Effective isolation protocol of saffron ingredients: Semi-preparative scale preparation of crocin-1 and trans-crocetin

Extracts from saffron, the dried stigmatas from Crocus sativus L., are recognized as valuable tools for pharmaceutical development for neuroprotection and antidepressive therapy. One major lead compound is crocin-1, which gets metabolized in vivo by deglucosylation to the C20-dicarboxylic acid trans-crocetin. Trans-crocetin is responsible for potential NMDA-antagonistic effects within central nervous system. Neither crocin-1 nor crocetin are commercially available in sufficient quality and to a reasonable price. The following protocol describes simple methods to obtain both compounds from an EtOH-water extract (…