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Physicochemical Properties, Vitamin C Content, and Antimicrobial Properties of Pomegranate Fruit ( Punica granatum L.)
Abstract
Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruit is widely used in the food and process industries due to its excellent nutritional and health value and as a raw
material for the manufacture of secondary products such as jellies, dyes, and cosmetics. The objectives of this research were
to determine the vitamin C content and antimicrobial properties of fresh and dried fractions of fruit peel and arils of locally
grown and imported pomegranate in Oman. A significant variation in vitamin C content was found among the five varieties of
pomegranate studied, ranging from 52.8 to 72.0 mg/100 g fresh weight (fw) for arils and 76.8 to 118.4 mg/100 g fw for peels.
Irrespective of the variety of pomegranate, vitamin C content in the peel was significantly higher than the aril, with differences
ranging from 24.4% to 97.0% depending on variety. Fruit fractions showed antimicrobial effects (inhibition zone) on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa but not Escherichia coli. Sun drying of fruit peel significantly (p ≤ 0.05) enhanced vitamin C retention and antimicrobial effects in comparison with oven drying presumably due to lower rate
of moisture removal associated with low temperature drying over longer duration in comparison with short-time high-temperature
oven drying.
... Pomegranate (Punica granatum) belongs to the plant family Punicaceae and is widely spread over the geographical location of the northern hemisphere (Fawole et al., 2012). The fruit, because of its high nutritional and functional values, such as high sugars content, proteins, organic acids, polysaccharides, minerals, vitamin C and polyphenols, has gained remarkable acceptance from consumers (Lansky and Newman, 2007;Opara et al., 2009;Miguel et al., 2010;Fawole and Opara, 2013). Pomegranate arils are eaten fresh and used in various kinds of food, including jams, jellies, wine, and beverages (Aarabi et al., 2008;Opara et al., 2009;Mousavinejad et al., 2009). ...
... The fruit, because of its high nutritional and functional values, such as high sugars content, proteins, organic acids, polysaccharides, minerals, vitamin C and polyphenols, has gained remarkable acceptance from consumers (Lansky and Newman, 2007;Opara et al., 2009;Miguel et al., 2010;Fawole and Opara, 2013). Pomegranate arils are eaten fresh and used in various kinds of food, including jams, jellies, wine, and beverages (Aarabi et al., 2008;Opara et al., 2009;Mousavinejad et al., 2009). The consumption of pomegranate arils in a higher amount has been associated with improved human health due to its active phenolic compounds such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic and anti-hypertension properties (Gil et al., 2000;Kaur et al., 2006;Duman et al., 2009;Viuda-Martos et al., 2010;Fawole et al., 2012). ...
... This was expected as the observed colour variation was also not observed visually. Colour is important for assessing pomegranate's acceptability, marketability, and consumer preference (Opara et al., 2009;Fawole et al., 2012;Pathare et al., 2013). In this study, the L* of dried arils for 'Wonderful' was higher than in 'Acco', while no significant differences between 'Wonderful' and 'Herskawitz' as well as between 'Herskawitz' and 'Acco' were found. ...
A comparative study of the physicochemical attributes of dried pomegranate arils from three pomegranate cultivars ('Acco', 'Herskawitz' and 'Wonderful') was conducted. The hot-air drying experiment was carried out at 60°C, with 19.6% relative humidity and an air velocity of 1.0 m s-1. Dried pomegranate arils of each cultivar were assessed for colour, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, and pH. The results showed that desirable quality attributes of the investigated dried pomegranate arils were cultivar dependent. The TSS, TA and pH were in the ranges of 16.3-21.0 °Brix, 1.23-1.50 (% citric acid) and 3.36-3.85, respectively. 'Wonderful' had the highest a* value while 'Acco' had the least. Furthermore, the values of aril colour intensity (C*) varied markedly among the cultivars; the highest and the least colour intensity were found in 'Wonderful' and 'Acco', respectively.
... Production and consumption of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruit is on the increase worldwide. The fruit has an edible portion of about 55-60% [1] and can be eaten fresh or processed into juice, wine, and jam [2][3][4]. Freshly harvested fruit is kept under cold storage awaiting export to distant markets. Fruit from South Africa takes about 42 d to reach Europe as the major export market destination and therefore a need to maintain good postharvest quality during prolonged storage and export conditions. ...
... Lightnesss index describes surface color in the range from 0 (black) to 100 (white).2 Redness index describes surface color in the range from green (−a*) to red (+a*).3 Chroma. ...
... Lightnesss index, describes surface color in the range from 0 (black) to 100 (white).2 Redness index, describes surface color in the range from green (−a*) to red (+a*).3 Chroma. ...
Weight loss and decay are common physiological disorders during postharvest handling and storage of pomegranates. The study focused on relating the ability of plastic liners as internal packaging to modify both gaseous and moisture atmosphere around the fruit to moisture dynamics and physical and physiological quality of pomegranate fruit (cv. Wonderful) during storage. Fruit were packed with no-liner, non-perforated ‘Decco’, non-perforated ‘Zoe’, micro-perforated Xtend®, 2 mm macro-perforated high density polyethylene (HDPE), and 4 mm macro-perforated HDPE plastic liners. After 84 days of storage at 5 °C and 90–95% relative humidity (RH), fruit packed with no-liner lost 15.6 ± 0.3% of initial weight. Non-perforated (Decco and Zoe) liners minimised losses to 0.79 and 0.82% compared to Xtend® micro-perforated (4.17%) and 2 mm HDPE (2.44%) and 4 mm macro-perforated HDPE (4.17%) liners, respectively. Clearly, micro- and macro-perforation of liners minimised moisture condensation, fruit decay, and shrivel severity. Micro-perforated Xtend® and macro-perforated 4 mm HDPE were the best treatments in minimising postharvest losses that are often associated with inadequate environment control inside packaging compared to the use of non-perforated liners.
... There are several published reviews that focus on the non-destructive quality measurement of fruits such as mangos [31], citrus [33] and watermelon [34]. Particularly for pomegranate fruit, several authors have written extensively on postharvest quality attributes and the benefits of pomegranate and its products [11,15,35,36]. To the best of our knowledge, no review has been published focusing on the non-destructive assessment of pomegranate fruit despite several applications of non-destructive assessment technologies for the quality assessment of pomegranate fruit. ...
... The internal quality attributes of pomegranate fruit include the physicochemical, vitamin C content, etc. [15]. These quality attributes range in value depending on different factors [53]. ...
Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is one of the most healthful and popular fruits in the world. The increasing demand for pomegranate has resulted in it being processed into different food products and food supplements. Researchers over the years have shown interest in exploring non-destructive techniques as alternative approaches for quality assessment of the harvest at the on-farm point to the retail level. The approaches of non-destructive techniques are more efficient, inexpensive, faster and yield more accurate results. This paper provides a comprehensive review of recent applications of non-destructive technology for the quality evaluation of pomegranate fruit. Future trends and challenges of using non-destructive techniques for quality evaluation are highlighted in this review paper. Some of the highlighted techniques include computer vision, imaging-based approaches, spectroscopy-based approaches, the electronic nose and the hyperspectral imaging technique. Our findings show that most of the applications are focused on the grading of pomegranate fruit using machine vision systems and the electronic nose. Measurements of total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA) and pH as well as other phytochemical quality attributes have also been reported. Value-added products of pomegranate fruit such as fresh-cut and dried arils, pomegranate juice and pomegranate seed oil have been non-destructively investigated for their numerous quality attributes. This information is expected to be useful not only for those in the grower/processing industries but also for other agro-food commodities.
... Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is undeniably one of the most ancient deciduous fruits in the world (Al-Said et al., 2009;Opara et al., 2009). With its origin traceable to the Middle East, it has been grown commercially and has met export quality in South Africa (Adetoro et al., 2020; Pomegranate Producers Association of South Africa, POMASA, 2021). ...
... Pomegranate fruit can be consumed as fresh arils or in its processed form, such as juice, dried arils, jams, etc. In the past decades, the demand for pomegranate fruit has been increasing due to its nutritional, elemental composition, and health benefits (Lansky and Newman, 2007;Opara et al., 2009;Opara, 2012, 2013). ...
... Based on the results of Duangmal et al. (2008), the red color may be due to the accumulation of anthocyanins in different parts of the plant. It has been reported that the redder seed of pomegranate (Punica granatum) represented more redness (Opara et al., 2009). Consumption of 2 mM salicylic acid increased the redness and brightness of saffron stigmas. ...
