DOCTOR PANICKERS AYURVEDA HOSPITAL: May 2009

Antioxidants provide our bodies with numerous health benefits, and it’s only logical to include fruits and foods that contain antioxidants in our daily diet.

Pomegranates have just that… a high level of antioxidants. Aside from its rich flavor and the number of ways to eat and drink it, studies have shown that pomegranate contains more antioxidants than green tea, cranberries and even red wine!

By including pomegranate in your daily diet you can improve your blood flow and, in so doing… help prevent heart diseases such as heart attacks, stroke or clogged arteries.

Pomegranate also promotes healthy blood pressure levels and low cholesterol. Pomegranate juice can be helpful for men as well… as studies have concluded that it may help prevent prostate cancer and growth.

The pomegranate fruit contains many antioxidants for our bodies and eating it daily is beneficial for your health. However remember to always mix plenty of different fruits in your diet. While pomegranate is great, you should always include other fruits and juices as well.

The pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to between five and eight metres tall. The pomegranate is native to Southwest Asia and has been cultivated and naturalized over the whole Mediterranean region and the Caucasus since ancient times. It is widely cultivated throughout Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, India, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, the drier parts of southeast Asia, Peninsular Malaysia, the East Indies, and tropical Africa. Introduced into Latin America and California by Spanish settlers in 1769, pomegranate is now cultivated in parts of California and Arizona for juice production.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the fruit is typically in season from September to February.^[3] In the Southern Hemisphere, it is in season from March to May.

Pomegranate flowers and leaves

The leaves are opposite or sub-opposite, glossy, narrow oblong, entire, 3–7 cm long and 2 cm broad. The flowers are bright red, 3 cm in diameter, with four to five petals (often more on cultivated plants). Some fruitless varieties are grown for the flowers alone. The edible fruit is between a lemon and a grapefruit in size, 5–12 cm in diameter with a rounded hexagonal shape, and has thick reddish skin and around 600 seeds. The seeds and surrounding pulp, ranging in color from white to deep red, called arils, are edible as the fruit of the pomegranate is a berry. There are some cultivars which have been introduced that have a range of pulp colors such as purple.

Punica granatum nana is a dwarf variety of P. granatum popularly used as Bonsai trees and as a patio plant. The only other species in the genus Punica is the Socotran pomegranate (Punica protopunica), which is endemic to the island of Socotra. It differs in having pink (not red) flowers and smaller, less sweet fruit. Pomegranates are drought tolerant, and can be grown in dry areas with either a Mediterranean winter rainfall climate or in summer rainfall climates. In wetter areas, they are prone to root decay from fungal diseases. They are tolerant of moderate frost, down to about −10°C (14°F).

Pomegranate aril juice provides about 16% of an adult's daily vitamin C requirement per 100 ml serving, and is a good source of vitamin B₅ (pantothenic acid), potassium and antioxidant polyphenols.^]

The most abundant polyphenols in pomegranate juice are the hydrolyzable tannins calledpunicalagins which have free-radical scavenging properties in laboratory experiments. Punicalagins are absorbed into the human body and may have dietary value as antioxidants, but conclusive proof of efficacy in humans has not yet been shown.

Other phytochemicals include beta-carotene,^] and polyphenols catechins, gallocatechins, and anthocyanins such as prodelphinidins, delphinidin, cyanidin, and pelargonidin. TheORAC (antioxidant capacity) of pomegranate juice is considered moderate when compared to other herbs and spices. The ORAC of pomegranate juice is measured at 2,860 units per 100 grams.

Many food and dietary supplement makers have found advantages of using pomegranate phenolic extracts as ingredients in their products instead of the juice. One of these extracts is ellagic acid which may become bioavailable only after parent molecule punicalagins are metabolized. However, ingested ellagic acid from pomegranate juice does not accumulate in the blood in significant quantities and is rapidly excreted. Accordingly, ellagic acid from pomegranate juice does not appear to be biologically important in vivo.

In preliminary laboratory research and human pilot studies, juice of the pomegranate was effective in reducing heart disease risk factors, including LDL oxidation, macrophage oxidative status, and foam cell formation, all of which are steps in atherosclerosis andcardiovascular disease.

Pomegranate juice has also been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure by inhibiting serum angiotensin-converting enzyme, may inhibit viral infections, and may have antibacterial effects against dental plaque.

Containing polyphenols which inhibit estrogen synthesis, pomegranate seed oil was effective against proliferation of breast cancer cells in vitro.

Metabolites of pomegranate juice ellagitannins localize specifically in the prostate gland, colon, and intestinal tissues of mice. leading to clinical studies of pomegranate juice or fruit extracts for efficacy against several diseases.