1 Introduction

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.), the red gold, which presents one of the most expensive and luxurious spices on the world market [1], is a triploid plant that propagates by bulbs [2]. The cultivation of saffron is of great interest because of its uses in industries (textile, dyeing, medicine, food additive, coloring, and flavoring). In addition, saffron is also of interest for its pharmacological [3], antioxidant and antigenotoxic [4], biostimulants [5,6,7,8], and antifungal [9] properties. Climatic conditions, altitude, and soil type of production site are the main limiting factors for saffron yield and quality [10, 11]. The quality of saffron depends mainly on crocins, picrocrocin, and safranal content, respectively responsible for the coloring, flavor, and aroma powers [12, 13]. In Morocco, “Taliouine Saffron” is one of the local products and has acquired great importance due to its high quality [14]. A Moroccan local product is a product that comes from a delimited and homogeneous territory whose characteristics significantly distinguish it from products of the exact nature based on the specificity of this territory. Its characteristics depend on the environment's peculiarities, such as geology, climate or relief, know-how, and traditional or emerging knowledge [15]. In 2010, “Taliouine saffron” was registered, and the region became a protected designation of origin under the “Green Morocco Plan” strategy. This strategy allowed an increase in the number of producers between 2010 and 2014, with a rate of 360% [16]. Morocco is the world's fourth largest producer of saffron, with an area of approximately 1600 ha and a yield of 3.5 tons in 2015 [17].

In recent years, Saffron cultivation has spread to new regions of the country, such as Ourika, Taouanate, and Ouazzane, beyond the Taliouine area. This research work aims, for the first time, to assess the quality of “Taliouine saffron” compared to saffron produced in the new extension areas while considering the case of foreign saffron at low prices and classify them based on the Moroccan standard and survey producers on the various factors affecting the quality of saffron and its components.

2 Materials and methods

This study was carried out after obtaining approval from the Ethics Committee in Animal Sciences, Health, and Veterinary Public Health (CESASPV) of the Agronomic and Veterinary Institute (IAV) Hassan II. Respondents were briefed about confidentiality of the data, voluntary participation, and their right to withdraw from the study at any point of time.

2.1 Identification of study areas

Surveys are carried out in the main saffron production zone, Taliouine located at 30° 31′ 58″ N, 7° 55′ 32″ W, as well as in the other cultivation extension zones in Morocco, notably Marrakech (Ourika valley situated at 31° 22′ 38″ N, 7° 47′ 42″ W and Ijoukak located at 30° 59′ 49″ N, 8° 09′ 52″ W), Taounate situated at 34° 26′ 51″ N, 5° 06′ 55″ W, and Ouazzane located at 34° 48′ 47″ N, 5° 34′ 15″ W (Fig. 1), to learn about the points of view of saffron producers in terms of overall appreciation of the quality and its components and the various factors affecting them during the production, harvest, and post-harvest stages.

Fig. 1
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Morocco Map showing the areas visited for the surveys

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Mark the main saffron production area in yellow. Mark in blue: extension zones. Source: Google Earth.

2.2 Conduct the surveys

In the Taliouine area, 16 farmers from a cooperative were selected to carry out the study in the rural commune “Sidi Hssain”. The surveys were supplemented by visits to “Dar Azaafaran,” an economic interest group, and to the weekly markets of Taliouine to complete the study on the criteria for the quality demanded by local and foreign buyers. In the Marrakech region, surveys were carried out with two leading producers of saffron in Ourika and a manager of aromatic and medicinal plants cooperative in Ijoukak. In the Taounate area, a pre-survey was carried out with the Regional Directorate of Agriculture to identify the farmers who practice saffron cultivation in the region and to collect data on the current situation of saffron cultivation in the area. The surveys were conducted with six producers in the Sahla perimeter. In Ouazzane, the surveys were carried out in two cooperatives.

2.3 Physicochemical analysis

2.3.1 Sampling

Saffron samples of the same year's production were collected during field visits. It should be noted that a selection of foreign saffron collected at the Souk of Taroudant was also considered for the analysis (Table 1).