... Furthermore, the non-SA + four weeks irrigation intervals + humic acid (100.7) and after that S.A. + three weeks irrigation intervals + mycorrhiza (94.76) resulted in the maximum amount of Chroma (Table 6). A study reported that the pomegranate seeds' redder, the higher the chroma index (color intensity) (Opara et al., 2009). Therefore, the present research results indicated that proper irrigation and fertility management could improve the color quality of saffron stigma, one of the most important indices of saffron appearance and effective in its marketability. ...
Increasing the saffron quantity and quality is essential and should be considered to achieve the desired performance. In this regard, to study the effect of nutrient and irrigation management on the quality and yield of saffron, an experiment was carried out at the research station, the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, in 2013–2015. The study was performed as a split-split plot based on a Randomized Complete Block Design with 18 treatments. Experimental factors were: 1- superabsorbent (S.A.) [application and non-application (non-S.A.)], 2- irrigation intervals [every two, three, and four weeks], and 3- nutrient management [humic acid, mycorrhiza (Glomus intraradices) and control]. Among all treatments, the application of S.A. increased on average 61% fresh saffron flower and dry stigma yields in both growing seasons. S.A. + four weeks irrigation intervals + humic acid were increased number of flower, dry stigma yields (175.33 per m² and 7.472 kg.ha⁻¹, respectively), and water productivity of irrigation of saffron stigma (2.138 g.ha⁻¹) in 2015. The use of S.A. and humic acid compensated for water shortage and increased stigmas' yield. Furthermore, the maximum L observed in S.A. + three weeks irrigation intervals + humic acid (32.44). Among all treatments, the lowest amount of b value and Hue was observed in shorter irrigation intervals; so, application of S.A. + two weeks irrigation intervals + humic acid resulted in the minimum amount of Hue (−0.1783) that was a desirable trait. The maximum crocin and picrocrocin obtained in S.A. + three weeks irrigation intervals + mycorrhiza (225.9 A4401% and 86.58 A2541%, respectively) and the highest safranal content observed in S.A. + four weeks irrigation intervals + humic acid (47.03 A3301%). In general, it seems that the application of humic acid, mycorrhiza, S.A., and longer irrigation intervals can significantly increase the quality and yield of saffron.
... The peel has greater biological activity than the pulp. It is used as animal feed, mostly discarded, creating an environmental problem due to the moisture content [3][4]. The strong biological activity is concurrent to its specific chemical composition, especially the secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids and plant phenolics [5]. ...
... Numerous research on fruit peel waste have revealed that these waste products have a wide range of biological activity, including antioxidant, antibacterial, and anticancer properties [2][3]. Study of Fawole and Opara [4], showed composition of major and minor minerals in the peels of seven pomegranate cultivars (Namely Arakta, Bhagwa, Ganesh, Herskawitz, Ruby, Molla de Elche, and Wonderful) and highlighted significant differences among these seven verities the Bhagwa cultivar has the greatest nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, and chlorine contents at 351. 50 ...
Punica granatum (pomegranate) is a high-polyphenol, high-bioavailability fruit that is often regarded as a
superfood. The fruits have long been employed in the prevention and treatment of many malignant illnesses, and
their involvement in pathophysiological processes has been documented in both scientific and non-science
literature. The medicinal potential of pomegranate fruit is extensively mentioned in the ancient literature and also
used in different system of medicines. These fruits are known for major bioactive compounds such as quercetin,
ellagic acid, punicalagin, pedunculagin, tannic acid, anthocyanins, rutin, catechin and polyphenols. These
compounds are well known for their antioxidant, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic,
anticancerous, anti-mutagenic, cytoprotective, cardiovascular protective, anti-diabetic, anti-ulcerogenic,
hepatoprotective, antibacterial and antifungal potentials. The present review highlights the beneficial effects of
pomegranate on human health and also represents the mechanisms involved in its action. [Peel extracts (rind),
seed extract, juice and whole fruit on the selected bacteria and fungi activity]. The review will be extended to anti�microbial, wound healing activities and anti-cancerous activity. The pomegranate genotypes have an important
value in health and nutrition of the human. The pomegranate peels could be utilized by the food industry and
pharma/nutraceutical’s industry (Pomegranate peel extract-based nanoparticles by chemical complication
method). Pomegranate contains secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, phenolic, terpenes
and volatile oils. This review will focus the areas for which pomegranate has shown therapeutic properties in
different mechanisms. This review article presents the recently published findings on different aspects of this
plant, with a focus on its bioactive compound properties. The pomegranate peel is an inexhaustible resource with
many potential functions in numerous industries; added exploration of the fruit peel infected, premature and
damaged fruit peel due to natural calamities may lead to new and novel ways of creating wealth from waste
... P. granatum L. peel extract is also rich in vitamin C. It is useful as the raw material for pharmaceutical industry because of its antimicrobial properties. Gallic acid, punicallins and ellagic acid extracted from the P. granatum L. revealed good inhibitory effect against pathogenic microorganisms (Opara et al., 2009). Pomegranate has exhibited bactericidal activity against food and waterborne pathogenic bacteria including Salmonella Typhi (S. ...
... P. granatum L. is good antimicrobial agent against gram positive and gram-negative bacteria (Opara et al., 2009). There is much similarity in our results of anti-microbial activity against the pathogenic bacteria (gram positive and gram negative). ...
Increasing trend in antimicrobial resistance and failure of chemically synthesized antibiotics lead to discover alternative methods for the treatment of bacterial infections. Various medicinal plants are in use traditionally and their active compounds can be further applied for treatment of bacterial diseases. This study was designed to determine the antibacterial activity of Punica granatum (P. granatum L.) (pomegranate) peel extract against Enterobacteriaceae [Escherichia coli (E. coli), Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) and Shigella Dysenteriae (S. Dysenteriae)] and gram-positive bacterium [Staphylococcus aureus (Staph aureus)]. Methanolic extract of P. granatum L. peel was prepared by Soxhlet apparatus method. Total flavonoid and phenolic contents from the extract were determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The antibacterial activity of P. granatum L. peel extract was evaluated through agar well diffusion method. HPLC showed the range of phenolics (gallic acid, caffeic acid, benzoic acid, cinnamic acid) and flavonoid compounds. The chemical structures of flavonoid and phenolics found in the methanolic extract of P. granatum L. peel have been reported for the first time. The methanolic peel extract (50 ul) of yellow P. granatum L. showed 26, 10, 10 and 9mm zones of inhibition (ZOI) against S. aureus, S. Typhimurium, S. Dysenteriae and E. coli, respectively. The methanolic extract of red P. granatum L. (100 ul) showed 27, 8, 12 and 15 mm ZOI against Staph. aureus, S. Typhimurium, S. Dysenteriae and E. coli, respectively. Highest ZOI was observed against Staph. aureus. Many of the bacteria studied in the present work may cause serious gastrointestinal infections, which can lead to hemorrhagic diarrhea in children. These infections can be life-threatening to young children and the elderly. There is an incentive to find alternative control measures, such as plant and herbal extracts, especially in lesser-developed countries where traditional antibiotics may not be readily available.
... Plants subjected to heat stress may release a number of enzymatic antioxidants such as ascorbate peroxidase and glutathione reductase and non-enzymatic antioxidants such as ascorbic acid or glutathione as a response mechanism against the oxidative stress caused by the heat stress [59,60]. Even though vitamin C contents are heat sensitive and are easily degraded by excessive heat and water [6,61], endogenous ascorbic acid in plant cells plays a key role in plant stress signaling, with the cytoplasm having the largest pool of this metabolite compared with the apoplast. These two pools of ascorbic acid occur at different levels during fruit development, inducing phenotypically plastic responses of plant organs to stress. ...
... Some researchers have suggested that ellagitannins in the peel may damage the bacterial membrane and/or even cause cell death by their ability to precipitate proteins [8,64]. However, others have proposed that phytochemicals interfere with certain microbial metabolic processes or gene expression pathways [8,12,61,64]. ...
