## 3 Results  
### Phenolic Composition of Saffron Leaf Extracts  
The phenolic profile (Figure 2 and Table 1) of both extracts showcased similar chemical chromatograms, both presenting three major peaks at 20.06, 22.64, and 24.86 min. Figure 2: HPLC-DAD chromatogram of the saffron leaf polyphenol fraction (SLPF) recorded at 280 nm, highlighting phenolic compound profiles. Peak identification (1–9) is reported in Table 1. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**\#Peak** & **R (min)** & **UV-Vis (Anaxax nm)** & **Mass (g/mol)** & **Fragmentation Ions** & **Tentative Identification (UV + MS Data)** & **Reterences** & **SLE** & **SLPF** & **\& **\& \\  & & & & **(in/z)** & **Data)** & **References** & **SLE (mg/g)** & **(mg/g)** & **\(\Delta\)(\%)** \\ \hline  & & & & & & (a) Quercetin-3-Ospherotiside-7/O-glucoside (rz) & & & & \\
**1** & 18.68 \(\pm\) 0.2 & 272/324 & & (a) 950 & 949(100), 933(0), & & & & \\
**2** & 18.68 \(\pm\) 0.2 & 272/324 & & (a) 950 & 949(100), 933(0), & & & & \\
**3** & 18.68 \(\pm\) 0.2 & 272/324 & & (b) 934 & 771(10), 609(5), & & & & \\  & & & & 447(5) & & & & & \\  & & & & & & & & \\  & & & & & & & & \\  & & & & & & & & \\
**4** & 21.89 \(\pm\) 0.3 & 253/352 & & (a) 964 & 963(15), & 801(100), & & & & \\  & & & (b) 772 & 771(55), 681(10) & & & & & \\  & & & & & & & & \\
**5** & 21.20 \(\pm\) 0.6 & 272/334 & 610 & & 609(100), 489(15), & & & & \\  & & & & 429(100), 289(10) & & & & & \\
**6** & 22.64 \(\pm\) 0.3 & 254/268h/340 & 448 & & 327(90), & 296(5), & & & \\  & & & & & & & & \\  & & & & & & & & \\
**7** & 24.86 \(\pm\) 0.4 & 284 & 772 & & 771(100), 609(15), & & & & \\  & & & & & 429(100), 181(10) & & & & \\  & & & & & 431(100), 341(40), & & & & \\
**8** & 25.48 \(\pm\) 0.2 & 272/330 & 432 & & 311(90), 283(5), & & & & \\  & & & & & 117(25) & & & & \\
**9** & 29.29 \(\pm\) 0.7 & 284/330 & - & & 401(20), 196(30), & & & & \\  & & & & 181(100), 153(20) & & & & & \\ \hline \multicolumn{10}{c}{\({}^{*}\) quantified as quercetin; dc shoulder.} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & 75.33 & 330.00 & 438.07 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Identification and quantification of phenolic compounds in saffar leaf extracts. Peak **(1)** likely represents the co-elution of two flavonoid tetrahexosides with respective [M\(-\)H]\({}^{-}\) values of 949 and 933 \(m/z\), whose fragmentation patterns were deeply investigated [15] (Table 1). The parent ion with \(m/z\) at 949 has been identified as a quercetin tetrahexoside, comprising quercetin + four hexoses (4 \(\times\) 162 u; C\({}_{6}\)H\({}_{12}\)O\({}_{6}\)-H\({}_{2}\)O) [C\({}_{15}\)H\({}_{10}\)O\({}_{7}\)+162+162+162+162]\({}^{-}\), probably the quercetin-3-O-sophotrioside-7-O-glucose [15]. The parent ion at \(m/z\) 933 is likely a kaempfer tetrahexoside [C\({}_{15}\)H\({}_{10}\)O6+162+162+162]\({}^{-}\), which is also consistent with the assignment of the deprotonated molecular ion at \(m/z\) 933 observed by [PERSON] et al. (2007) [16]. Moreover, fragments at \(m/z\) 771 [M\(-\)H\(-\)162]\({}^{-}\), 609 [M\(-\)H\(-\)162\(-\)162]\({}^{-}\) and 447 [M-H-162-162] indicated the presence of kaempfer, incorporating a sophotriose (glucose trimer) and a glucose at positions R3 and R7 [15]. While their fragmentation patterns have been meticulously identified, the UV spectra reveal discrepancies, as the detector only exhibited peaks at 272 and 324 nm, suggesting a significant abundance in the kaempfer glycoside, being the quercetin isomer limited to trace amounts. Peak **(2)** displayed a quercetin-based molecule through its UV spectra with peaks at 253, 271 sh and 342 nm. This suggests the presence of a quercetin (C\({}_{15}\)H\({}_{10}\)O\({}_{7}\)) glycoside. Ion at \(m/z\) 625 [C\({}_{15}\)H\({}_{10}\)O\({}_{7}\)+162+162]\({}^{-}\) confirms this, pointing a quercetin dihexoside structure. Ions at \(m/z\) at 505 [M-H-120]\({}^{-}\) and 445 [M-H-180]\({}^{-}\), also reported by [15], indicated the presence of quercetin-3-O-sophoroside, previously identified in floral residues of saffron [1,18].