Saffron Extract Label Doses: What 30 mg Means (and What to Check)
Take 30 mg a day, the amount of saffron mood trials used. That is one capsule of most 30 mg products. Check that the label states its standardization, and give it 6 to 8 weeks.
Based on published research, not medical advice. Feeling depressed? Talk to a doctor. Taking an antidepressant, pregnant or on other medicines? Ask your doctor first.
Ready to buy:
Nootropics Depot Saffron Extract30 mg in one capsule, with at least 7.5% crocins (saffron’s main active compounds) stated on the label. Why it is our pick.
Costs are brand prices, checked October 18, 2026.
Which saffron is right for you?
Look for about 30 mg a day from a label that states its standardization or names its extract. These are two good ones.
Want one on a testing list? Still one capsule.
Thorne Rapid Relief Saffron has 30 mg of extract in one capsule and is on NSF/ANSI 173, which checks the capsule holds what the label says. It costs $1.50 a day at Thorne’s price.
Thorne Rapid Relief Saffron
30 mg in 1 capsule · NSF/ANSI 173
Want affron? Also one capsule.
Solaray has 30 mg of affron, the branded extract used in one trial (Lopresti 2019), in one capsule. It costs $0.73 a day at Solaray’s price.
Solaray Saffron Extract (affron)
30 mg affron in 1 capsule
What to check on your label
Look for a stated percent of crocins or safranal, or a named extract like affron or Safr’Inside. Many cheap pills hold 88.5 mg of a generic extract. That is about three times the trial amount, of an extract that does not match a studied product. You cannot work out from the label how it compares to the 30 mg trials used.
Taking an antidepressant? Ask first.
One trial tested affron added to antidepressants (Lopresti 2019). Do not add saffron to medicine, or swap one for the other, without your doctor.
How much saffron per day
Mood trials gave 30 mg of dried saffron a day, as 15 mg twice a day, for 6 weeks (Akhondzadeh 2005), and a review of these trials found lower depression scores than a dummy pill (Tóth 2019). A trial in women with PMS used the same amount (Agha-Hosseini 2008). The affron trial used 28 mg of extract a day for 8 weeks (Lopresti 2019).
How to take it
- Take one 30 mg capsule a day.
- Give it 6 to 8 weeks. That is how long the trials ran (Akhondzadeh 2005; Lopresti 2019).
Work out your daily saffron
Enter the numbers from your label. You will see your mg a day against the 30 mg mood trials used.
Questions people ask
Is one capsule a day the same as the trials?
The trials split the dose: 15 mg twice a day, 30 mg in total (Akhondzadeh 2005; Agha-Hosseini 2008). One 30 mg capsule gives the same total, but we found no trial that gave it once a day.
Is more saffron better?
Not that we know of. Mood trials used about 30 mg a day. The side-effect review warns about higher doses and long use (Hasheminasab 2026).
Related guides
- Best saffron supplement: the products we compared, ranked
- Is your saffron real?: fakes and how to read a label
- Saffron guide: what it is and what the research found
Sources
- Akhondzadeh S, et al. “Crocus sativus L. in the treatment of mild to moderate depression: a double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled trial.” Phytother Res. 2005. PubMed 15852492
- Tóth B, et al. “The Efficacy of Saffron in the Treatment of Mild to Moderate Depression: A Meta-analysis.” Planta Med. 2019. PubMed 30036891
- Agha-Hosseini M, et al. “Crocus sativus L. (saffron) in the treatment of premenstrual syndrome: a double-blind, randomised and placebo-controlled trial.” BJOG. 2008. PubMed 18271889
- Lopresti AL, et al. “Efficacy of a standardised saffron extract (affron®) as an add-on to antidepressant medication for the treatment of persistent depressive symptoms in adults: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.” J Psychopharmacol. 2019. PubMed 31475623
- Hasheminasab FS, et al. “Adverse Events of Saffron (Crocus sativus L.): Systematic Review of Current Evidence.” Health Sci Rep. 2026. PubMed 42057871