‘Wonderful’ pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) peel contains a wide range of phytochemicals including vitamins, dietary fibre, phenolic compounds, and antioxidant properties. Yet, it is often used as animal feed or discarded in landfills, which is not the best eco-friendly way to utilize this phenolic-rich bioresource. Finding novel ways of utilizing pomegranate peel waste could prove a more profitable and eco-friendlier alternative that is far more beneficial to the economy. Adding a blanching pre-treatment step at optimal conditions prior to processing of pomegranate peel aids in the inactivation of quality changing enzymes such as polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD), which are accountable for the degradation reactions that cause breakdown of nutrients and phytochemicals. This study aimed to determine the effect of blanching at 80 °C for 3 min on the yield, polyphenol content, antioxidant properties, enzyme inactivation, and antibacterial activity of ‘Wonderful’ pomegranate peel ethanolic extracts from three different harvest maturities (unripe, ripe, and over ripe), including a comprehensive characterization and quantification using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The blanched unripe peel extracts exhibited the highest total phenolic content, total tannin content, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) antioxidant activity, 2,2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging activity and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) at 14.0 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g dry mass (DM), 1.0 mg GAE/g DM, 359.1 µmol Trolox/g DM, 912.2 µmol Trolox/g DM and 802.5 µmol Trolox/g DM, respectively. There was significant (p < 0.05) decrease in PPO and POD activity of all blanched pomegranate peel extracts. The blanched unripe peel extracts had the lowest PPO activity at 0.2 U/g fresh weight (FW), with a 70% PPO inactivation compared to ripe and over ripe harvest, whereas the highest POD inactivation was recorded at 67% in over ripe peel extracts. All blanched peel extracts, irrespective of harvest maturity, had minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values at 160 µg/mL against all four bacteria strains tested, which included two Gram-positive bacterial strains (Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6051 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 12600) and two Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli 11775 and Klebsiella pneumonia ATCC 13883). A total of 25 metabolites including phenolic acids (4), organic acids (1), flavonoids (4), ellagitannins (13), and other polyphenols (3) in all three pomegranate peel samples were tentatively identified after LC-MS profiling. The blanched unripe peel extracts showed significantly higher punicalin α and β, β punicalagin, catechin, epicatechin content at 414 mg/g, and 678 mg/g, 151 mg/g, 229 mg/g, respectively, compared to peel extracts from other harvest maturities. This study provides supportive information for the commercial utilization of pomegranate fruit peel as source of value-added ingredients for the development of novel food, cosmetics, and pharmacological products.
... The antimicrobial effects of pomegranate have been extensively studied, and different parts of the pomegranate show antimicrobial activity against a range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria [46][47][48][49]. The pomegranate rind has more Statistical significance indicated at * p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001, and **** p < 0.0001, compared to untreated controls and compared between treatment groups. ...
... The antimicrobial effects of pomegranate have been extensively studied, and different parts of the pomegranate show antimicrobial activity against a range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria [46][47][48][49]. The pomegranate rind has more polyphenol content than other parts of the fruit and shows more antimicrobial activity than the seeds, whole fruit, and juice extracts [50]. ...
Infectious diseases caused by microbial biofilms are a major clinical problem, and new antimicrobial agents that can inhibit biofilm formation and eradicate pre-formed biofilms are urgently needed. Pomegranate extracts are a well-established folkloric medicine and have been used in the treatment of infectious diseases since ancient times, whilst the addition of metal ions, including zinc (II), has enhanced the antimicrobial activity of pomegranate. Micrococcus luteus is generally a non-pathogenic skin commensal bacterium, although it can act as an opportunistic pathogen and cause serious infections, particularly involving catheterization and comorbidities. The aims of this study were to evaluate the holistic activity of pomegranate rind extract (PRE), Zn (II), and PRE/Zn (II) individually and in combination against M. luteus under both planktonic and biofilm conditions. Antimicrobial activity was detected in vitro using the broth dilution method, and synergistic activity was determined using checkerboard and time-kill assays. Effects on biofilm formation and eradication were determined by crystal violet and BacLightTM Live/Dead staining. PRE and Zn (II) exerted antimicrobial activity against M. luteus under both planktonic and biofilm conditions. After 4 h, potent synergistic bactericidal activity was also found when PRE and Zn (II) were co-administered under planktonic conditions (log reductions: PRE 1.83 ± 0.24, Zn (II) 3.4 ± 0.08, and PRE/Zn (II) 6.88 ± 1.02; p < 0.0001). In addition, greater heterogeneity was induced in the structure of M. luteus biofilm using the PRE/Zn (II) combination compared to when PRE and Zn (II) were applied individually. The activity of PRE and the PRE/Zn (II) combination could offer a novel antimicrobial therapy for the treatment of disease-associated infections caused by M. luteus and potentially other bacteria.
... They stated that whole fruit juice had the lowest pH (1.85) than halved juice (2.67). Numerous factors such as fruit variety, maturity, and postharvest transport contribute to differences in pH values (Opara et al., 2009). The highest amount of electrical conductivity (5.14 mmoh/cm) was related to the Torsh Oud cultivar and the lowest amount (3.76 mmoh/cm) in Shirin Shahvar, which of course there was no statistically significant difference with Shirin, Galookandeh (Aghaei) and Gavkoshak Kazerun cultivars. ...
The results
clearly showed diverse differences among cultivars. The highest fruit
weight, length, width, aril weight, aril diameter, aril fresh/dry
weights, skin fresh/dry weights were found in “Gavkoshak”. The
highest calyx length and skin thickness were recorded in
“Galookandeh”. The “Torsh Oud”, “Faroogh”, “Galookandeh” and
“Rubab” were detected to have hard seeds. The highest TSS, skin /
aril anthocyanin and sucrose content were found in “Wonderful”.
The maximum amount of glucose and fructose were observed in the
“Rubab”. The results finally showed that “Gavkoshak” and “Rubab”
cultivars had the greater ranks in terms of their physical fruit
parameters. In terms of chemical properties, the best cultivars were
“Wonderful” and “Rubab”. The “Rubab”, “Gavkoshak” and
“Wonderful” are recommended as superior cultivars for either
pomegranate production or future breeding programs. Limitations:
There was no limitation. Originality/Value: The “Wonderful” is an
introduced one and the comparative analysis of pomegranates of
Fars origin concurrently with this new plant material would be
valuable. Furthermore, the pomological traits of these local cultivars
were not also studied earlier.
... It has been shown that vitamin C can effectively reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure by improving and restoring nitric oxide activity through vasodilation of the arteries (Shateri et al., 2016). Pomegranate also contains different amounts of vitamin C in the range of 52.8 mg-72 mg/ 100 g of fresh pomegranate seeds (Opara et al., 2009). In addition, one Frontiers in Pharmacology frontiersin.org ...
Background: Asthma essentially represents a chronic inflammatory disease that manifests as a lifelong condition with different severity throughout the life of patients with asthma. Pomegranate holds three times the antioxidant activity compared to other polyphenol-rich food sources like green tea, which may positively impact asthma.
Aim of the study: This research aimed to investigate the pomegranate supplementation influences clinical symptoms, eosinophil, basophil, and neutrophil counts in patients with allergic asthma.
Materials and Methods: Participants ( n = 64) suffering from mild to moderate allergic asthma were randomly divided into two groups: The control group received placebo capsules and the intervention group received 250 mg pomegranate extract capsules twice a day (for 8 weeks). To analyze the data, we used SPSS software (version 22). The significance level of p -value was considered less than 0.05.
Results: The findings showed that the pomegranate extract improved patients’ clinical symptoms like daily breath shortness, nocturnal breath shortness, and limitation of asthma-related activity in the intervention group compared to the control group. Furthermore, eosinophil, basophil, and neutrophil counts were significantly decreased in the intervention group. Also, by comparing the two groups, the levels of change in neutrophils and eosinophils were statistically significant.
Conclusion: It appears that the pomegranate extract can ameliorate some clinical symptoms and reduce neutrophils, basophils, and eosinophils in allergic asthma patients.
Clinical Trial Registration: https://www.irct.ir/trial/45612 ; identifier: IRCT20200205046384N1.
... It is native to Persia (Iran) and widely cultivated in the Mediterranean region [1] . The edible part called aril of the fruit is consumed fresh or processed in to jams, jellies, wine, and beverages [2][3][4] the processed product anardana is famous in North India. Pomegranate is known to have been domesticated in the Middle East about 5000 years ago [5][6] . ...
The present investigation entitled "studies on foliar application of plant growth regulators and chemicals on yield & quality of pomegranate cv. Phule Bhagwa Super" was undertaken at experimental farm of Horticulture section, College of Agriculture, Dhule. The experiment was laid out in the Randomised Block Design with twelve treatments and three replications with fifteen days interval from fruit set stage. The experimental results indicated that, there were significant difference in fruit set %, average fruit weight (gm), number of fruits plant-1 , length of fruit (gm), diameter of fruit (cm) and yield plant-1 which was highest in FeSO4-0.5% + ZnSO4-0.5% + GA3-50ppm. Days from flowering to fruit set were not influenced by the treatments studied. The economics of pomegranate cultivation with foliar application of plant growth regulator and chemicals showed a wide range of variation in cost of cultivation, gross monetary returns, net monetary returns and B:C ratio (2.85) were obtained in the treatment T11 (FeSO4-0.5% + ZnSO4-0.5% + GA3-50ppm) and lowest was observed in the treatment T12(control). The overall results indicated that foliar application of FeSO4-0.5% + ZnSO4-0.5% + GA3-50ppm was significantly found to be beneficial to the economically important characters viz. fruit set, number of fruits, average fruit weight and yield plant-1 and the cost benefit ratio was 2.85.
