title: Saffron: A Natural Potent Antioxidant as a Promising Anti-Obesity Drug.
abstract: Obesity is associated with various diseases, particularly diabetes, hypertension, osteoarthritis and heart disease. Research on possibilities of herbal extracts and isolated compounds from natural products for treating obesity has an upward trend. Saffron (Crocus Sativus L. Iridaceae) is a source of plant polyphenols/carotenoids, used as important spice and food colorant in different parts of the world. It has also been used in traditional medicine for treatment of different types of illnesses since ancient times. Many of these medicinal properties of saffron can be attributed to a number of its compounds such as crocetin, crocins and other substances having strong antioxidant and radical scavenger properties against a variety of radical oxygen species and pro-inflammatory cytokines. The aim of this article is to assess the potential role of saffron and its constituents in the regulation of metabolic functions, which can beneficially alter obesity pathophysiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia. mmashmoul@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mashmoul
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia. azrinaaz@upm.edu.my.|Laboratory of Halal Science Research, Halal Products Research Institute, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia. azrinaaz@upm.edu.my.
authors.forename: Azrina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Azlan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia. huzwah@medic.upm.edu.my.
authors.forename: Huzwah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khaza'ai
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia. bnisak@medic.upm.edu.my.
authors.forename: Barakatun Nisak Mohd
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Yusof
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia. sabariah@medic.upm.edu.my.
authors.forename: Sabariah Mohd
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Noor
keywords: antioxidant; crocin; obesity; overweight; saffron; weight loss