Saffron Research Support Tracker

Thank you for helping advance community-driven ethnobotanical research. Reach out to will@mycosymbiotics.com with any questions.

✅ Phase I Funded — Phase II Now Open (10×10 Aeroponic Saffron CSA)

Thank you for helping advance community-driven ethnobotanical research. Phase I (Saffron Analytics & Extract Research) is now fully funded, and I’m opening support for Phase II: a 10×10 indoor aeroponic saffron research tent that will form the backbone of a future saffron CSA.

🧪 Project Overview

I am currently conducting a deep-dive saffron analytics project to better understand the active constituents in saffron extracts, including crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal, and how different extraction methods influence potency, stability, and bioavailability.

This research will:

• Determine actual active-compound concentrations at a 30 mg/mL standard

• Compare extraction methods (ultrasonic, Soxhlet, vacuum, solvent variation)

• Build an open, accessible data set for herbalists, scientists, and small-scale producers.

• Support a future aeroponic saffron system for sustainable, year-round harvests

• Create educational materials for the community

Phase I research funding has now been fully met.

🌱 Phase II — 10×10 Aeroponic Saffron Tent (Funding Now Open)

Phase II Funding Goal: $7,500

The $7,500 Phase II funding goal supports the build-out of a 10×10 indoor aeroponic saffron research tent, including environmental controls, aeroponic delivery systems, lighting optimized for Crocus sativus flowering, sensors, corm stock, and full documentation. This system is designed to function as long-term research infrastructure rather than a single-use experiment. All Phase II contributors will automatically become members of the future aeroponic saffron CSA, receiving saffron from this system over time in an amount intended to return the value of their contribution through harvested product. In this way, support for Phase II is not just funding research — it is helping build a regenerative production system where backers directly share in the harvest as the project matures.

How the Aeroponic Saffron CSA Works

Phase II supporters are automatically included in the CSA because you’re helping build the infrastructure that produces the harvest.

• Phase II contributors = automatic CSA members

• CSA saffron is distributed over time as harvests occur

• The goal is to return contributor value through saffron produced by the system

• CSA fulfillment begins once flowering + yields are consistent and repeatable

(As the system stabilizes, I’ll publish the CSA structure: distribution cadence, tiers (if needed), and how yield is allocated fairly.)

What Phase II Funding Supports

Contributions toward Phase II directly support:

• 10×10 grow tent + environmental controls (temperature, humidity, airflow)

• Lighting optimized for saffron growth + flowering

• Aeroponic misting system, pumps, reservoirs, filtration, and plumbing

• Sensors + monitoring (temp/RH, EC, pH) for repeatable data

• Corm sourcing and propagation trials

• Documentation, logs, and publishing so others can learn from the system

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📊 Phase I Funding Progress Complete

Total Raised So Far:
$2,550

Goal:
$2,530 

Amount Remaining:

$365.29

Last Updated: 12/14/25

📊 Phase II Funding Progress

Total Raised So Far:

$2,735

Goal:

$7,500

I update this page regularly so supporters can see exactly where funds are going and how the research is evolving.

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💸 Recent Contributions

Phase II

• 12/14/25 - $100 Caleb Brown
• 12/14/25 -$1000 M.T.
• 12/15/25 -$100 Eden Araya
• 12/15/25 -$10 G.C.
• 12/16/25 -$100 Emily Cavsos
• 12/16/25 -$250 M.H.
• 12/18/25 -$170 Chris Comstock
• 12/18/25 -$100 Liam Bannon
• 12/18/25 -$100 Jae Scott
• 12/19/25 -$100 Adam Duke
• 12/19/25 -$50 Steven Chammas
• 12/19/25 -$5 JW
• 12/19/25 -$80 Geraldine Chavez
• 12/24/25- $20 Ajani Rowland
• 12/31/25- $250 Woodland Harvest
• 1/9/26- $200 Caleb Brown

Phase I

• 12/10/25 – $250 from Jason Konner

• 12/11/25 - $100 from Zach Bridson
• 12/11/25 -$1500 from M.T.
• 12/12/25 -$50 from James Norman
• 12/12/25 -$50 from Ashley Sayre
• 12/14/25 -$600 from Josh Ames

If you prefer to remain anonymous, just leave a note at checkout or email me.