Table 1 Origin and altitudes of the samples collected for the physicochemical analyzes
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2.3.2 Floral remains content

The content of floral remains (Fr), 3 g of saffron stigma, was determined under a binocular magnifying glass using medium-sized laboratory forceps, according to ISO/TS 3632-2:2003 [18]. The floral remains are weighed using an analytical balance with a precision of 0.01 g. The expression of the results of the floral remains the content of the sample (Fr) in mass percentage is as follows:

$$ {\varvec{Fr}} = \frac{{\left( {{\text{m}}2{ }{-}{\text{ m}}1} \right) \times 100}}{{{\text{m}}0}} $$

m0 is the mass of the test sample (g), m1 is the mass of the watch glass (g), and m2 is the mass of the watch glass containing the floral remains (g).

2.3.3 Foreign matter content

After spreading the 3 g test sample (weighed to 0.01 precision) on a glass, using fine point tweezers, the foreign matter (Fm) was separated and considered using an analytical balance at 0.01 g (ISO/TS 3632-2:2003) [18]. The results of the foreign matter content of the sample are expressed in mass percentage as follows:

$$ {\varvec{Fm}} = \frac{{\left( {{\text{m}}2{ }{-}{\text{ m}}1} \right) \times 100}}{{{\text{m}}0}} $$

m0 is the mass of the test sample (g), m1 is the mass of the watch glass (g), m2 is the mass of the watch glass containing the foreign matter (g).

2.3.4 Stigma length

After displaying the random test sample of 30 stigmas per sample on glass, the length expressed in cm was measured under binoculars (× 16).

2.3.5 Humidity and volatile matter content

After determining floral remains and foreign matter, the test sample was made from the reconstituted. According to ISO/TS 3632-2:2003 [18], the tare containing the test portion, in the oven set at 103 °C for 16 h, then cooled, was then placed in the desiccator filled with a dehydrating agent and weighed using an analytical balance at 0.0001 g. The results of humidity (H) and volatile matter content (Vm), expressed in mass percentage of the initial sample, are as follows:

$$ {\varvec{H}} = \frac{{{\text{Mv}}}}{{{\text{m}}5}} $$
$$ {\varvec{Vm}} = \left( {{\text{m}}3 - {\text{m}}4} \right) \times 100 $$

m3 is the tare mass + test portion (g), m4 is the tare mass plus dry test portion and m5 is the test portion for determining Humidity (g).

2.3.6 Total ash

The remaining saffron sample is weighed to an accuracy of 0.0001 g after the humidity determination and placed in a capsule. The latter was previously heated for one hour in the muffle at 550 ± 25 °C, cooled in the dryer, and weighed to an accuracy of 0.0001 g. The capsule containing the test portion was then placed in the muffle at different degrees of temperature for a total of 3 h: 80 °C for 15 min; 150 °C for 15 min; 350 °C for 30 min; 550 °C for 2 h, according to ISO 928/1997 [19]. After cooling, the weighing was carried out 2 times after reheating the capsule in the muffle at 550 ºC for 1 h. Total ash (Ta) results are expressed as a mass percentage as follows:

$$ {\varvec{Ta}} = \frac{{\left( {m6 - m7} \right) \times 100}}{m8 - m7} $$

m6 is the mass of the capsule + the ashes, m7 is the mass of the capsule, m8 is the mass of the capsule + the test sample (mass of the sample after determining the humidity).

2.3.7 Main characteristics of saffron by UV/visible spectrometric method

To determine the specific extinctions (\({\text{E}}_{1\text{cm}}^{1{\%}}\)) of picrocrocin, safranal, and crocin, about 500 mg of saffron stigmas were extracted using 1000 mL of distilled water, then 20 mL of the extract was diluted 10 times with distilled water [18]. After centrifugation, the absorbance (Abs) change was recorded between 200 and 700 nm.

The results are obtained by direct reading of the specific absorbance (Sabs) at the following three wavelengths:

  • \({\mathbf{E}}_{1\mathbf{c}\mathbf{m}}^{1\mathbf{\%}}\) 257 nm: Abs at 257 nm (maximum Abs of picrocrocin);

  • \({\mathbf{E}}_{1\mathbf{c}\mathbf{m}}^{1\mathbf{\%}}\) 330 nm: Abs at 330 nm (maximum Abs of safranal);

  • \({\mathbf{E}}_{1\mathbf{c}\mathbf{m}}^{1\mathbf{\%}}\) 440 nm: Abs at 440 nm (maximum Abs of crocin).

    $$ {\mathbf{E}}_{{1{\mathbf{cm}}}}^{1\% } = \frac{{{\text{Sabs }} \times { }10{ }000}}{{{\text{m}}\left( {100 - {\text{M}}} \right)}} $$

M is the mass of the sample (g).

