The mood botanical

affron® Saffron — the spice, standardized for mood.

Saffron has been used for mood for centuries; affron® is the extract Pharmactive makes from Spanish saffron stigmas, standardized to 3.5% Lepticrosalides® and studied at exactly the 28 mg we use — the dose that worked when 22 mg did not.

affron® · Pharmactive Biotech, Madrid, Spain · Crocus sativus stigma

affron® · Pharmactive · standardized Spanish saffron

Twenty-eight milligrams — the number the trial found.

The first affron® mood trial tested two doses against placebo. At 28 mg a day, participants’ negative-mood, stress and tension scores fell relative to placebo after four weeks; at 22 mg, nothing moved. That is why this formula carries 28 mg and not a rounder, smaller number.

28 mgper serving — the trial dose; the 22 mg arm of the same trial did nothing
3.5%Lepticrosalides® — the crocins and safranal the extract is standardized to
Spaingrown, harvested and extracted in Spain by Pharmactive

What it’s for

  • Supports a positive mood and emotional balanceIn its four-week placebo-controlled trial, adults with low mood taking 28 mg reported better mood scores than placebo — at 22 mg there was no effect.
  • Helps you feel calm and settledStress and tension scores were secondary measures in that trial; the largest later trial found the effect held for mood but not for stress.
  • Supports restful sleepIts 28 mg sleep trials measured sleep quality and evening melatonin.
  • Standardized every batch, extracted coolA patented low-temperature water extraction keeps the fragile crocins intact — measured by HPLC to 3.5%.

What researchers measured — at our 28 mg dose

affron® · RDBPC

Four weeks, in adults with low mood

128 adults with self-reported low mood · randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled · affron® 28 mg vs 22 mg vs placebo · 4 weeks · Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 2017

28 mgimproved negative mood, stress and tension scores vs placebo in study participants
22 mgno significant effect on any measure — the dose matters
n = 202in the largest later trial (12 weeks, 2025), mood improved vs placebo; stress scores did not

Kell et al., Complement Ther Med 2017;33:58–64; Lopresti et al., J Nutr 2025 (both Pharmactive-supported). Studies of the affron® ingredient in study participants — not of this finished product.

All affron® trials are maker-funded and most share one investigator. Several were run in people being treated for low mood; we do not cite those. In 2021 the EU food-safety authority declined to authorise a mood claim for affron® — this page makes no EU claim.

affron® is a standardized saffron (Crocus sativus) stigma extract. These structure/function statements have not been evaluated by the FDA; this product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Cited research is of the saffron ingredient at the branded dose, not this finished formula. Photography shows raw saffron, not the capsule.