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🧰 How Your Support Is Used

Every contribution directly fuels real research. Here’s the transparent breakdown of expenses.

Completed / Current Spending

• $1400 Lab testing at Colorado analytical lab

• $243.47 Batch preparation materials (ethanol, Miron glass, filters, etc.)

• 

• $311.23 Saffron procurement (Afghan Super Negin, research-grade 100grams) *This is my Wholesale Rate. Please do not Share this*

• $300 for Crocin 2 standard

• $ Vacuum concentration supplies

• $ Data analysis

 

Upcoming Budget Needs

• Additional lab analysis

• Equipment upgrades (vacuum distillation, ultrasonic optimization)

• Aeroponic saffron prototype system

• Documentation + publishing costs

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🧿 Why This Research Matters

Saffron is one of the world’s most complex and culturally significant botanicals. Yet small-scale producers, herbalists, and customers rarely have access to clear data on:

• actual active-constituent levels

• extraction efficiency

• stability over time

• comparative potency across regions / farming styles

This project aims to bring clarity to an herbal field that is often confusing or opaque — and to do it transparently, with community support rather than corporate interests.

Your contributions help restore scientific literacy, empower small producers, and create open data anyone can learn from.

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Project Updates (Living Log)

I’ll post updates here as milestones are reached, including:

• Lab timelines + results summaries (plain language)

• 12/20/25 I started the first extracts for Tryptomics analysis. Both 10grams of Saffron on the left are whole threads, and on the right are pulverized via mortar & pestle. Left has 200ml of 190 proof ethanol, and the right has 100ml of 190 proof ethanol. In the Ultrasonic Ice bath for 2 30-minute increments. 
  

• Extraction logs + method refinements

• Photos/video updates from the build

• Receipts and budget notes

• Final reports + free educational materials

This page is meant to be a transparent, ongoing record, not a one-time fundraising pitch.

 

1/12/26

Contributor Update, Research & Infrastructure Progress

Crocin Analysis Update

Initial HPLC results have confirmed the presence of four distinct crocin compounds in our extracts. To refine identification and quantification, I’m allocating $300 from the remaining research budget toward a Crocin-2 reference standard. This will allow us to anchor one of the primary peaks with higher confidence while we wait on additional data from the lab.

Further interpretation will be shared once the full analytical set is complete and reproducible.

Lab & Grow Space

The lease for the new growing and research space has officially been signed. I’m currently waiting on confirmation from the landlord regarding proration, which would allow us to begin moving equipment in and starting the grow as soon as possible.

This space is a key step toward controlled indoor cultivation and tighter environmental parameter tracking for bioactive expression.

Corm Sourcing Update

At the moment, Amazon appears to be one of the only vendors with viable saffron corms available for immediate shipment. Several specialty and agricultural suppliers are already sold out or will not ship until August, which may push other sourcing options outside our ideal research window.

I’m continuing to vet quality and timing carefully to balance speed, viability, and experimental integrity.

As always, thank you for supporting work that prioritizes measured science, transparency, and long-term viability over shortcuts. More updates soon as lab data and grow logistics finalize.

 

1/21/26 Email from Tryptomics

1/30/26

COAs are coming in for the oleoresin!!! So far the whole threads no mortar and pestle  no heat has the best results.

2/4/26

These next 2 arer from a lab using the same saffron as me to make tinctures, showing the processing matters alot.

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Thank You

This project exists because of community support. Whether you contribute $5 or $500, you’re helping build independent, regenerative ethnobotanical science — and now, you’re helping build the first aeroponic saffron system that will feed a long-term saffron CSA.

— William Padilla-Brown, MycoSymbiotics