2.4 Statistical analysis

All statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 29. Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) was used to determine correlations between overall rating and quality parameters based on data from surveyed producers. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA 1) made it possible to determine the presence or not of significant differences between the absorbance of crocin, picrocrocin, safranal, and the stigma length of the samples collected from the various areas surveyed. The Student–Newman–Keuls (SNK) test was used to classify the means using the letters presenting significant differences. The hierarchical tree made it possible to classify the samples based on the absorbance of the analyzed samples’ crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal. Correlation analyses (Pearson’s coefficient) were used to highlight the association between the factors and components of saffron quality. Linear regression was used to determine cause and effect relationships of factors that influence quality parameters.

3 Results

3.1 Overall assessment and components of saffron quality in the areas studied

The factorial analysis of the multiple components of the investigation results in the Taliouine zone identified two factors of the first and second dimensions of 60%, which is considered entirely satisfactory (Table 2). Figure 2 shows the presence of a statistically significant correlation between the overall quality appreciation, the stigmas length, and the aroma with dimension 1, which represents 36% of the percentage of variance explained, as well as the presence of a positive correlation between color and flavor with dimension 2 which means 23% of the defined variance percentage (Fig. 2, Table 2).

Table 2 Model summary of multiple correspondence analysis discrimination measures in the Taliouine region
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Fig. 2
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Multiple correspondence analysis discrimination measures in the Taliouine region. OQA overall quality appreciation

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The modality chart assesses the response trend for each variable (Fig. 3). Dimension 1 orders the modalities of the variables, is mainly explained by the variables, and shows that the producers have excellent quality saffron with a very intense aroma and long stigmas. According to farmers surveyed in the Taliouine area, the aroma and the stigma length are relatively medium for good-quality saffron. However, dimension 2 asserts that very intensely colored saffron is of medium flavor, which is very intense in the case of medium-colored products (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3
figure 3

Modality diagram of multiple correspondence analysis in the Taliouine region

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In the Ourika-Ijoukak zone, producers (n = 3) assess quality according to the stigma length and the product's color. Excellent quality saffron is characterized by very intense color and medium stigma length. In the case of good-quality saffron, the color is medium with a long stigma.

In the Taounate-Ouazzane area, the multiple correspondence analysis identified two factors of the first and second dimensions of a total of 73% (Table 3), which is considered entirely satisfactory. The discrimination measure affirms the results obtained. There is a positive correlation between color, flavor, and overall quality appreciation, with dimension 1 representing 48% of the variance. Thus, a positive correlation exists between aroma and stigma length with dimension 2, representing 25% of the explained variance portion (Fig. 4, Table 3).

Table 3 Model summary of multiple correspondence analysis discrimination measures in the Taounate-Ouazzane region
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Fig. 4
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Multiple correspondence analysis discrimination measures in the Taounate-Ouazzane region. OQA overall quality appreciation

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The modality diagram evaluating the response trend for each variable shows that dimension 1 affirms that producers have excellent quality saffron with intense color and flavor. In the case of good-quality saffron, the aroma and the flavor are low and medium, respectively. However, dimension 2 asserts that long stigma saffron is of medium aroma (Fig. 5), according to farmers surveyed in the Taounate-Ouazzane area.

Fig. 5
figure 5

Modality diagram of multiple correspondence analysis in the Taounate-Ouazzane region

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3.2 Factors affecting quality parameters and yield according to surveyed farmers

The farmers’ responses about the factors affecting the main quality parameters of saffron in the Taliouine area are summarized in Fig. 6. Factors that impact color, according to farmers, are drying (100%: all producers surveyed), altitude (88.8% of producers surveyed), and environment temperature (77.7%). The rains follow them during the harvest period (44.4%). The factors that influence the aroma of saffron are pruning (88.8%), altitude (72.2%), soil (72.2%), environment temperature (55.6%), and storage temperature (55.6%). The factors influencing flavor are altitude (44.4%) and temperature (33.3%) (Fig. 6). According to farmers, saffron from high-altitude regions is characterized by longer stigmas than from medium and low altitudes. Farmers in the area stated that factors affect yields are: rain (100%), size of the bulbs (94.44%), density (100%), irrigation (83.33%), and manure (72.22%) (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6
figure 6

