Phytochemical analysis and antioxidant activities of Crocus sativus, a comprehensive and updated review based on experimental and clinical studies

Ziraki, Fatemeh; Beigoli, Sima; Eshaghi Ghalibaf, Mohammad Hossein; Boostani, Mohammad Salar; Sajjadi, Seyed Mohammad; Boskabady, Mohammad Hossein

doi:10.22038/ajp.2026.27356

Phytochemical analysis and antioxidant activities of Crocus sativus, a comprehensive and updated review based on experimental and clinical studies

Articles in Press

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

Fatemeh Ziraki ¹

Sima Beigoli ¹

Mohammad Hossein Eshaghi Ghalibaf ¹

Mohammad Salar Boostani ²

Seyed Mohammad Sajjadi ²

Mohammad Hossein Boskabady ³^{, 4}

¹ Applied biomedical Research Center, Basic Sciences Research Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

² Student Research Committee, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

³ Applied biomedical Research Center, Basic Sciences Research Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

⁴ Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

10.22038/ajp.2026.27356

Abstract

Objective: The antioxidant power of crocus sativus (Cs) makes it a desirable natural medicine in the cases of not only treating but also preventing different diseases. This article furnishes a critical and current review of the experimental and clinical studies concerning phytochemical analysis and antioxidant properties of Cs, which have the potential of development of new therapeutic intervention to the disorder, to prevent or treat conditions related to oxidative stress and inflammation.
Materials and Methods: The literature on antioxidant effects of Cs published between 2003 and the end of October 2025 was searched on database like PubMed, WOS, Science direct and Scopus. Results: The in vitro experiments showed that the plant hold great protection against the oxidative stress-related damage to cells. Their physiological effects have been tested in vivo, where there is an improvement in disease models.
The anti-oxidant effectiveness of the plant conducted in clinical trials indicated that Cs exhibits antioxidant effects as its major mechanism of action. These reviews have shown that Cs is instrumental in its role in therapeutic solutions of multiple pathologies. Along with summarizing the current knowledge, this review also reveals the importance of additional studies to better understand the mechanisms of the antioxidant properties of Cs.
Conclusion: Altogether, the results indicate that Cs can be used as important sources of antioxidants that have diverse potentials in therapeutic uses, which should be further investigated in the area of health and medicine.

Keywords

Antioxidant activities

Crocus sativus

In vitro

In vivo

Clinical

Subjects