Botanical extract mixture · Fact sheet
Saffron
Also known as Crocus sativus stigma extract
Saffron extracts have small controlled studies in mood and dementia. Some findings are favorable, but formulation differences, small samples and limited long-term data prevent treating saffron as an established antidepressant or dementia treatment.
What is Saffron?
Saffron contains several constituents, including crocins and safranal. An extract is not the same intervention as purified crocin.
Culinary amounts and concentrated study capsules should not be treated as equivalent exposures.
Benefits & claims
Interest in Saffron spans cognition and sleep, specific medical conditions. Study findings apply to the named formulation and population.
What the evidence supports
- The short dementia trial generated a positive signal that needs larger replication.
- Mood-study results do not establish equivalence among stigma extracts, purified constituents or culinary saffron.
- The evidence does not establish prevention of dementia or a universal mood-treatment regimen.
Research areas
- Formulation-specific human outcomes
- Mechanistic research
Dosage & frequency
Human study contextThis is an exposure from a named human study, not a generally established treatment or enhancement regimen.
16-week saffron Alzheimer-type dementia study
46 patients screened for mild to moderate probable Alzheimer disease
- Amount
- 15 mg saffron capsule
- Frequency
- Twice daily for 16 weeks; 30 mg/day total
- Route studied or labeled
- Oral
This study capsule is not interchangeable with every extract, purified crocin or a culinary amount. Larger confirmatory trials are needed.
How to read these amounts
An approved regimen belongs to a specific product, indication, and population. A study regimen describes what researchers tested; it does not establish a prescription or a safe self-use protocol. Products, routes, and formulations are not interchangeable. A prescriber uses the full label and individual clinical circumstances.
Personal accounts may describe amounts, schedules and outcomes beyond clinical research. They do not establish a regimen. Read the reported experiences
Formulations, interactions & practical context
- Identity and pharmacology
- Saffron contains several constituents, including crocins and safranal. An extract is not the same intervention as purified crocin.
Formulation differences
- Culinary amounts and concentrated study capsules should not be treated as equivalent exposures.
Interactions & precautions
- The reviewed sources do not establish a comprehensive human interaction profile for this exact substance or combination.
What is still unresolved
- Reproducibility in larger independent trials
- Long-term outcomes and adverse effects
- Equivalence of different preparations and interaction profiles
Side effects & risks
- Small trials reporting few adverse events cannot rule out uncommon harms or interactions.
- Safety and exposure differ with botanical identity, concentration and concurrent medicines.
This is a summary of the cited evidence, not a complete product label. A lack of human safety data does not establish safety.
Clinical research
Early human evidenceA 46-person Alzheimer-type dementia study reported better cognitive-scale results over 16 weeks. A 60-person anxiety/depression study reported questionnaire improvements using a different capsule exposure.
Studies
46 patients in a 16-week placebo-controlled dementia study.
60-person, 12-week anxiety/depression study.
Personal experiences
Reports describe what someone noticed. They cannot establish cause, typical results, or how often a side effect happens. Amounts and schedules describe the individual account, not an effective or safe dose. Product identity and strength may be unverified, and missing details are left explicit.
No attributable personal accounts were found in the sources reviewed.
Approval status
No FDA-approved Saffron drug indication is established for the supplement uses discussed here. Supplement availability is not FDA approval of efficacy or safety.
No FDA-approved product for this entry
Approval covers the labeled product, use and population. A trial phase does not establish success; a stopped program is not ongoing research.
- Saffron in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease: a 16-week, randomized and placebo-controlled trial.
- A double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled trial of Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) in the treatment of anxiety and depression.
- FDA: what approval means for supplements
Open questions
- Reproducibility in larger independent trials
- Long-term outcomes and adverse effects
- Equivalence of different preparations and interaction profiles
Summary
The evidence does not establish prevention of dementia or a universal mood-treatment regimen.
Sources
Medical evidence and regulatory sources are listed here. Personal reports are linked separately in the experiences section.
- pubmedSaffron in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease: a 16-week, randomized and placebo-controlled trial.
46 patients in a 16-week placebo-controlled dementia study.
- pubmedA double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled trial of Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) in the treatment of anxiety and depression.
60-person, 12-week anxiety/depression study.
- fdaFDA: what approval means for supplements
Dietary supplements are not approved by FDA for safety and effectiveness before marketing.