Factors affecting color, aroma, flavor, stigma length, and yield according to farmers in the Taliouine area

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According to producers in the Ourika-Ijoukak area, the factors that affect the quality of saffron are (Fig. 7): Drying comes first among the factors that affect the color of saffron (3/3: all producers surveyed), followed by environment temperature (2/3 of producers surveyed), storage temperature (2/3), pruning, and harvesting (2/3). The main factors that affect aroma are soil type (3/3), pruning, and storage temperature (3/3). The flavor is mainly affected by drying (2/3) and pruning (1/3). The factors that affect the stigmas length are the environment temperature (3/3) and the harvest (2/3). The factors that affect yield are density (3/3), irrigation (3/3), organic manure (3/3), and soil type (3/3) (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7
figure 7

Factors affecting color, aroma, flavor, stigma length, and yield according to farmers in the Ourika-Ijoukak area

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In the Taouanate-Ouazzane area, drying is considered by the farmers surveyed as the main factor affecting color (100%: all producers surveyed) (Fig. 8). Stigma length is affected by altitude (66.66% of producers surveyed), environment temperature (50%), and followed by the size of the bulbs (50%). In the case of yield, it is affected by density and irrigation (100%), followed by bulb size (83.33%) (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8
figure 8

Factors affecting color, aroma, flavor, stigma length, and yield according to farmers in the Taouanate-Ouazzane area

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3.3 Physicochemical analysis

3.3.1 Physical analysis

The microscopic analyses of the collected saffron samples revealed that the stigmas are whole (88.88% of all samples) or cut (22.22%). All samples contain stigmas of isolated and united forms, except for sample 4, which has no united-form stigmas. On the other hand, the color is very intense for all the samples except for 4, which are medium to light in color (Table 4). Of all the samples analyzed, sample 6 (66.7%) have styles, of which sample 5 (55.6%) are cut and one mixed with whole and cut styles. Also, sample 3 (33.3%) has no styles. The style’s color is very intense to medium (Table 5). The floral remains consist of stamens or fragments of the styles. The floral remains represent between 0 and 1.33% of the mass fraction of the sample analyzed (Table 6). The determined foreign materials are of the following types: thin filaments, insects, insect wings, fragments of grass, small stones, grains of sand, and straw, with a mass fraction between 0 and 1% of the samples (Table 7). The stigma length varies between samples, with values ranging between 1.28 and 2.40 cm. Notably, 20% of the variability in stigma length is attributed to the different saffron production areas (Fig. 9).

Table 4 Results of microscopic analyses of the stigma form and color
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Table 5 Results of microscopic analyses of the style's form and color
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Table 6 Determination of samples’ floral remains content
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Table 7 Determination of samples foreign matter content
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Fig. 9
figure 9

Box plots represent the mean stigma length and value variation. Values not sharing a common letter indicate a significant difference at p ≤ 0.05, based on the SNK test. 1-2-3-5: Taliouine samples, 6-7-8-9: samples of the extension areas (Table 1)

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3.3.2 Chemical analyses

The saffron samples’ Humidity content varies between 9.35% and 16.53% (Fig. 10). Thus, three samples comply with the standards (< 12%). The total ash contents of the samples varied between 5.09% and 17.86% (Fig. 11). Thus, two samples must comply with the standard (> 8%). The variation of the specific absorbances as a function of the wavelength is represented for all the samples in Fig. 12. The ANOVA 1 revealed (Table 8) significant differences at p ≤ 0.05 between the means of specific extinctions of the samples analyzed (sample 4 not being included in the study: sample fraudulent). Maximum values of specific extinction of picrocrocin are observed in samples 6 and 7, while maximum values of safranal are observed in samples 7 and 8. However, maximum values of crocin are observed in samples 5 and 6 (Fig. 12).

