Tehran – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (Mums) have signed an agreement (LOA) to enhance procedures for testing, processing and selling saffron.
LOA’s activities will be implemented under the FAO’s Joint Technical Cooperation Program and the Ministry of Agriculture, the FAO’s website announced in a press release on September 16th.
Known as red gold, the spice is not only important for farmers’ livelihoods, but also represents Iran’s agricultural heritage. Iran generates more than 90% of the world’s saffron, making the integrity of its value chain important for farmers and national trade.
Global trade in saffron faces sustainable risks, from adultery to inconsistent post-harvest handling that could invade value and undermine consumer confidence.
“To address these issues, FAO is working with mothers to enhance their saffron testing, processing and sales procedures. The collaboration will address the challenges by combining sophisticated laboratory verification with field-ready harvest guidance to better define saffron quality and protect reliability and reliability.”
At the heart of the work is a scientifically validated fingerprinting approach using high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance, which characterizes the three key components of saffron supported in robust data analysis: crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal. This provides a more accurate chemical profile for reliability checks than just the everyday methods. Complementing the lab’s work, this initiative develops practical guidance that helps maintain colour, flavor and aroma after harvest so that the lab’s measured quality is maintained by the end consumer.
Equally important, within this LOA framework, mothers train farmers, traders and laboratory specialists in the major saffron production states of Khorasan Razavi, North Khorasan and South Khorasan. This training will help everyone involved in the saffron value chain to deepen their understanding that better practices should be applied, meet international requirements and provide reliable products to buyers around the world.
International trade generally refers to ISO 3632/3632-1 to score saffron, but these basic tests do not always capture subtle quality differences or prevent sophisticated adultery, and provide limited guidance on post-harvest handling.
By promoting high quality and stronger protection measures, improved practices and advanced quality control protocols can help reduce fraud, build consumer trust and increase transparency in the saffron market. This creates better opportunities and returns for farmers and traders, while enhancing Iran’s reputation as a global source of authentic saffron.
This work forms part of FAO’s wide-ranging efforts, improve food reliability, strengthen agricultural value chains, and part of Iran that supports local foods to be competitive in international markets and adhere to international quality and safety requirements.
In May 2024, FAO signed a project with the Ministry of Agriculture, aimed to ensure access to safe and authentic saffron products.
With the title “Food Reliability and Food Supply Chain Management for the Success of SDGS,” the project was in line with the United Nations Framework for Sustainable Development Cooperation (UNSDCF), Sustainable Development Goals, and the FAO Country Program Framework (CPF).
The initiative is part of the FAO Technical Cooperation Program (TCP), which concludes in December 2025 and is set for two years.
The impact of this project will become serious and ensure consumer access to safe and authentic saffron products through immediate responses for food quality testing and traceability and improved capabilities for effective enforcement mechanisms.
This project is an important step to improving transparency and traceability in the saffron industry, ultimately contributing to the achievement of food security and the Sustainable Development Goals.
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