The carotenoid that makes saffron red and most of what a standardized extract is standardized to.
Filed under CompoundConstellation Botanicals & extractsStatus Upcoming
Not yet investigated
What we have so far
The carotenoid that makes saffron red and most of what a standardized extract is standardized to.
This star is on the map because the show intends to take the question apart properly — the trials, how it is actually tested, whether the thing sold is the thing studied. That work is not done yet, and nothing here should be read as a conclusion. When the investigation is published it will appear on this page.
What we are reading
Gathered for the investigation and not yet written up. Each note says what the paper does and does not show.
Lopresti AL, Drummond PD. Saffron (Crocus sativus) for depression: a systematic review of clinical studies and examination of underlying antidepressant mechanisms of action.Hum Psychopharmacol · 2014 · 29(6):517–52710.1002/hup.2434 · PMID 25384672
Crocin and safranal are the two constituents the antidepressant work keeps pointing at, and the constituents commercial extracts are standardized against. Same structural problem as curcumin: a brightly colored, poorly absorbed plant pigment with a large in-vitro literature and a much smaller human one.