Fig. 10
figure 10

Humidity content of analyzed samples. 1-2-3-5: Taliouine samples, 6-7-8-9: samples of the extension areas, 4: overseas samples (Table 1). The red line shows the standard humidity threshold

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Fig. 11
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Total ash rate of samples analyzed. 1-2-3-5: Taliouine samples, 6-7-8-9: samples of the extension areas, 4: overseas samples (Table 1). The red line shows the standard total ash threshold

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Table 8 Samples means of \({\text{E}}_{257\text{ nm}}^{1{\%}} , {\text{E}}_{330\text{ nm}}^{1{\%}}\) and \({\text{E}}_{440\text{ nm }}^{1{\%}}\)
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Fig. 12
figure 12

Specific absorbance curves of the analyzed saffron samples. nm nanometer

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Table 9 presents a classification into categories of the main characteristics of each sample according to the standard Moroccan NM 08.1.037/2017 [20].

Table 9 Classification of samples into categories according to the standard Moroccan NM 08.1.037/2007
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4 Discussion

This study aims to determine how practitioners and traders of saffron cultivation appreciate the quality of saffron in different areas in Morocco, as well as physicochemical analyses to assess the main qualitative parameters of saffron from these study areas.

The interpretation of survey data indicates that producers in the Taliouine area appreciate the saffron quality mainly regarding the stigma length and the aroma: a saffron of excellent quality is characterized by a very intense aroma and long stigmas. On the other hand, good-quality saffron is characterized by a medium aroma and stigmas-moderate length. The producers surveyed in the Ourika-Ijoukak area appreciate the quality of the stigma length and the saffron color: excellent quality saffron is characterized by very intense color and a medium length. On the other hand, good-quality saffron is characterized by a medium color and a long stigma. Finally, in the Taounate area, saffron producers appreciate the quality of the flavor and color of the product: an excellent quality saffron is characterized by a very intense color and flavor. On the other hand, good-quality saffron is characterized by a medium color and flavor.

To group samples based on calculated values of specific extinction of picrocrocin, safranal, and crocin: \({\text{E}}_{{257{\text{ nm}}}}^{1\% } ,\;{\text{E}}_{{330{\text{ nm}}}}^{1\% } ,\;{\text{and}}\;{\text{E}}_{{440{\text{ nm }}}}^{1\% }\), respectively, a descending hierarchical classification is carried out, which consists of considering all the observations gathered within the same class and then dividing them into categories. The dendrogram (Fig. 13) provides a graphical visualization of the results and the necessary increase in the intra-class distance (The fraudulent sample 4 is not included in the classification). The two segments 1 (Assaisse), 3 (Sidi hssain) and 4 (Ait oubiae) are the closest according to the absorption value of crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal. Then, the two segments, 8 (Oulmès) and 7 (Ain Baida), are not separated by a significant distance, as are the two segments 5 (Ourika) and 6 (Ijoukak). The first jump is made at a distance of 15 and combines the aggregation of segments 2 (Askaoune) and 7 (Ain Baida) with the aggregation of segments 1 (Assaisse), 3 (Sidi hssain) and 4 (Ait oubiae). The next jump is performed at a distance of 25 and combines segment 5 (Ourika) with the aggregation of the first jump.

Fig. 13
figure 13

Dendrogram of the classification of the samples based on crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal content

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According to survey results, the factors influencing color are drying practices and altitude. The color of saffron from high and medium altitude areas is more intense than low altitude saffron. Moreover, according to the farmers surveyed, the rains during the harvest negatively influence the color of the stigmas, which become whitish. For this, the practitioners recommend that the flower be closed during harvesting. Also, the farmers affirm that the drying mode influences the saffron's color: by exposure to the sun, traditional drying reduces the weight without affecting the color of the stigmas.

On the other hand, drying in the shade alters the color and becomes red–black. By considering the samples collected from different areas for the physicochemical analyses, it can be seen that the value of the specific extinction of the crocin responsible for the coloring power increases with the increase in altitude, except for sample 6 from low altitude with a very high coloring power (Table 1, Fig. 12). For samples that underwent the same (traditional) drying treatment, a significant correlation (r = 0.856*) (Fig. 14) between altitude and crocin was confirmed. These results are adjusted with the study [14], which analyzed the crocin content of 11 saffron samples at different altitudes in Morocco and proved that altitude positively affects the crocin content. Crocin is a carotenoid, and experiments have shown that an increase in carotenoid content is related to increasing altitude in response to increased ultraviolet radiation [21]. The biosynthesis of carotenoids is also influenced by environmental conditions such as temperature and increases when the temperature decreases [22].

