Iranian Researchers Use Nanotechnology to Produce Extracts, Effective Herbal Substances from Saffron
“The main activity of our company is the formulation of health-oriented and natural products in the field of food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries by using the nano-encapsulation method (nisome and liposome) along with a specialized sensory evaluation test,” Parisa Mardani, the managing director of the knowledge-based company stationed at Khorassan Razavi Science and Technology Park, told ANA.
Noting that the researchers of her company have succeeded in producing essential oils, extracts and active plant substances (API) from saffron and other medicinal plants by using nanotechnology, she said, “They have now succeeded in extracting pure crocin in three pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic grades; the purity of crocin for pharmaceutical use is 99.9%, for food use it is more than 40% and for cosmetic use it is more than 20%.”
Mardani stated that we also extracted safranal from saffron and anthocyanin from saffron petals, and added, “We have also extracted effective medicinal substances like barberry berberine, thyme thymol, mint menthol, and turmeric curcumin.”
Saffron is used as a fabric dye, perfume, and important religious and medicinal herb in many different traditional systems of herbal medicine.
Saffron was revered to be as precious as gold, and often used as a show of wealth and prosperity.
Earlier, in last July, another knowledge-based company in Iran had also succeeded in producing a herbal medicine to control inflammations and treat depression by purifying the crocin existing in saffron.
"Crosina is a herbal tablet containing saffron’s crocin and it was prepared by purifying crocin,” said Ahmad Mohajeri, the managing director of the knowledge-based company.
Noting that extensive clinical studies have been conducted on the pill and the result of using it in the target population has been completely positive, he said, “Depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, postpartum and some similar psychological disorders are among the problems that have been resolved after taking this natural medicine.”
“Consumption of Crosina has had positive results on retinal inflammations and eye disorders, reducing the side effects of chemotherapy and joint inflammation. The medicine has been produced in two phases of purification, transformation into tablets and packaging, and efforts have been made to improve the quality of this medicine during studies. The difference between Crosina and other samples is the reasonable price and the high purity of its natural base material,” Mohajeri said.
He added that based on research, saffron is as effective as common chemical drugs in the treatment and control of Alzheimer's and mental disorders, and one of the outstanding effects of this drug is reducing the thickness of the retina in patients with diabetic retinopathy.
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