Perspectives in the mechanization of saffron (crocus sativus l.)

In last decades it can be seen a strong growth of the biologic sector and, in UE and USA, in last years about 15-20 millions of Euro is the market value. The Sardinian Saffron spice DOP is certainty a biologic product. The saffron spice production is actually marginal because of high cost of the production phases, overall the harvesting phase of the flower on field, that is completely made by hand. The saffron harvesting mechanization is a winning chance also under a socio-economic point of view. In the production process of Saffron spice, flower harvesting and stigma separation are the most challenging phases of the entire process. In this paper, mechanical devices for supporting the human work in both these phases are presented and described. Results from field tests are provided as well. For the separation of saffron stigmas, an air separator was designed and realized. The air separator can be set with different geometric configurations to optimize separation efficiency. Results from several tests are given throughout the paper.