Fig. 14
figure 14

Linear regression curve between crocin content of samples with the same traditional drying treatment and altitudes. \({\text{E}}_{1\text{cm}}^{1{\%}}\): Specific crocin extinction at 440 nm. r: Pearson’s coefficient. *Correlation is significant at the 0.05

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On the other hand, there is no correlation between altitude and color based on samples that did not undergo the same drying practice (Table 10), which is due to the limiting factor of drying: Practiced in the electric dryer, sample 6 ranked first in coloring power, even if it came from a low altitude (Fig. 13). Drying is one of the most critical steps in the post-harvest processing of fresh stigmas. The drying method has a significant effect on the quality parameters of saffron. The drying method used to reduce the humidity of the stigmas to less than 12% varies from region to region and country to country. Acar et al. [23] found that the crocin contents of the samples dried in a freeze-dryer were about 40% higher than those of naturally sun-dried samples. Freeze drying remains the best method compared to other methods, namely vacuum drying, microwave drying, oven drying, and infrared drying [24].

Table 10 Correlations between altitude and the chemical parameters of the samples analyzed
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According to farmers, the factors influencing the saffron aroma are pruning, altitude, soil type, and storage temperature. Farmers suggest storing saffron at room temperature in tightly sealed packaging to protect the aroma from spoilage. According to the samples analyzed, the safranal content decreases with decreasing humidity with a significant and positive correlation r = 0.722** (Fig. 15). The aroma development in saffron during storage is favored in an intermediate humidity environment, considering that safranal is a hydrolysis product of picrocrocin [25] (Fig. 16). Research results on Moroccan saffron have shown a positive correlation between soil texture (clay) and safranal [14]. The best soils for saffron production have been reported to have loam and sandy-loam texture, not very calcareous, sub-alkaline and neutral pH, and low electrical conductivity [11]. The contents of safranal are much better when the saffron is dried in an electric oven at 60 °C [26].

Fig. 15
figure 15

Linear regression curve between safranal content of samples and humidity. \({\text{E}}_{1\text{cm}}^{1{\%}}\): Specific safranal extinction at 330 nm. r: Pearson’s coefficient. **Correlation is significant at the 0.01

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Fig. 16
figure 16

Chemical conversion of picrocrocin into safranal [32]. HTCC 4-hydroxy-2,6,6-trimethyl-1-carboxaldehyde1-cyclohexane

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Indeed, among the factors affecting the stigma length is altitude. According to farmers, saffron from high-altitude regions is characterized by longer filaments than from medium and low altitudes. In addition, the stigmas of high altitudes are contracted compared to those of medium and low altitudes. In general, saffron from low-temperature regions is characterized by long stigmas. Other farmers have confirmed that clay soils reduce the stigma length. As well as the size of the bulbs can influence the stigma length: bulbs with a large diameter produce long filaments. On the other hand, it is recommended to have a specific humidity level during storage to protect the stigmas against physical damage. Correlation analysis of samples showed a significant effect of altitude on stigma length (r = 0.763*) (Fig. 17). The farmers consider that the length of the stigmas is one of the yield indices. According to survey results, rainfall, bulb size, planting density, regular irrigation, and use of organic matter are among the factors affecting crops. Research results have shown that altitude can significantly affect the length and anatomy of stigmas [27]. Others have shown that bulb diameter [28, 29], the use of manure [30], irrigation, and planting density significantly improve yield [31].

Fig. 17
figure 17

Linear regression curve between stigma length of samples and altitudes. r: Pearson’s coefficient. *Correlation is significant at the 0.05

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5 Conclusion

The saffron producers who surveyed appreciated the saffron quality according to the length and color of the stigmas. The physicochemical analysis confirmed that altitude mainly influences the length of the stigmas; in contrast, altitude and drying methods affect color. On the other hand, the Ourika-Ijoukak sample is ranked first in terms of crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal content. Based on the results, it is recommended to complete and improve the description of the local product and the “Taliouine Saffron” appellation of origin, taking into account the significant differences revealed by the analysis of samples taken in the Taliouine geographical area, notably in terms of safranal content and stigma length. It is, therefore, necessary to intensify production in high-altitude areas to improve saffron quality in terms of crocin content and stigma length. Finally, the “stigma length” parameter should be included among the distinctive physical characteristics of commercial interest (NM 08. 1.038).