Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2021) 10(05): 112-126 112 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2021.1005.016 Isolation and Biochemical Analysis of Bacteria associated with Dried Stigma of Saffron (Crocus sativus) Mridhu Sharma * , Puneet Gupta, Shanu Mangotra, Sneha Ganjoo, Deepika Trakroo, Sakshi Sharma and Jyoti Vakhlu Department of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, School of Biotechnology, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Road, Jammu, Tawi (J&K) -180006, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Various studies on the plants have revealed that plants genome contributes to the structure and function of the plant microbiome and also the interations between host (plant) and the microorganisms. According to these studies the microbiome can be considered as an extension of the host genome. Microbiomes associated with above-ground (phyllosphere), below-ground (rhizosphere) (Oldroyd et al., 2011; Kent et al., 2002) and internal (endosphere) tissues of the same plant and those occupying the same niche of different plants have been studied (Gilbert et al., 2010; Tumbaugh et al., 2007) and it was seen to be International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 10 Number 05 (2021) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com The stigma and pistil of saffron are used to extract chemical compounds such as crocin, picrocrocin, crocetin and safranal; and volatile oils for flavor respectively. The work is to isolate microbiome associated with stigma of saffron. 15 morphotypes obtained from Kashmir and 32 from Kishtwar. Their morphological characterization showed that the smooth textured colonies more in Kishtwar and rough textured colonies more in Kashmir. The IC 50 values of radical scavenging revealed that antioxidant activity of Kishtwar is more as lower IC 50 value corresponds to a higher antioxidant activity of sample. The IC 50 values of ferrous chelation revealed that antioxidant activity of Kishtwar is more as lower IC 50 value corresponds to a higher antioxidant activity of sample. Hence, Kishtwar has more antioxidant activity. The flavonoid and phenolic content of Kashmir is higher than that of Kishtwar. Of the biochemical assays conducted, only tannins and Glycosides are present in stigma of saffron. Further work can be done to unveil the bacterial property to produce the pigments that act as favouring agent that can be used in bio- industry. Keywords Microbiome, plants, temperature, moisture and pH Accepted: 12 April 2021 Available Online: 10 May 2021 Article Info