What is the situation of Iranian saffron exports?
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TEHRAN- Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) will hold the meeting of the National Saffron Export Desk this week, a senior official in the organization announced.

According to Mahmoud Bazari, the director-general of TPO’s Export Coordination Office for agro crops and processing industry products, the mentioned meeting is aimed at investigating the ways for the promotion of saffron exports and releasing the reports on the subject by related organizations including Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA), Iran Chamber of Cooperatives (ICC), and National Saffron Council, TPO’s Public Relations Department reported on Sunday.

TPO has recently set up a special task force on the trade of saffron.

Underlining the significance of saffron in Iran’s exports, Hamid Zadboum, the head of TPO, has said that his organization has had supporting the exports of this product through offering different incentives a top agenda of its activities since the Iranian calendar year 1380 (March 2001- March 2002).

About 85 percent to 90 percent of Iran’s saffron is produced in the northeastern provinces of North Khorasan and Khorasan Razavi and the eastern province of South Khorasan.

Based on the data released by Iranian Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, Iran earns some $500 million annually by exporting medicinal herbs, of which about $350 million is related to saffron and the rest is the share of other medicinal herbs.

Source: Tehran Times

News: Treatment of respiratory disease with saffron
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These days, medicinal plants have received more attention than chemical drugs due to their lesser side effects. Saffron is one of these medicinal plants. Saffron has countless properties, In addition to seasoning and flavoring saffron, its medicinal properties can also be used a lot.

The effect of saffron on respiratory diseases

Saffron is used to treat many disorders and diseases of the body such as vision. Respiratory diseases such as asthma are also one of the cases that saffron improves.

Asthma is a respiratory disease that causes multiple respiratory attacks, wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, especially in the early days and midnight. One of the substances that is effective in reducing asthma is the consumption of substances containing antioxidants. Recent research has shown that increasing the use of antioxidants is very effective in reducing the effects of asthma.

Saffron stigma as one of the known foods has many elements. A lot of studies have been performed to identify various compounds of saffron and so far about 150 active compounds have been identified in saffron, the most important of which are crocin, picrocrocin and safranal; These studies have also shown that saffron is rich in antioxidants and riboflavin. In fact, saffron is a sedative and analgesic. Saffron increases oxygen delivery to various tissues of the body and is therefore anti-inflammatory and relieves cough.

News: 7 to 10 percent growth of saffron cultivation in Afghanistan this year
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Akbar Rostami, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, said that saffron cultivation in Afghanistan has increased by 7% in some areas this year. Afghanistan’s saffron fields are expected to increase by up to 10 percent, which will have a direct impact on increasing saffron yields,” He said.

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News: Top 10 Saffron re-exporters in World
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Iran holds the title of the largest producer of saffron in the world, but has no place in the export market of this product and does not benefit from the final added value.  The reason for this depends on several factors:

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News: Saffron stops yellow spot disease in eyes.
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The collaboration between Royan Institute researchers and the University of Dresden in Germany revealed:

  • Saffron stops yellow spot disease in eyes.
  • These two groups by examining crocetin, one of the ingredients of saffron, proved that The natural antioxidant reduces the effect of oxidative stress on the retinal cell and It reduces or stops the progression of the disease.
  • To decompose yellow spot disease Due to old age, It is one of the causes of visual impairment in the elderly population that there are limited treatments for it. One of the major causes of this disease is oxidative stress by damaging the retinal pigmented epithelium. They disrupt light receptors.
  • In general, the results of this study show that using natural antioxidants such as crocetin can:
    • Reduce the effect of oxidative stress on retinal cells.
    • Reduce or stop the progression of the yellow spot disease.

you can read more about saffron benefits here.