CSIC is researching how to create biofactories for saffron, a healthy and scarce pigment native to South America

A team of researchers from the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and several centers at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil analyzed how the plant BigflowerCommonly known as root saffron, saffron, when parasitizing other plants, produces a red dye that accumulates in its roots, giving it its commercial value.

The study, published in the journal Plants People Planet, reveals that the red pigment, saffron, is a derivative of carotenoids, vitamin A precursors that animals cannot produce. Therefore, the genes involved in saffron production in this plant were analyzed as a first step towards their use in other easier-to-grow plants or in optimizing the cultivation of saffron itself. Bigflower.

Root saffron is a parasitic plant native to South America that has traditionally been used to add a red pigment to foods in the Andean region. In addition to being used as a food coloring, saffron root has several health properties: it is traditionally used to treat jaundice, hepatitis, and liver disease.

However, its use is increasingly limited due to reasons such as habitat loss and difficulties in domestication and cultivation that lead to a narrowing of its distribution. The aim of the work was to investigate how the plant produces the red compound that gives it its commercial and medicinal value.

Our work showed that red pigments accumulated in roots Bigflower According to Manuel Rodríguez Concepción, a CSIC researcher at the Institute of Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology (IBMCP-CSIC-UPV) and coordinator of the study, it is saffron, a water-soluble carotenoid derivative. We also analyzed which genes are involved in the production of saffron from carotenoids in saffron roots, thereby identifying candidate genes for key stages of synthesis. Finally, we investigated how the parasitic plant adheres to the roots of the host plant, a prior and necessary step for saffron production, he cites.

Carotenoids are natural pigments found in plants, algae, fungi and bacteria that are responsible for the coloring of many fruits and vegetables. Carrots get their bright orange color from beta-carotene, the best-known compound from which carotene gets its name. Animals cannot synthesize carotenoids and must obtain them through their diet, and these compounds are important for their biological function as vitamin A producers and their antioxidant properties.

The commercial development of saffron, a natural and healthy colorant derived from carotenoids, is hampered by the lack of saffron root plant for extraction.Alternatives to domestication and cultivation Bigflower It will use other easily cultivated plants as saffron biofactories. For this, the genes identified in the study could be cloned and transferred into species such as carrots, whose roots accumulate large amounts of saffron carotenoid precursors, Rodríguez Concepción explained.

In addition to using the identified genes to produce saffron in otherwise easy-to-grow plants, knowledge of how parasitic plants attach to host plant roots will be key to optimizing conditions for possible future commercial cultivation of saffron roots. said the IBMCP researcher.

This work arose out of a collaboration between the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil and CSIC, with the participation of several centers: In addition to IBMCP, the Institute of Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio, CSIC-UV) and the Institute of Fat Research (IG -CSIC