اهمیت آلودگی های ویروسی زعفران

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) belongs to the Iridaceae family and is a triploid and sterile crop that propagates vegetatively by corm. Its dried stigma, is also known as “red gold”, is among the world’s most costly spices which is extensively used for coloring and flavoring of many foods and medicinal purposes. It has a great therapeutic potential because of its anti-amyloidogenic in Alzheimer’s disease, anti-carcinogenic and antidepressant properties. The health benefits and medical properties of saffron are from its secondary metabolites which include picrocrocin, crocetin esters, and safranal, responsible for taste, color and aroma, respectively. Saffron is intensely cultivated in different countries and the world's total saffron production assessed to around 300 tons per year and Iran, providing nearly 90% of the world's total production of saffron, is the most significant producer in the world. The saffron production is often hampered by diseases, which may contributed to the decline in the saffron production globally. So far, different viruses have been reported from saffron plants worldwide, classified within Nepovirus, Cucumovirus, Potexvirus, Necrovirus, Tobravirus, Tospovirus, Polerovirus, and Potyvirus genera. In Iran, three virus species, including Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) and saffron latent virus (SaLV) have been reported from C. sativus, with high prevalence of SaLV on this crop. Based on our results, the content of several secondary metabolites of saffron could be modified by the SaLV presence in saffron samples. In more details, picrocrocin, safranal and crocetin derivative compounds content was significantly higher in uninfected materials than in SaLV infected samples. Accordingly, complementary experiments considering the influence of other viral infections (singly/mix) on plant metabolites would be helpful to improve the conditions for the desired quality of the saffron crop. On the other hand, it is essential to develop detection of saffron viruses, followed by using virus-free saffron corms.