... According to Table 1, white ( Indian ) PMG is richer in ascorbic acid, α, β-carotenes, γ-T, and β-T3 than red ( Wonderful ) and pink ( Mollar de Elche ) PMGs, but the later are better sources of lutein and total carotenoids; interesting, total tocols were found in white > pink > red PMG. Similar results in ascorbic acid content for white vs. red PMG were reported by Opara et al. [31], also agreeing with Costa et al. [32] who reported γ-tocopherol as the main vitamin E (tocol) isoform in PMG seed oils from Turkey and Israel. It is noteworthy that PMG aryls contain both seeds and juice (here combined in PMG samples) whose non-phenolic antioxidant phytochemicals contribute to the stronger hydroxide RSC and better DNA damage-preventing capacity of white PMG as compared to red PMG [33], which usually exhibits much more antioxidant capacity and phenolic content/diversity. ...
Pomegranate (PMG; Punica granatum L.) fruits possess a well-balanced nutrient/phytochemical composition, with proven adjuvant benefits in experimental cancer chemotherapy; however, such bioactivity could be affected by PMG’s phenogenotype (varietal). Here, the chemical and phytochemical (UPLC-DAD-MS2) composition, antioxidant capacity and anticancer potential [in vitro (MTT assay) and in silico (foodinformatics)] of three PMG fruits of different aryl color [red (cv. Wonderful), pink (cv. Molar de Elche), and white (cv. Indian)] were evaluated. The macro/micronutrient (ascorbic acid, tocols, carotenoids), organic acid (citric/malic), and polyphenol content were changed by PMG’s varietal and total antioxidant activity (ABTS, alcoholic > hexane extract) in the order of red > pink > white. However, their in vitro cytotoxicity was the same (IC50 > 200 μg.mL−1) against normal (retinal) and cancer (breast, lung, colorectal) cell lines. Sixteen major phytochemicals were tentatively identified, four of them with a high GI absorption/bioavailability score [Ellagic (pink), vanillic (red), gallic (white) acids, D-(+)-catechin (white)] and three of them with multiple molecular targets [Ellagic (52) > vanillic (32) > gallic (23)] associated with anticancer (at initiation and promotion stages) activity. The anticancer potential of the PMG fruit is phenogenotype-specific, although it could be more effective in nutraceutical formulations (concentrates)
... The fruit originates from Persia (Iran) and has widely been cultivated in the Mediterranean region (Holland et al., 2009). Scientific evidence has linked the consumption of pomegranate fruit and its co-products such as arils, juice, and oils to improved human health because of the unique and high phytochemical composition and essential mineral elements (Fawole and Opara, 2012), which have been reported in the literature to provide potent pharmacological properties (Opara et al., 2009). Despite the nutritional and health benefits, consumption is still limited due to the difficulty of extracting the arils. ...
In this study, we investigated the usage of Fourier-transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy as a fast, non-destructive method. FT-NIR spectroscopy was used over a spectral range of 800-2500 nm to develop multivariate prediction models for physical, chemical, and phytochemical parameters of dried pomegranate arils ('Wonderful'). Results from two different regression techniques, partial least squares (PLS) and support vector machine (SVM), were compared. Model development results showed varied success with statistics from PLS regression showing reliable prediction for pH (R 2 =0.86, RMSEP=0.13, RPD=2.38) and TSS/TA (R 2 =0.74, RMSEP=1.68, RPD=1.68). SVM performed better for the prediction of titratable acidity (R 2 =0.85, RMSEP=0.04, RPD=2.50) and color attributes for redness (a*) (R 2 =0.72, RMSEP=1.82, RPD=1.71) and Chroma (C*) (R 2 =0.70, RMSEP=1.99 RPD=1.77). In summary, SVM performed better than PLS regression in predicting quality attributes for died pomegranate arils. This study demonstrated that FT-NIRs with an SVM regression algorithm can be used as a non-invasive technique to evaluate key visual and sensory attributes of dried pomegranate arils.
... According to Fawole and Opara (2012), the arils could also serve as a good dietary source of essential nutrients such as K, Ca, Mg, and Se. As a result, value-added products, such as pomegranate jam, jelly, juice, syrup, vinegar, carbonated beverages, and wine, have emerged from pomegranate fruit in the past decade (Opara et al., 2009). However, fruit peel and seeds remain underutilised (Magangana et al., 2021a;Kaseke et al., 2021a). ...
Prior to the past decade, nutritionists and processors focused more on the juice extracted from pomegranate arils. As a result, pomegranate peel, seeds, and their constituents were underutilised and wasted after processing. Literature has shown that all the fruit parts contain compounds with health benefits. For example, the juice and peels contain punicalagin, hydrolysable tannins, anthocyanins, and ellagic acid, while pomegranate seeds are a rich source of oil high in tocopherols, polyphenols, sterols, and punicic acid. Furthermore, 20 to 40% postharvest losses of pomegranate limit fruit supply and consumption despite high local and export demands for pomegranate. Recent research in South Africa has focused on agro-processing and value-addition in the quest to support commercial processing and product development from pomegranate fruit parts under three subthemes: pomegranate aril dehydration (PAD), pomegranate seed oil recovery (PSOR), and pomegranate peel valorisation (PPV). Under subtheme PAR, recent research highlight the potential of blanch-assisted drying of pomegranate arils. Blanching at 85 or 100°C for 30 s increased the moisture loss and drying rate of pomegranate arils without compromising the quality of the end product. The effects of harvest maturity, cultivar, and storage of whole fruit before drying have provided new insights into developing an integrated drying protocol for pomegranate arils. A further study on the storage of dried arils revealed that a blanching pretreatment helps retain aril quality parameters. A study on the development of value-added pomegranate juice powder showed that maltodextrin-encapsulated juice powder appeared 44% redder (a*), with 54% more anthocyanin content than gum arabic-encapsulated powder. The PSOR subtheme established protocols for the extraction of value-added seed oil. For example, pretreatments, including blanching, microwave-and enzyme-assisted oil extraction, significantly improved oil yield, stigmasterol, punicic acid, and the seed oil's total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity. Under the PPV research subtheme, hot water blanching was established to extract fruit peel antioxidant compounds, providing an opportunity for waste utilisation. Overall, our research efforts provide science-based information to promote the value addition of pomegranate fruit into speciality products valuable in the cosmetic, food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries.
... This fruit is considered as a non-climacteric fruit [3] and is characterized by low rate of postharvest respiration and ethylene production. Pomegranate is a rich source of organic acids, micro-and macro-nutrients, as well as anti-mutagenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertension, and antioxidant compounds [4], which has influenced the increase in the demand for pomegranate fruit and of their products due to the fruit's high-valued health advantages and the public's growing awareness of functional foods [5]. Pomegranate harvest season is in the fall and lasts for fewer than three months, although it may be kept for several months in cold storage with a high humidity level. ...
The pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), which contains high levels of health-promoting compounds, has received much attention in recent decades. Fruit storage potential ranges from 3 to 4 months in air and from 4 to 6 months in Controlled Atmospheres (CA) with 3–5% oxygen and 10–15% carbon dioxide. Storage life is limited by decay, chilling injury, weight loss (WL), and husk scald. In particular, husk scald (HS) limits pomegranate long-term storage at favorable temperatures. HS appears as skin browning which expands from stem end towards the blossom end during handling or long-term storage (10–12 weeks) at 6–10 ◦C. Even though HS symptoms are limited to external appearance, it may still significantly reduce pomegranate fruit marketability. A number of postharvest treatments have been proposed to prevent husk scald, including atmospheric modifications, intermittent warming, coatings, and exposure to 1-MCP. Long-term storage may induce phenolic compounds accumulation, affect organelles membranes, and activate browning enzymes such as polyphenol oxidases (PPO) and peroxidases (POD). Due to oxidation of tannins and phenolics, scalding becomes visible. There is no complete understanding of the etiology and biochemistry of HS. This review discusses the hypothesized mechanism of HS based on recent research, its association to postharvest treatments, and their possible targets.
Keywords: pomegranate; browning; oxidative stress; long term storage; husk scald; polyphenol oxidase; postharvest treatments
... Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is globally recognized as a "super fruit" owing to its countless health and functional benefits (Fawole and Opara, 2013a;Fawole et al., 2012;Mditshwa et al., 2013;Opara et al., 2009). Increasing awareness of the functional benefits of consuming pomegranate has increased the global demand for fruit and opened up more market opportunities to meet consumer demand (Fawole and Opara, 2013a). ...
