On the Traceability of Commercial Saffron Samples Using 1H NMR and FT-IR Metabolomics

In previous works on authentic samples of saffron of known history (harvest and processing
year, storage conditions, and length of time) some biomarkers were proposed using both FT-IR and
NMR metabolomics regarding the shelf life of the product. This work addresses the difficulties to
trace back the "age" of commercial saffron samples of unknown history, sets a limit value above which
these products can be considered substandard, and offers a useful tool to combat saffron mislabeling
and fraud with low-quality saffron material. Investigations of authentic and commercial saffron
samples of different origin and harvest year, which had been stored under controlled conditions for
different lengths of time, allowed a clear-cut clustering of samples in two groups according to the
storage period irrespectively of the provenience. In this respect, the four-year cut off point proposed
in our previous work assisted to trace back the "age" of unknown samples and to check for possible
mislabeling practices