical adulterants in admixture with saffron was possible. The developed method was used to control 7 saffron powder samples from the Czech market, and none of the monitored adulterants were confirmed.

Integrated Proteomics and Metabolomics of Safflower Petal Wilting and Seed Development

“…Safflower pigments were reported to be more abundant in red inflorescences than white inflorescences [27]. Safflower flowers are known adulterants of saffron and detection methods have been devised [8,9]. Our list of identified metabolites and proteins specific to petals could be further used as safflower biomarkers to test commercial saffron samples.…”

“…Asian traditional herbal medicine employs flowers and seeds to treat gynaecological, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular diseases as well as blood stasis and osteoporosis [6]. Also known as fake saffron, C. tinctorius flowers have commonly been used as a cheaper substitute for saffron, and methods have been devised to authenticate spices and detect known adulterants [7][8][9]. Safflower capitula are a rich source of bioactive substances, with 200 substances identified thus far [10].…”

Comparison of data processing strategies using commercial vs. open-source software in GC-Orbitrap-HRMS untargeted metabolomics analysis for food authentication: thyme geographical differentiation and marker identification as a case study

“…Recently, metabalomics approaches based on chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) have gained attention as one of the most reliable analytical tools for food authenticity assessment of complex matrices, such as herbs and spices, including geographical discrimination [ 8 , 9 ], quality control [ 10 ], and adulteration [ 11 ] studies, being most of them based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)-HRMS analysis. A remarkable strength of HRMS is that accurate mass acquisition (by Orbitrap and time-of-flight, TOF, analyzers) greatly reduces the number of candidates per detected metabolite leading to a highly confident compound identification in metabolomics studies [ 12 ].…”