Saffron
1、       This product is the dried stigma of Crocus sativus L., a plant of Iridaceae.
      [character] this product is linear, three branched, about 3cm long. It is dark red, the upper part is wide and slightly flat, the top edge shows irregular teeth, there is a short fissure on the inner side, and sometimes a small section of yellow style remains on the lower end. It is light, soft, without oily luster, and brittle and easy to break after drying. It has special flavor, slightly irritating and bitter taste.
      . The surface of epidermal cells is long and strip-shaped, with thin wall and slight curvature. Some outer walls protrude in papillary or villous shape, and fine texture can be seen on the surface. The epidermal cells at the top of the stigma are fluffy, 26-56 µ m in diameter, and the surface has sparse texture. Calcium oxalate crystals are concentrated in parenchymal cells in granular, round cluster, spindle or square like shape, with a diameter of 2-14 µ M.
      (2) . The stigma is trumpet shaped with short joints; In a short time, it will not be broken with a needle.
      (3) Take a small amount of this product, put it on a white porcelain plate, add a drop of sulfuric acid, the acid liquid will turn blue and purple slowly into reddish brown or brown.
      (4) Take the solution under the absorbance item and measure the absorbance at the wavelength of 458nm according to the UV visible spectrophotometry (general rule 0401). The ratio of absorbance at 458nm and 432nm wavelength should be 0.85 ~ 0.90.
      (5) Take 20mg of this product powder, add 1ml of methanol, sonicate for 10 minutes, place it to make it clear, and take the supernatant as the test solution. Another 20mg of Crocus sativus control medicinal material was prepared into the control medicinal material solution by the same method. According to the test of thin-layer chromatography (general rule 0502), suck 3-5 µ l of each of the above two solutions, respectively dot them on the same silica gel G thin-layer plate, use ethyl acetate methanol water (100:16.5:13.5) as the developing agent, develop, take out, dry, and check under sunlight and ultraviolet light (365nm). .
      [inspection] loss on drying   Take 2G of this product, weigh it accurately, dry it at 105 ℃ for 6 hours, and the weight loss shall not exceed 12.0% (general rule 0831).
      Total ash   Not more than 7.5% (general rule 2302).
      Absorbance   . Accurately measure 5ml, put it into a 50ml measuring bottle, add methanol to the scale, shake well, and measure the absorbance at the wavelength of 432nm according to the UV visible spectrophotometry (general rule 0401), which shall not be less than 0.50.
      [extract] according to the hot leaching method under the alcohol soluble extract determination method (general rule 2201), 30% ethanol shall be used as solvent, which shall not be less than 55.0%.
      [content determination] avoid light. Determine according to high-performance liquid chromatography (general rule 0512).
      ; Octadecylsilane bonded silica gel was used as filler; Methanol water (45:55) was used as mobile phase; The detection wavelength was 440nm. The number of theoretical plates should not be less than 3500 according to crocin-i peak.
      Preparation of reference solution   Take an appropriate amount of crocin-i reference substance and crocin-ii reference substance, accurately weigh them, add diluted ethanol to make solutions containing 30 µ g and 12 µ g per 1ml, respectively.
      Preparation of test solution   Take about 10mg of this product powder (passing through No. 3 screen), weigh it accurately, put it into a 50ml Brown measuring flask, add appropriate amount of dilute ethanol, put it in an ice bath for ultrasonic treatment for 20 minutes, put it to room temperature, add dilute ethanol to the scale, shake it well, filter it, and take the continuous filtrate.
      Assay   Precisely suck 10 µ l of the control solution and 10 µ l of the test solution respectively, inject them into the liquid chromatograph, and determine.
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      [nature, taste and meridian tropism] sweet and smooth. Heart returning and liver meridian.
      [functions and indications] activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis, cooling blood and detoxifying, relieving depression and calming nerves. It is used for meridians, postpartum blood stasis, mild and toxic spots, melancholy and stuffy, palpitations and madness.
      .
      [note] pregnant women should use it with caution.
      [storage] store in a ventilated, cool and dry place, away from light and sealed.


2、 Chemical constituents of Crocus sativus
The main components areSophora alopecuroides（C16H26O7）。 The coloring substance is crocetin (c44h64o26 · H2O). Chemical composition containsCrocin I， 2,3,4 (crocin-1 ～ 4), picrocrocin, crocetin dimethyl ester, a-crocetin, safranal, volatile oil, etc. Its stigma contains a variety of carotenoid compounds, with a content of about 2%, of which crocin-1, crocin-2, crocin-3, crocin-4, trans -, CIS crocetin dimethyl esterα-Carotene,Beta carotene、 α -crocetin, zeaxanthinLycopeneIt also contains 0.4% - 1.3% volatile oil. Safranal is the main component in the oil, which is the decomposition product of safranin, followed by Eucalyptus olein, pinene, etc; Isorhamnetin、KaempferolAnd vitamin B1 and vitamin B2.

3、 Pharmacological effects of saffron
1. Effect on liver and gallbladder
2. Effect on circulation system
3. Immunomodulatory effect
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