Safranal health benefit

Saffon herb contains many compounds including safranal and crocin. Saffron is known by the botanical name crocus sativus.

Hypotensive effect of aqueous saffron extract (Crocus sativus) and its constituents, safranal and crocin, in normotensive and hypertensive rats.
Phytother Res. Imenshahidi M. School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, I.R. Iran.
In this study, the effects of saffron (Crocus sativus) stigma aqueous extract and two active constituents, crocin and safranal, were investigated on blood pressure of normotensive and desoxycorticosterone acetate-induced hypertensive rats. Three doses of crocin (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg), safranal (0.25, 0.5 and 1 mg/kg) and the aqueous extract (2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg) were administered intravenously in different groups of normotensive and hypertensive animals and their effects on mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) and heart rate (HR) were evaluated. The aqueous extract of saffron stigma, safranal and crocin reduced the MABP in normotensive and hypertensive anaesthetized rats in a dose-dependent manner. It can be concluded that the aqueous extract of saffron stigma has hypotensive properties which appear to be attributable, in part, to the actions of two major constitutes of this plant, crocin and safranal. It seems that safranal is more important than crocin for lowering down blood pressure of rats.

Anxiolytic and hypnotic effect of Crocus sativus aqueous extract and its constituents, crocin and safranal, in mice.
Phytother Res. 2009. Department of Pharmacodynamy and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences,, Mashhad, I.R. Iran.
Saffron stigma (Crocus sativus) is used for insomnia and anxiety in traditional medicine. In this study, the anxiolytic and hypnotic effects of saffron aqueous extract and its constituents, crocin and safranal, were studied in mice. At low doses, saffron showed a significant increase in the time on the open arms of the maze. When using the Rotarod method, the aqueous extract showed considerable effect on motor coordination of the mice. In the hypnotic test, only a dose of 0.56 g/kg of saffron increased the total sleep. Crocin showed no anxiolytic, hypnotic or myorelaxation effects. Safranal, in higher doses, 0.15 and 0.35 mL/kg, showed anxiolytic effects. Safranal increased the total sleep time dose dependently. This constituent at lower doses (0.05 and 0.15 mL/kg) decreased some locomotion activity parameters. Safranal demonstrated no effects on motor coordination. The results showed that saffron aqueous extract and safranal have anxiolytic and hypnotic effects.

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