The World Saffron and Crocus Collection

Creation of the CROCUSBANK collection of saffron genetic resources

Since 2007, the CROCUSBANK action has permitted the creation of the unique germplasm collection which contains a representation of the genetic variability present in saffron crop and wild relatives at global scale.

As a result, the World Saffron Collection is currently composed by 237 accessions (acquired), although only 225 accessions are effectively preserved in the bank (12 accessions lost by different reasons). Most of these accessions were collected in commercial areas of the European Union and other countries, but other interesting sources of acquisition are well represented in the collection, such us crop relictic areas, abandon fields and specialised nurseries. The results are satisfactory in terms of geographical origin of the materials, as 15 countries are covered, including 5 EU Protected Denomination of Origin regions.