Saffron Agronomy and Technology
In collaboration Iranian Medicinal Plants Society

Authentication of Iranian Saffron Types by Fourier Transform Spectroscopy and Chemometric Methods

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Amir Kazemi 1
Asghar Mahmoudi 2

1 PhD student, Department of biosystem engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

2 Professor, Department of biosystem engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22048/jsat.2026.565009.1582
Abstract
Saffron is a spice that is produced from the dried stigmas of the Crocus sativus L. flower and is the most expensive spice in the world. As a result, this product is frequently targeted for adulteration. In the Iranian local market, saffron is classified into three main types based on the position of the stigma in the dried threads: Sargol, Negin, and Poshal. These types differ in terms of quality and cost. Therefore, accurate identification of saffron types is important. In the present study, Fourier Transform Mid-Infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometric methods was employed to classify different types of Iranian saffron. Various preprocessing techniques were applied to correct the spectral data. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used as an unsupervised model, and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) with linear and quadratic kernels was applied as a supervised model. The best model used SG + D2 + MSC preprocessing and a linear kernel with the LDA model, achieving 88.88% accuracy in classifying the three saffron types. The acceptable result proves the effectiveness of this method for the non-destructive identification of Iranian saffron types.

Keywords

saffron
non-destructive
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
LDA
chemometrics
Subjects
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