The current study evaluated the potential of chitosan‐based melatonin (CH‐MT) composite coating to maintain quality and delay senescence of minimally processed pomegranate aril‐sacs during refrigerated storage. Mature pomegranate fruit (cv. Wonderful) without physical defects were processed into aril‐sacs. Subsequently, the following treatments were applied; distilled water (control), CH 0.5% (w/v), CH+0.1 mM MT, CH+0.4 mM MT, CH+0.8 mM MT and CH+1 mM MT. Each treatment was applied by immersing the aril‐sacs in the coating solution for 3 minutes and allowed to dry at room temperature. Aril‐sacs were then packed in polyethene terephthalate punnets (3–4 aril‐sacs/punnet) and stored at 5 °C and 85% RH for 21 days. Aril colour, weight loss, respiration rate, ascorbic acid content, total anthocyanins, browning index and antioxidant capacity were monitored during storage at 3 d intervals. The study results showed that the CH‐MT coating treatments significantly (p < 0.05) delayed the increase in aril‐sacs weight loss and respiration rate. These treatments also retained higher aril chroma, ascorbic acid, anthocyanin content, DPPH‐radical scavenging activity, and aril‐sacs antioxidant power (FRAP). In addition, surface browning development was significantly suppressed in the coated aril‐sacs compared with control sacs. However, the effectiveness of CH‐MT treatments in maintaining the quality of aril‐sacs was concentration‐dependent, with CH+0.8–1 mM MT treatments showing the best results. Therefore, CH+0.8–1 mM MT treatments are recommended to suppress the development of physiological disorders and maintain the quality of minimally processed pomegranate aril‐sacs.
... PG has bioactive components that can be used for the treatment of the dental diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diarrhea, skin infections, diabetes mellitus, hemorrhoids and other bacterial and fungal infections (Hajifattahi et al., 2016). Gallic acid, punicallins and ellagic acid extracted from the pomegranates peel revealed good inhibitory effect against pathogenic microorganisms including ESBLproducing Enterobacteriaceae (Opara et al., 2009). Spondias dulcis (SD) is a fast-growing equatorial tree with edible fruits which is popular in India in the name of Amra (Hog palm or golden apple). ...
... Pomegranate and its co-products have gained traction in research and application for their nutraceutical and medicinal properties (Seeram et al., 2006;Opara et al., 2009). Pomegranate fruit can be divided into two fractions: edible and non-edible fractions. ...
The pomegranate kernel oil has gained global awareness due to the health benefits associated with its consumption; these benefits have been attributed to its unique fatty acid composition. For quality control of edible fats and oils, various analytical and calorimetric methods are often used, however, these methods are expensive, labor-intensive, and often require specialized sample preparation making them impractical on a commercial scale. Therefore, objective, rapid, accurate, and cost-effective methods are required. In this study, Fourier transformed near-infrared (FT-NIR) and mid-infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy as a fast non-destructive technique was investigated and compared to qualitatively and quantitatively predict the quality attributes of pomegranate kernel oil (cv. Wonderful, Acco, Herskawitz). For qualitative analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was applied. Based on OPLS-DA, FT-MIR spectroscopy resulted in 100% discrimination between oil samples extracted from different cultivars. For quantitative analysis, partial least squares regression was used for model development over the NIR region of 7,498–940 and 6,102–5,774 cm−1 and provided the best prediction statistics for total carotenoid content (R2, coefficient of determination; RMSEP, root mean square error of prediction; RPD, residual prediction deviation; R2 = 0.843, RMSEP = 0.019 g β-carotene/kg, RPD = 2.28). In the MIR region of 3,996–1,118 cm−1, models developed using FT-MIR spectroscopy gave the best prediction statistics for peroxide value (R2 = 0.919, RMSEP = 1.05 meq, RPD = 3.54) and refractive index (R2 = 0.912, RMSEP = 0.0002, RPD = 3.43). These results demonstrate the potential of infrared spectroscopy combined with chemometric analysis for rapid screening of pomegranate oil quality attributes.
... Pomegranate fruits is widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical countries, consumed fresh in wide scale and used in the food industries as commercial products, such as juices, jams and wines (Konsoula, 2016) for its excellent nutritional and healthy values. Also, used as a raw material for the manufacture of secondary products such as jelly and cosmetics (Opara et al., 2009). ...
... The redness parameters, which is a desirable quality attribute for processing and consumers [39], for the skin, aril and juice of almost all the cultivars presented higher values in 2019 in comparison to 2018. Probably, the warmest and windiest climate in 2019 led to a condition of higher stress in the plants, with a consequent increase in anthocyanins responsible for the red color [40]. ...
This study, conducted over two consecutive seasons (2018–2019), evaluates the yield and fruit physico-chemical traits of five commercial cultivars (‘Mollar’, ’Dente di Cavallo’, ’Acco’, ’Jolly red’ and ’Wonderful’) grown in the orchard at Foggia (Puglia region, southeastern Italy). The results show significant variations among the investigated cultivars for many measured parameters; seasons also significantly affected some data. As an average of the years, both ‘Dente di Cavallo’ and ’Wonderful’ significantly showed the highest numbers (16.8 and 15.2, respectively) and weights (9.3 Kg, respectively) of fruit per tree. ‘Jolly red’ had the highest percentage of edible portions (58,5%), the most intense red color in juice (a* value, 11.7), a light-red skin color (despite its name) (a*value, 31.1) and the smallest fruits (26.7% of diameter ≤80 mm). Total soluble solids of all cultivars were considerable above the minimum value (12 °Brix) required for commercial use. ‘Wonderful’ significantly presented the highest value of juice acidity (2.5 g citric acid 100 mL−1) and the lowest MI value, and therefore it was classified as sour. Both ‘Dente di Cavallo’ and ‘Wonderful’ had significantly higher phenolic contents (591.0 and 519.1 mg 100 mL−1, respectively) than the other cultivars, while ‘Dente di Cavallo’ significantly showed the highest antioxidant activity value (6.4 mmol TE 100 L−1). The Stepwise Discriminant Analysis procedure allowed a significant differentiation among the cultivars. Correlation analysis showed a considerable relation among the different fruit traits. The present data are helpful in the selection of elite desirable pomegranate cultivars to be used for commercial production.
... It seems that there is a relation between redness (a) and chroma in saffron stigma and the other red products. In confirmation of this assumption, Opara et al. (2009) concluded that the redder pomegranate seeds had a higher chroma. The present study's correlation results confirm a strong positive correlation between redness (a) and chroma parameters (Table 10). ...
Saffron quality is strongly affected by post-harvest practices. In this regard, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of flowers storage temperature (2, 8, and 21 °C) and storage duration (1, 2, 3, and 4 days) on color traits (L, a, b, oh, and C), apocarotenoids content (crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal, determined by HPLC and spectrophotometry methods), antioxidant compounds (anthocyanin and total phenol) and microbial load of dried stigmas and petals. The color quality of the stigma (L, a, C, and oh) improved by one day storing at two °C. HPLC analysis revealed that the highest contents of crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal in stigma were gained by one day storing at 2 °C, although the stigma quality was even acceptable in longer storing when storage temperature was low. A positive correlation between crocin and picrocrocin contents with color parameters (L, a, and C) suggests that colorimetry can be possibly used as a fast, easy, and cheap method for stigma quality assessment. The highest amounts of anthocyanin in stigma and petal (4167 and 9663 g 100 g⁻¹ dry weight, respectively) were obtained at two °C and three days storing. Petal had more anthocyanin content than stigma in all storage duration and temperature combinations. The total count of microorganisms in stigma and petals decreased by reducing storage duration and temperature. Overall, lower storage temperature and shorter storage duration were more favorable for improving stigma and petals quality, but low storage temperature can compensate for the negative effect of longer storage duration.
... The color of pomegranate is an essential attribute affecting marketability, purchasability and consumer preference [68,69,101]. For L* values, the findings corroborated with Meighani et al. [58] who observed no significant differences between coated and uncoated 'Malase Torshe Saveh' pomegranates during cold storage (4.5 ± 0.5 • C and 90 ± 5% RH). ...
The effects of gum arabic coatings combined with lemongrass oil and/or pomegranate peel extract on freshly harvested mature ‘Wonderful’ pomegranate fruit were studied. Fruit were coated with gum arabic (GA) (1.5% w/v) alone or enriched with lemongrass oil (LM) (0.1% v/v) and/or pomegranate peel extract (PP) (1% w/v). Fruit were packed into standard open top ventilated cartons (dimensions: 0.40 m long, 0.30 m wide and 0.12 m high), and stored for 6 weeks at 5 ± 1 °C (90% RH). Evaluations were made every 2 weeks of cold storage and after 5 d of shelf life (20 °C and 65% RH). Fruit coated with GA + PP (4.09%) and GA + PP + LM (4.21%) coatings recorded the least cumulative weight loss compared to the uncoated control (9.87%). After 6 weeks, uncoated control and GA + PP + LM recorded the highest (24.55 mg CO2Kg−1h−1) and lowest (10.76 mg CO2Kg−1h−1) respiration rate, respectively. Coating treatments reduced the incidence of decay and treatments GA + LM + PP and GA + PP recorded the highest total flavonoid content between 2 and 6 weeks of storage. The findings suggest that GA coatings with/without LM and PP can be a beneficial postharvest treatment for ‘Wonderful’ pomegranates to reduce weight loss and decay development during cold storage.
