<![CDATA[Background: Introduction: Academic stress is a common problem among healthcare students and is associated with increased emotional eating as a maladaptive coping mechanism. Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is known to have anxiolytic and appetite-regulating effects through neurotransmitter modulation. Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of saffron capsules in controlling emotional eating due to academic stress in healthcare students. Method: A quasi-experimental study with a non-randomized pretest-posttest control group was conducted on 34 healthcare students (nursing, medicine, and nutrition) who were assigned to saffron (100 mg/day) and vitamin C (500 mg/day) for three weeks. Measurements were made using the Perceived Academic Stress Scale (PASS) and the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire–Emotional Eating (DEBQ-E). Analysis used paired-sample t-tests and independent-sample t-tests (p<0.05). Results: Both groups showed a significant decrease in PASS and DEBQ-E scores after the intervention (p<0.05). Descriptively, the reduction in emotional eating was greater in the saffron group (Δ=7.176) than in the vitamin C group (Δ=4.824), while the reduction in academic stress was greater in the vitamin C group (Δ=2.353) than in the saffron group (Δ=1.000). However, an independent t-test showed no significant differences between the groups in PASS or DEBQ-E scores (p>0.05). Conclusion: Saffron capsules have the potential to help reduce emotional eating and academic stress in healthcare students, although they did not show a significant difference in effectiveness compared to vitamin C. Further research with a larger sample size is needed to strengthen these findings. Keywords: Academic Stress; Emotional Eating; Healthcare Students; Saffron Capsules; Vitamin C. Pendahuluan: Stres akademik merupakan masalah umum pada mahasiswa kesehatan dan berhubungan dengan peningkatan perilaku emotional eating sebagai bentuk koping maladaptif. Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) diketahui memiliki efek ansiolitik dan regulasi nafsu makan melalui modulasi neurotransmiter Tujuan: Untuk mengevaluasi efektivitas kapsul saffron terhadap kontrol emotional eating akibat stres akademik pada mahasiswa kesehatan. Metode: Penelitian quasi-eksperimental dengan desain non-randomized control group pretest–posttest dilakukan pada 34 mahasiswa kesehatan (keperawatan, kedokteran, dan gizi) yang dibagi menjadi kelompok saffron (100 mg/hari) dan vitamin C (500 mg/hari) selama tiga minggu. Pengukuran dilakukan menggunakan Perceptions of Academic Stress Scale (PASS) dan Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire–Emotional Eating (DEBQ-E). Analisis menggunakan paired sample t-test dan independent sample t-test (p<0,05). Hasil: Kedua kelompok menunjukkan penurunan signifikan skor PASS dan DEBQ-E setelah intervensi (p<0.05). Secara deskriptif, penurunan emotional eating lebih besar pada kelompok saffron (Δ=7.176) dibandingkan vitamin C (Δ=4.824), sedangkan penurunan stres akademik lebih besar pada vitamin C (Δ=2.353) dibandingkan saffron (Δ=1.000). Namun, uji independent t-test tidak menunjukkan perbedaan signifikan antar kelompok baik pada PASS maupun DEBQ-E (p>0.05). Simpulan: Kapsul saffron berpotensi membantu menurunkan emotional eating dan stres akademik pada mahasiswa kesehatan, meskipun tidak menunjukkan perbedaan efektivitas yang signifikan dibandingkan vitamin C. Penelitian lanjutan dengan durasi dan sampel lebih besar diperlukan untuk memperkuat temuan ini. Kata Kunci: Emotional Eating; Kapsul Saffron; Mahasiswa Kesehatan; Stres Akademik; Vitamin C.]]>
