Saffron: A Natural Potent Antioxidant as a Promising Anti-Obesity Drug

Antioxidants

Maryam Mashmoul¹  Azrina Azlan¹  Huzwah Khaza’ai²  Barakatun Nisak Mohd Yusof¹ 

[1] Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia; E-Mails:;Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia; E-Mail:

关键词: saffron;    antioxidant;    crocin;    obesity;    overweight;    weight loss;   

DOI  :  10.3390/antiox2040293

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Obesity is associated with various diseases, particularly diabetes, hypertension, osteoarthritis and heart disease. Research on possibilities of herbal extracts and isolated compounds from natural products for treating obesity has an upward trend. Saffron (Crocus Sativus L. Iridaceae) is a source of plant polyphenols/carotenoids, used as important spice and food colorant in different parts of the world. It has also been used in traditional medicine for treatment of different types of illnesses since ancient times. Many of these medicinal properties of saffron can be attributed to a number of its compounds such as crocetin, crocins and other substances having strong antioxidant and radical scavenger properties against a variety of radical oxygen species and pro-inflammatory cytokines. The aim of this article is to assess the potential role of saffron and its constituents in the regulation of metabolic functions, which can beneficially alter obesity pathophysiology.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.