... The measurement of the quality attributes of horticultural produce plays an important role in quality management during post-harvest handling. These measurements allow for comparison against industrial standards by ensuring that the product meets the limits of acceptability by the consumer [27]. Product quality attributes may be evaluated using a sensory panel or instrumental analysis. ...
This review covers recent developments in the field of non-invasive techniques for the quality assessment of processed horticultural products over the past decade. The concept of quality and various quality characteristics related to evaluating processed horticultural products are detailed. A brief overview of non-invasive methods, including spectroscopic techniques, nuclear magnetic resonance, and hyperspectral imaging techniques, is presented. This review highlights their application to predict quality attributes of different processed horticultural products (e.g., powders, juices, and oils). A concise summary of their potential commercial application for quality assessment, control, and monitoring of processed agricultural products is provided. Finally, we discuss their limitations and highlight other emerging non-invasive techniques applicable for monitoring and evaluating the quality attributes of processed horticultural products. Our findings suggest that infrared spectroscopy (both near and mid) has been the preferred choice for the non-invasive assessment of processed horticultural products, such as juices, oils, and powders, and can be adapted for on-line quality control. Raman spectroscopy has shown potential in the analysis of powdered products. However, imaging techniques, such as hyperspectral imaging and X-ray computed tomography, require improvement on data acquisition, processing times, and reduction in the cost and size of the devices so that they can be adopted for on-line measurements at processing facilities. Overall, this review suggests that non-invasive techniques have the potential for industrial application and can be used for quality assessment.
... Ascorbate is one of the well-known non-enzymatic antioxidants with significant potential for scavenging ROS and modulating a number of fundamental functions in plants under stress and non-stress conditions (Akram et al., 2017;Ahmed et al., 2014;Hossain et al., 2019;Sariyer and Ö ztokat Kuzucu, 2019). An early study reported that the Asc content is highly variable among different pomegranate cultivars, and Indian ones contained higher amounts of Asc than those from Oman and Egypt (Opara et al., 2009). In the present study, the content of Asc decreased in all pomegranate cultivars in response to drought, but the reduction of Fig. 1. ...
Drought stress during the ripening phenological period has adverse effects on pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruit productivity, characteristics and composition, depending on the drought severity and specific cultivar. This fact underlines the importance of understanding the physiological and biochemical responses of pomegranate under drought stress to improve the quality of fruits. The responses of three commercial Iranian cultivars (‘Malase Saveh’, ‘Mikhosh’ and ‘Rabab-Neyriz’) to slight, moderate or intense drought stress were evaluated, considering yield-related (fruit yield, number of fruits per tree, fruit weight and fruit cracking), metabolite [glucose, fructose, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity, total phenolics (TPC), ellagic acid, total anthocyanins (TAC), abscisic acid (ABA), indole acetic acid (IAA), proline, ascorbic (Asc) and carboxylic acids], and physiological parameters (oxidative stress indexes and activities of key antioxidant enzymes in leaves). Significant decreases in fruit yield (58–68%), number of fruits per tree (39–44%), fruit weight (30–41%), and leaf photosynthetic pigments (23–39%) were observed among cultivars in response to intense drought. On the other hand, significant increases in the levels of ABA, IAA, proline, malondialdehyde (MDA), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), as well as the activities of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) antioxidant enzymes were observed in the leaves of all cultivars under intense drought stress. With respect to fruit juice quality, intense drought caused a considerable decrease in the contents of sugars, TAC, TPC, ellagic acid, Asc, TSS, and TA relative to control conditions, while carboxylic acids increased. Slight drought caused small increases in the concentrations of sugars, TPC and ellagic acid in juice. The ‘Malase Saveh’ cultivar showed a better adaptive response to drought stress than the ‘Rabab-e-Neyriz’ and ‘Mikhosh’ ones, suggesting that this pomegranate cultivar could be used in breeding programs to develop new ones with beneficial water stress-adaptive traits and better fruit quality.
... In agreement with our results, Opara et. al. [58] reported that vitamin C content in the pomegranate peel was significantly higher than in the aril, with differences ranging from 24.4% to 97.0%, depending on variety. Compared to our results, much lower levels of ascorbic acid were found in pomegranate juices from India (0.198 mg g −1 fw), Iran (0.09-0.40 mg g −1 fw), Poland (0.091-0.268 mg g −1 fw), and South Africa (0.168 mg g −1 fw) [23,40,59,60]. ...
The increasing popularity of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), driven by the awareness of its nutraceutical properties and excellent environmental adaptability, is promoting a global expansion of its production area. This investigation reports the variability in the weight, moisture, pH, total soluble solids, carbohydrates, organic acids, phenolic compounds, fatty acids, antioxidant activities, and element composition of different fruit parts (juices, peels, and kernels) from four (Ako, Emek, Kamel, and Wonderful One) of the most widely cultivated Israeli pomegranate varieties in Salento (South Italy). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic characterization of different fruit parts from pomegranate cultivars grown simultaneously in the same orchard and subjected to identical agronomic and environmental conditions. Significant genotype-dependent variability was observed for many of the investigated parameters, though without any correlation among fruit parts. The levels of phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acids of all samples were higher than the literature-reported data, as was the antioxidant activity. This is likely due to positive interactions among genotypes, the environment, and good agricultural practices. This study also confirms that pomegranate kernels and peels are, respectively, rich sources of punicic acid and phenols together, with several other bioactive molecules. However, the variability in their levels emphasizes the need for further research to better exploit their agro-industrial potential and thereby increase juice-production chain sustainability. This study will help to assist breeders and growers to respond to consumer and industrial preferences and encourage the development of biorefinery strategies for the utilization of pomegranate by-products as nutraceuticals or value-added ingredients for custom-tailored supplemented foods.
... Mango (Ribeiro et al, 2007) [46] and bilimbi (Yan et al, 2013) [175] contains 182mg of AA/100 g of pulp. Pomegranate (Opara et al, 2008) [123] contains 118.4 mg AA/100g of peel and 72 mg/100 g of aril. These seven fruits have the highest Vitamin C content. ...
... Woo et al. (2010) reported that ascorbic acid could kill the strains of mycobacterium tuberculosis that are resistant to most other antibiotic drugs. In various studies, fruit juices containing vitamin C were used as antimicrobials that reveal that vitamin C act as an antibacterial agent (Opara et al., 2009). ...
... Woo et al. (2010) reported that ascorbic acid could kill the strains of mycobacterium tuberculosis that are resistant to most other antibiotic drugs. In various studies, fruit juices containing vitamin C were used as antimicrobials that reveal that vitamin C act as an antibacterial agent (Opara et al., 2009). ...
Now a day’s multidrug resistance phenomenon has become the main cause for concern and there has been an
inadequate achievement in the development of novel antibiotics to treat the bacterial infections. Therefore, there
is an unmet need to search for novel adjuvant. Vitamin C is one such promising adjuvant. The present study was
aimed to elucidate the antibacterial effect of vitamin C at various temperatures (4°C, 37°C and 50°C) and pH
(3, 8, and 11), against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria at various concentrations (5-20 mg/ml) through
agar well diffusion method. Growth inhibition of all bacterial strains by vitamin C was concentration-dependent.
Vitamin C significantly inhibited the growth of Gram-positive bacteria:
Bacillus licheniformis
(25.3 ± 0.9 mm),
Staphylococcus aureus
(22.0 ± 0.6 mm),
Bacillus subtilis
(19.3 ± 0.3 mm) and Gram-negative bacteria:
Proteus mirabilis
(27.67 ± 0.882 mm),
Klebsiella pneumoniae
(21.33±0.9 mm),
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
(18.0 ± 1.5 mm) and
Escherichia
coli
(18.3 ± 0.3 mm). The stability of vitamin C was observed at various pH values and various temperatures.
