==The benefits of Saffron are==
Saffron is a naturally derived plant product from the Iris family. It must be hand-picked and dried. Three acres of the flower only produces one pound of saffron.
*Some studies suggest saffron extracts may have benefits of memory-enhancing, anti-cancer and anti-oxidative activities.Saffron may be able to against lots of cancers such as leukemia, ovarian carcinoma, colon adenocarcinoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, papilloma, squamous cell carcinoma, and soft tissue sarcoma. In vitro study, sacrcoma's effect on carcinoma, sarcoma and leukemia cells is dose-dependent. In a study of rats, saffron delays tumor growth and increase the life span of the animals. It also delays the onset of papilloma growth and decreases the incidence of squamous cell carcinoma and soft tissue sarcoma. A study indicates its effect may be related to a significant inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis. It appears that saffron (dimethyl-crocetin) disrupts the DNA-protein interactions e.g. topoisomerases II, which is important for cellular DNA synthesis. It is believed that crocetin and / or crocin attribute(s) such activity. Please, note that these are either animal or in vitro studies,clinical studies are needed to support saffron health benefits.Research studies about saffron benefits on cancer. A recent study reports that crocetin is an anti-tumor agent in animal models and cell culture systems. It affects the growth of cancer cells by inhibiting nucleic acid synthesis, enhancing anti-oxidative system, inducing apoptosis and hindering growth factor signaling pathways [Gutheil WG et al, Curr Pharm Biotechnol. 2011 Apr 5.]. In a study, rats were treated with diethylnitrosamine as to induce liver cancer Administration of saffron at doses of 75, 150, and 300 mg/kg/day was started 2 weeks prior to the diethylnitrosamine injection and was continued for 22 weeks. Saffron significantly reduced the number and the incidence of hepatic dyschromatic nodules. [Amin A et al, Hepatology. 2011 May 23. doi: 10.1002/hep.24433] Another study demonstrates that crocin induces apoptosis and G1-phase cell cycle arrest of human pancreatic cancer cell line BxPC-3 cells! The study shows the effect of crocin (cell viability) is dose and time dependent [Bakshi H, et al, Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2010;11(3):675-9.]Similarly, ethanolic extract of saffron also decreases cell viability in malignant lung cancer cells as a concentration and time-dependent manner, in another study. [Samarghandian S et al,
Pharmacogn Mag. 2010 Oct;6(24):309-14.]
*Crocetin benefits - atherosclerosis : Crocetin is a carotenoid (8,8'-diapo-8,8'-carotenoic acid) with seven double bonds and four