Safranal (a
monoterpene aldehyde) is the major volatile component of saffron which is responsible for the saffron unique odor. Several studies have shown the pharmacological activities of
safranal including
anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, nephroprotective, gastrointestinal protective, etc. This study was designed to review the pharmacological and medical effects of
safranal and up-to-date previous knowledge. Moreover, some patents related to the pharmacological effects of
safranal were gathered. Therefore, electronic databases including Web of Sciences, Scopus, and Pubmed for pharmacological effects and US patent, Patentscope, and Google Patent for patents were comprehensively searched by related English keywords from 2010 to June 2022. According to our review, most of the studies are related to the
safranal effects on CNS such as antianxiety,
analgesic,
anticonvulsant, antiischemic, anti-
tremor, memory enhancement and its protective effects on
neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson and Huntington diseases. Other effects of
safranal are
antiasthmatic,
antihypertensive, antiaging, anticataract, etc. Moreover, the protective effects of this agent on
metabolic syndrome and
diabetic nephropathy have been shown. Different mechanisms including
anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxation, antiapoptotic, and regulatory effects on the genes and
proteins expression related to signaling pathways of oxidative stress,
inflammation, apoptosis, proliferation, etc. are involved in
safranal pharmacological effects. Some patents for the prevention and/or treatment of different diseases such as
liver cancer,
sleep disorder, depression,
cognitive disorder,
obesity and PMS were also included. Based on the documents,
safranal is considered a promising therapeutic agent although more clinical studies are needed to verify the beneficial effects of
safranal in humans.