ConsumerLab.com uses JavaScript to provide the best possible experience for our content, but your browser has it disabled. Learn how to enable it here.

Reviews & Articles

Membership & Subscription

About ConsumerLab.com

About Testing

News

  1. Home
  2. / Product Reviews
  3. / Saffron Supplements Review & Top Pick
Favorited Not Favorited

Saffron Supplements Review

See How Saffron Supplements Compare and What They Do

Latest Update
Saffron for Insomnia?
Tod Cooperman, M.D.

Medically reviewed and edited by Tod Cooperman, M.D.

 
Updated July 14, 2025 ⓘ
Watch the video
Products tested in 2023

Summary

  • What are the health benefits of saffron supplements?

    Small studies with saffron extracts have shown very modest and limited benefits for sleep, anxiety, and depression, and for visual acuity in people with macular degeneration. There is very preliminary evidence of a benefit in Alzheimer's disease. Saffron extract may also reduce snacking, but not body weight. More research is needed to confirm these potential benefits (see What It Does).

  • What did ConsumerLab's tests of saffron extracts show?

    Our tests revealed large differences in the amounts of key saffron compounds (safranal, picrocrocin, and crocins), ranging more than 50-fold on some measures. One product contained so little picrocrocin as to suggest adulteration. Only 4 of 6 products could be fully Approved for their quality. The cost to get an equivalent amount of safranal (free + bound) ranged from just 9 cents to as much as $2 (see What CL Found and How Products Were Evaluated).

    Among the Approved supplements, CL selected two as its Top Picks for saffron — one providing a high dose and the other a moderate dose.

  • What to look for in saffron supplements?

    It can be tricky choosing a saffron supplement. A major reason is that they're made of saffron extracts and vary widely in strength (dose) and how they are standardized (see What It Is). For example, some products are standardized to "safranals" or "lepticrosalides" but these terms are not well defined and may not be accurate. Nevertheless, supplements that provide about 14 mg of extract standardized to 2% safranals (free + bound) or 3.5% lepticrosalides, or about 88 mg of extract standardized to 0.3% to 0.4% safranals are most consistent with products used in clinical trials — assuming they contain what they claim, which is not always the case. These doses are typically taken twice daily (see ConsumerTips).

  • Saffron supplement safety and side effects:

    At standard dosing, significant side effects have not been reported with saffron supplements, but studies have been short-term and safety in children and pregnant or nursing women has not been evaluated. There is a bleeding risk with very high-dose saffron (see Concerns and Cautions).

Make sure you're choosing the best saffron supplements approved in our tests!

See the Full Review as a Member

Join now at www.consumerlab.com/join/

Saffron supplement brands compared in this review

View Larger Image 8124_large_CaliforniaGoldNutrition-Saffron-2023.png

California Gold Nutrition Saffron Extract

View Larger Image 8125_large_DoubleWood-Saffron-2023.png

Double Wood Saffron Extract

View Larger Image 8126_large_LakeAvenueNutrition-Saffron-2023.png

Lake Avenue Nutrition Saffron Extract

View Larger Image 8127_large_LifeExtension-Saffron-2023.png

Life Extension Optimized Saffron

View Larger Image 8128_large_SourceNaturals-Saffron-2023.png

Source Naturals Serene Science Saffron Extract

View Larger Image 8129_large_Swanson-Saffron-2023-small.png

Swanson Saffron Extract

You must be a member to get the full test results along with ConsumerLab.com recommendations and quality ratings. You will get results for six saffron supplements selected for testing by ConsumerLab.com. In this comprehensive review, you'll discover:
  • What saffron is and saffron supplements provide any health benefits
  • Which saffron supplements passed or failed ConsumerLab's tests of quality
  • ConsumerLab's Top Picks for moderate and high-dose saffron supplements based on quality and value
  • The clinical evidence for and against saffron supplements for depression and anxiety, insomnia, stress, and anxiety, improving memory and cognition, losing weight, and other proposed uses
  • What to look for in saffron extracts, including key compounds such as safranal, picrocrocin, and crocins
  • The best way to take saffron supplements
  • Safety and potential side effects and drug interactions with saffron supplements

Join to unlock the full report and get full access to over 1,400 reviews

See the Full Review as a Member

Join now at www.consumerlab.com/join/

As a ConsumerLab.com member, you may print a copy of this report for your personal use.

You can access a special print version by clicking the "Print" icon in the upper right corner of this report. You can then use your web browser's print functions to print the whole report or just selected pages.

You may also email or post a link to this report using the web address above. Non-members using the link will see a free summary and can join to view the full report. Other means of copying or distributing this report, in part or full, are not permitted.

If you are sight-impaired and your computer is having trouble converting the text in this report to speech, contact us for assistance at Membership@ConsumerLab.com or by phone at 914-722-9149.

Close
Additional Information
Tested through CL's Quality Certification Program prior to, or after initial posting of this Product Review.