Search

In a trial carried out in 2004 in inner Sicily (southern Italy), we explored saffron plants to find a relation between flowering peaks and meteorological data. Temperature and rainfall of the experimental site were recorded throughout the experimental period, as well as daily flower number and total stigma weight. Flowering lasted 24 days from November 2 to 25. Two main production peaks were detected. In both cases, this synchrony in flowering was achieved just after a considerable decrease of the minimum temperature that reached values lower than 5°C. Interesting relations between daily flowering peaks and temperature trend have been hypothesized.

In order to evaluate the effects of different corm storage conditions on saffron (C. sativus L.) production and qualitative parameters, corms were subjected to several storage conditions sets. Total stigmas and corms production were evaluated. Stigmas production was significantly affected by different storage temperatures as well as corms production, increasing with the increase of temperature. Physicochemical properties of samples coming from different storage conditions were also evaluated, according to the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) normative, which allowed to rank the saffron samples in three different quality categories (I, II and III). The results of this study clearly demonstrate the importance of monitoring the storage conditions in order to improve saffron samples in terms of yield and quality.