Vitamin C showed significant antibacterial activity at acidic pH against all bacterial strains. Vitamin C remained
the stable at different temperatures. It was concluded that vitamin C is an effective and safe antibacterial agent
that can be used in the future as an adjunct treatment option to combat infections in humans
... These underlying causes of deterioration lead to undesirable quality changes in factors such as texture, colour, flavour and beneficial healthy values (Defilippi et al., 2005). Overall, if these factors are not properly controlled, they might eventually lead to reductions in edibility, availability, food losses, and subsequently in financial losses (Defilippi et al., 2005;Fallik, 2004;Irtwange, 2006;Mahajan et al., 2014;Opara et al, 2009;Opara et al., 2012). ...
... Different extraction methods by modulating the solvent type (ethanol, methanol, acetone or water) and solid/solvent ratio were applied to obtain phenolic compounds from pomegranate fruit wastes (Türkyılmaz et al., 2017;Kaderides et al., 2019;Balaban et al., 2020). In addition, different parts of the pomegranate waste have been reported to exhibit different antimicrobial activities (Opara et al., 2009;Kanatt et al., 2010). ...
In this study, the antibacterial and antibiofilm properties of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) extracts (PPLs) prepared by 10g of pomegranate peels (PPL10) and 100 mL of different solvents (ethanol, methanol, and their acid combinations, and water) were investigated as sources of bioactive compounds against food related bacteria. The antimicrobial activities of the extracts were measured by using agar well diffusion assay. The acid-treated extracts exhibited the highest antimicrobial activities (31-34 mm). The biofilm formations were assessed by using a microplate reader (570 nm) after crystal violet staining. The prevention and removal of bacterial biofilms were also evaluated by using extracts prepared by 5g of initial pomegranate peel (PPL5) with the different solvents or 200 ppm chlorine solution. All PPL5 and PPL10 extracts diluted at different ratios inhibited and removed biofilms and the highest antibiofilm effects were up to 80% by acid-treated extracts. In addition, PPL5s and PPL10s were as effective as or more effective than chlorine for the prevention of biofilms. Therefore, from an economical perspective the PPL5s could represent promising candidates as natural antibiofilm agents for food industry.
... The antimicrobial activity of tannins (punicalagin isomers) has also been suggested to be a result of their ability to precipitate proteins, therefore breaking down or destroying the cell membrane of the microorganism and ultimately causing cell death [3,71]. Tannins also have adjacent hydroxyl groups such as catechol -OHs that grant the strong attraction for metal ions during chelation, thus preventing the production of free radicals generated through the Fenton reaction [3,7,31,71]. It has also been suggested that transport of substrates into the cell of the microorganism may be affected by the membrane instability caused by the interaction of the hydrophilic region of the tannin chemical structure with the polar region of the microorganism, while the hydrophobic section is immersed in a non-polar section of the bacterial membrane [71]. ...
Wonderful' pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) peel is rich in phytochemicals which are responsible for its strong antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, but it has low economic value as it is mainly discarded, causing an environmental waste management problem. To examine the best processing regime for pomegranate peel wastes, different solvents (ethanol, methanol and acetone) at various concentrations (50%, 70% and 100%) and blanching at 60, 80 and 100 °C for 1, 3 and 5 min, for each temperature, were tested. Ethanol at 70% (v/v) provided the highest extract yield, total phenolic and total tannin content at 29.46%, 10.61 ± 0.15, and 0.76 ± 0.02 mg GAE/g DM, respectively. Antioxidant activity using the 2,2 diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl assay (DPPH), ferric-reducing antiox-idant power assay (FRAP) and 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid assay (ABTS) were reported at 243.97 ± 2.43, 478.04 ± 73.98 and 718.79 ± 2.42 µmol Trolox/g DM, respectively. A blanching temperature of 80 °C for 3 min led to the highest extract that had a total phenolic content of 12.22 ± 0.08 mg GAE/g DM and total tannin content of 1.06 ± 0.06 mg GAE/g DM. This extract also exhibited the best antioxidant activity for the DPPH, FRAP and ABTS assays. Two blanching temperatures, 80 or 100 °C, significantly reduced polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase activities (p < 0.05). Although blanched peel extracts showed a broad-spectrum activity against test bacteria, blanching at 80 °C for 3 or 5 min was most effective. Hot water blanching is thus a suitable environmentally friendly post-harvesting processing method for pomegranate peels that are intended for use as extracts in value-added products with good antioxidant and antibacterial effects.
... Currently, there is a trend in the food industry to use antimicrobials and antioxidants from natural sources such as pomegranate fruit. Many extracts from the pomegranate fruit rind, peel, pericarp, seed and juice have been demonstrated to have antimicrobial activity against a wide range of bacterial strains (Reddy et al., 2007;Opara et al., 2008;Al-Zoreky, 2009). Although the peel has a greater antioxidant capacity than the fruit arils and seeds, fresh pomegranate juice is a safe, healthy, convenient, and especially highly palatable method of providing the benefits of extracts and with similar results (Hassan et al., 2020). ...
Most of the work on pomegranate antioxidant and antibacterial activity has been carried out with solvent extracts of different plant or fruit parts. Biosensitive compounds in juice may be subject to oxidation, reducing their biological activities. Microencapsulation can be used to protect compounds, allowing its incorporation into functional foods. This study aimed at investigating antioxidant activity after in vitro digestion of microencapsulated juice. Pomegranate juice was encapsulated by spray‐drying its maltodextrin and gum arabic. The average diameter of the microcapsules was 10 ‐ 50 µm. We evaluated the bioaccessibility of microencapsulated phenolic compounds by using an in vitro enzymatic digestion. The total phenolic content in digested microencapsulated juice was three times greater than in undigested, indicating that the compounds were made bioaccessible. Digestion also increased antioxidant activity, as measured by ABTS●+ or by DPPH●. Additionally, microencapsulated pomegranate juice showed antibacterial activity against the nine bacteria species tested.
Tannins are polyphenols characterized by different molecular weights that plants are able to synthetize during their secondary metabolism. Macromolecules (proteins, structural carbohydrates and starch) can link tannins and their digestion can decrease. Tannins can be classified into two groups: hydrolysable tannins and condensed tannins. Tannins are polyphenols, which can directly or indirectly affect intake and digestion. Their ability to bind molecules and form complexes depends on the structure of polyphenols and on the macromolecule involved. Tannins have long been known to be an "anti-nutritional agent" in monogastric and poultry animals. Using good tannins' proper application protocols helped the researchers observe positive effects on the intestinal microbial ecosystem, gut health, and animal production. Plant tannins are used as an alternative to in-feed antibiotics, and many factors have been described by researchers which contribute to the variability in their efficiencies. The objective of this study was to review the literature about tannins, their effects and use in ruminant nutrition.
Although the pomegranate has been cultivated and utilized in food, health, and other applications since time immemorial, it is only during the last couple of decades that commercial production and global trade in pomegranate fruit and processed coproducts have taken off. Heightened market demand for a consistent and year-round supply of fresh pomegranate fruit and value-added products has resulted in the need for fast and accurate nondestructive methods for the detection, measurement, and prediction of the external and internal quality attributes. Nondestructive measurement and prediction methods, such as near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), offer tremendous prospects for application in measuring and predicting the organoleptic and nutritional quality of pomegranate. Unlike other deciduous fruits such as apple and pears with edible skin/peel, the unique structure of pomegranate fruit is comprised of nonedible thick rind/peel/husk, and edible arils containing juice and seed which presents challenges in measurements to characterize fruit quality. This chapter examines the recent technological advances in NIRS for the measurement and prediction of external and internal quality attributes of pomegranate, including appearance features, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, and vitamin C. The application of NIRS, combined with chemometrics, to measure and predict external defects on whole fruit, and quality attributes of fruit peel, arils, and juice are discussed. Prospects of NIRS for on-site quality detection, measurement and control of pomegranates are highlighted.Keywords
Punica granatum
Infrared-spectroscopyNondestructive measurementFruit qualityPostharvest management
Recently, quality and safety of fruits and vegetables are a great concern to consumers. It is of great importance for the horticultural industry to produce high-quality and safe products for consumption. The main quality attributes required by the consumers are visual appearance, such as color, glossiness, surface texture, size, and absence of blemishes. There is also an increasing awareness on the chemical residues that threaten the health of consumers. Fresh produce is susceptible to a wide range of defects before harvest, at harvest, and during postharvest operations. Traditional detection of defects relies on manual and visual inspections. The majority of traditional quality assessment methods are destructive and offline in nature. Over the past few decades, research has focused on the development of diverse noncontact, rapid, eco-friendly, and accurate methods for examination of fruits and vegetables. The application of nondestructive spectroscopic techniques has gained popularity. Application of spectroscopy has been extended to the safety assessment and monitoring quality. This chapter entails the success of spectroscopic applications in fresh fruits and vegetables. It further discusses the measurement or operation principles, major components, steps of measurement, data analysis, important factors that need to be considered for good results, and applications of mid- and near infrared spectroscopy in fresh horticultural produce.KeywordsNondestructive technologyFruit qualityVegetable qualityVis-NIRS
This handbook focuses on the use of antibiotic alternatives in poultry and fish feed. Chapters in the book cover a range of natural ingredients in feed and the impacts of these natural feed additives on growth, production, reproduction and health status of poultry and fish. All chapters give a holistic approach to how organic feed additives (herbal plants and their extracts, probiotics, peptides, etc.) can positively impact animal health and production.
