The role of Safranal and saffron stigma extracts in oxidative stress, diseases and photoaging: A systematic review

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced as a result of various environmental factors and cellular metabolism reactions creating oxidative stress. The reversible oxidative modification on proteins such as cysteine oxidation may be useful and can play positive role. ROS generated offer some benefits such as cellular signalling and tissue repair when present in low concentration. However, most of the times, these reactive species cause detrimental effects to cell components which leads to various pathological conditions which causes or aggravates diseases due to oxidative stress. The degenerative diseases due to oxidative stress are diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, epilepsy, cancer and aging. Antioxidants are the compounds which scavenge these free radicals and hence neutralize their effects. Research has enabled the use of natural antioxidants as therapeutic agent in the treatment of diseases. Safranal is one such natural agent which is a major volatile component of saffron. Saffron, Red gold is the most expensive spice found in limited region of the planet and is also reported to be used in traditional systems of medicine. Chemically, safranal is a monoterpene aldehyde possessing a sweet fragrance. While exploring for the photoprotective properties of safranal, we learnt about the immense antioxidant potential of safranal. Investigation by various research groups established safranal as an anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, anxiolytic, antiasthamatic, antihypertensive, anticonvulsant, anticancer and antitussive and antigenotoxic agent. It has brought researchers over the world to explore the antioxidant benefits of saffron for human health. In the present paper, potential of safranal and its related molecules as radical scavenger in combating oxidative stress, diseased conditions is collated and the underlying mechanisms have been explained. Various cell lines and animal models used for study of Safranal have been discussed.