Abstract:In order to evaluate the quality of saffron from different sources at home and abroad，a high performance liquid chromatography（HPLC）method was established to determine the content of crocinⅠ and crocinⅡ，meanwhile，a UV/visible spectrophotometry was established to determine the three characteristic parameters of odor，flavor and color in saffron.HPLC method was carried out with column C18，using methanol and water（45∶55，volume ratio）as the mobile phase at flow rate of 1 mL/min.The detection wavelength was at 440 nm and the column temperature was at 30 ℃.The calibration curve of crocinⅠ was in good linearity at 5.419 μg/mL-108.373 μg/mL （r=1.000 0）and the average recovery was 99.81 % with relative standard deviation（RSD）of 1.50%.The calibration curve of crocinⅡ was in good linearity at 3.822 μg/mL-76.433 μg/mL（r=0.999 9）and the average recovery was 97.47 % with RSD of 0.95 %.The HPLC method was accurate and stable.There was a significant difference in the content of crocinⅠ and crocinⅡ.UV/visible spectrophotometry was carried out at 257，330 nm and 440 nm.The absorbance values of three characteristic parameters in saffron were different.The saffron samples belonged to the different grade.