Saffron flower storage time increased

Saffron flower storage time increased reports research into keeping freshly picked Crocus sativus flowers usable for up to 15 days with modified-atmosphere packaging.

The April 2021 archive attributes the announcement to Mehdi Karimi, identified as head of the Khorasan Razavi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center. The underlying work was a controlled food-science study, not a home-storage instruction.

What the saffron flower storage project tested

Karimi said researchers in the Department of Agricultural Technical and Engineering Research used modified-atmosphere packaging to extend the storage period of saffron flowers. Instead of leaving ordinary air unchanged around the flowers, this technique controls the balance of respiratory gases inside a suitable package.

The aim is to slow the living flower’s respiration and other post-harvest activity. Under the tested conditions, that delay can reduce wilting and slow the loss of quality before the stigmas are separated and processed.

What the published study adds

A 2013 journal study of modified-atmosphere packaging for saffron flowers provides the experimental detail behind this subject. Researchers packed flowers in polyethylene-polyamide and low-density polyethylene pouches with an atmosphere of 50% carbon dioxide, 5% oxygen and 45% nitrogen. Samples and controls were held at 0°C and 15°C for 15 days.

The study checked the packages every three days. It found that low-density polyethylene maintained physical and quality properties better than the polyethylene-polyamide material, and that storage at 0°C performed better than storage at 15°C. Those conditions matter: “up to 15 days” is not a general result for flowers kept in any bag or at room temperature.

How flower quality was assessed

Karimi’s report did not judge the flowers only by appearance. It referred to saffron extraction efficiency and several physical measurements:

• Weight loss during storage.
• The percentage of flowers showing wilting.
• The length and diameter of the fresh stigmas.

The chemical assessment included moisture content and the amounts of crocin, safranal and picrocrocin. These compounds are closely associated with saffron’s colour, aroma and taste profile. The original report said samples kept under the optimum conditions remained comparable with freshly picked flowers across the measured characteristics.

Why storing the whole flower matters

Saffron flowers are delicate and the harvest period is brief. Once picked, they need careful handling before workers separate the red stigmas. A technique that buys time without sacrificing extraction efficiency or stigma quality could help processors manage a concentrated harvest more evenly.

Karimi also described a possible new export route for saffron flowers as cut flowers. The project was presented in the context of supporting national production, Iranian work and capital. That was an intended application, not evidence in the article that a commercial cut-flower export market had already been established.

The project was still continuing

At the end of the announcement, Karimi said the work was continuing at the Khorasan Razavi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center. The wording matters because the article reported a research programme in progress rather than a universal storage standard ready for every farm or packhouse.

The journal study supports the central 15-day experimental period, but it also shows why the full method cannot be reduced to that number. Package material, gas composition, storage temperature, sanitation and monitoring were all part of the experiment.

Practical limits of the 15-day result

Fresh flowers should not simply be sealed in an improvised low-oxygen package. Incorrect gas levels, temperature or hygiene can damage the flowers and create food-safety problems. Commercial use requires validated packaging, refrigeration, monitoring and a process suited to the intended food or cut-flower product.

This archived report is useful because it preserves both the goal and the measured quality criteria of the Khorasan research. Its claim is specific: under controlled modified-atmosphere and temperature conditions, researchers studied saffron flower storage for as long as 15 days. It does not claim that any household method will produce the same result.