Key Features:
- presents 13 chapters contributed by 38 experts and scientists of animal, poultry and fish nutrition, poultry and fish physiology, toxicology, pharmacology, and pathology
- highlights the significance of herbal plants and their extracts and derivatives, cold-pressed and essential oils and fruits by-products
- covers the effects of special ingredients such as immunomodulators, antimicrobial peptides, and probiotics
- provides the reader an updated perspective on the use of additives in poultry and fish industry as growth promoters and their role in developing bacterial resistance to antibiotics
- covers the main poultry species, egg-laying hens, quails, geese, ducks, turkey, and commercial fish
- includes references for advanced readers
This book will be useful for poultry and fish keepers and researchers in animal nutrition, pharmacology, and veterinary sciences. Professionals involved in the poultry and fish feed industry will also find the information useful for product development.
This experiment aimed to study the effect of feeding chitosan with diet on some blood hematological and biochemical parameters of sixty-four growing New Zealand rabbits (NZ). Weaned rabbits were equally assigned to four dietary experimental groups and fed ad libitum for 8 weeks. No supplemented chitosan diet was served as a control group, the other three groups were fed diet contained 0.2, 0.4 or 0.6 g chitosan/kg diet. Results indicated that, there were not significant (P≤0.05) differences among chitosan treatments on hematological traits. There were significant (P≤0.05) differences among chitosan treatments on some serum parameters (i.e., total protein and glucose). The highest level of total protein was obtained from animals fed on 0.4 chitosan/kg diet compared with other experimental groups. Also, animals fed on 0.2 chitosan/kg diet were higher (P≤0.05) in glucose level compared with other experimental groups. It could be concluded that, using chitosan in 0.2 or 0.4g/kg diet, has a beneficial in maintaining health condition of the growing rabbits.
This study investigated the effect of dietary chitosan on growth performances, and carcass traits of sixty-four growing New Zealand White rabbits (NZW). Weaned rabbits were equally distributed among four dietary experimental groups and fed ad libitum for 8 weeks. A basal diet without supplemented chitosan served as a control, the other three groups were fed diet contained 0.2, 0.4 or 0.6 g chitosan/kg diet. Results indicated that, there were significant (P≤0.05) differences among chitosan treatments on productive and carcass traits. Body weight gain was significantly (P≤0.05) increased in group fed 0.2 g chitosan/kg diet compared with other treatments. Also, feed intake significantly (P≤0.05) improved in group fed 0.4 g chitosan/kg compared with other treatments. Moreover, chitosan treatments did not negatively effect on feed consumption during the experimental period. It could be concluded that, using chitosan in 0.2 or 0.4g/kg diet, seemed to be effective to improve rabbit’s body weight gain, and feed conversion ratio under Egyptian conditions.
This study has been carried out in the animal field of the college of agricultural engineering sciences, university of Baghdad, for the period from 15/12/2021 to 26/1/2022 for 42 d, to investigate the effect of adding different levels of ellagic acid to the diet of broilers, on some physiological characteristics & oxidation indicators in meat compared to vitamin C in meat, 225 Ross 308 chicks were used, divided randomly to five treatments such us: T1: control group without additives to diet, & the other T2, T3, T4 was added ellagic acid (0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 mg/ kg diet) respectively and T5: was added vitamin C 0.5 mg/ kg, the birds were given ellagic acid & vitamin C from day one to the end of the experiment, the study results were showed a significant differences increase (P<0.05) improved at T4 treatment in the first & second week & in T2 and T4. in the 4 th and 5 th weeks treatment T2 was superior, to show a significant advantage of the control treatment & T1,T2 in the 2 nd week for the trait of overweight, in the 4 th and 5 th weeks the treatment T2 was superior for the total weight gain, there was an improvement in the feed conversion in 4 th week in T2, in the 5 th week the treatment T2 was superior, there was a significantly superior in T2 for total weight gain rate, there was a significant increase in the feed conversion in T1 and T4 in the 2 nd week. ح يٍ يخخهفت يسخىٌاث إضافت حأرٍش نًعشفت ورنك ٌىو ا يض االٌالصك Ellagic acid انهحى فً األكسذة ويؤششاث انفسٍىنىصٍت انخصائص بعض عهى انهحى فشوس عهٍقت انى و ، حى اسخخذاو 225 نحى فشوس فشخ ROSS-308 وبىاقع يعايالث خًس إنى عشىائً بشكم وصعج يضُست غٍش واحذ ٌىو بعًش يعايهت نكم يكشساث رالد كاَج ار ، األونى انًعايهت T1 إضافت اي بذوٌ سٍطشة عهٍقت كاَج بًٍُا ، انزاٍَت انًعايهت T2 عهٍقت انٍها يضاف أساسٍت 0.25 ي هغى ك / وان االٌالصك، حايض غى انزانزت ًعايهت T3 انٍها يضاف أساسٍت عهٍقت 0.5 ي هغى ك / غى اال حايض ٌالصك وان ، انشابعت ًعايهت T4 انٍها يضاف أساسٍت عهٍقت 0.75 ي هغى ك / غ ى االٌال حايض صك كاَج حٍٍ فً ، انخايست انًعايهت T5 انٍها يضاف اساسٍت عهٍقت 0.5 ي هغى ك / غ فٍخايٍٍ ى C ، و يعُىي حفىق حصىل انذساست َخائش أظهشث (P<0.05) ن هًعايهت T4 وانزاًَ األول االسبىعٍٍ فً ، انًعايهت فً وححسٍ T2 و T4 وانخايس انشابع االسبىعٍٍ فً ، كًا انًعايهت حفىقج T1 و T2 انزاًَ األسبىع فً انىصٍَت انضٌادة نصفت بانُسبت انًعايالث باقً عهى ، يعُىي ححسٍ وحصم كًا نًعايهخً T1 و T4 انًعايهت فً يعُىي اسحفاع وحصم انزاًَ األسبىع فً انغزائً انخحىٌم نًعايم بانُسبت T2 صفت فً نهًعايهت بانُسبت انغزائً انخحىٌم يعايم فً يعُىي ححسٍ وحصم كًا انىصٍَت انضٌادة T1 و T4. المفتاحيت: الكلماث ح ، انهحى دصاس ا االٌالص يض يؤ انفسٍىنىصٍت، انخصائص ك، ش األك شاث سذة. This work is licensed under a CCBY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 INTRODUCTION Ellagic acid is a biologically active food polyphenol compound. It is one of the main antioxidants found in abundance in fruits and vegetables, it has many beneficial properties for health because it contains antioxidants (Sun et al., 2017), such as anticancer (Rahal et al., 2014), antibacterial (Shahidi et al., 2018), antimicrobial & anti-inflammatory (Li et al., 2015) properties, the antioxidant effect is shown by deleting reactive oxygen and reactive nitrogen such as hydroxyl radicals, peroxyl, nitrite and peroxynitrite (Seeram et al., 2005), and previous researches indicated that ellagic acid can remove free radicals (Zheng et al., 2020), preventing lipid peroxidation (Kilic et al., 2014). Therefore, there has been interested to understanding the role of polyphenols and their potential mechanisms of action in maintaining a healthy gut. and with the global ban on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters, there has been an impetus for efforts to use natural materials as feed additives tom proved the productive performance of broilers (Duskaev et al., 2018), Therefore, the trend has been recently towards the use of materials extracted from plants as a medicinal alternative to improve the health of animals, which is called natural treatment. There is also clear evidence that adequate nutrition can help maintain a healthy gut (He et al., 2017; Wan et al., 2018). However, gut health in young animals can easily deteriorate due to many factors, including disease-causing infection, inflammation and oxidation (Liu, 2015; Wan et al., 2021). These factors lead to intestinal mucosal damage and dysfunction and thus adversely affect the growth performance and health of animals (Liu et al., 2008), so the aim of this study was to show the effect of adding ellagic acid (as an antioxidant) to meatloaf ration on Its effect on the physiological performance and oxidation indicators of meat .
Bioactive compound characterization is an essential step for utilizing pomegranate peel waste as food and nutraceuticals ingredients. In the present investigation, the effects of different drying methods (freeze, tray-oven, and sun) and extraction solvents such as methanol, ethanol, water, acetone, and hexane were investigated on the extraction and recovery of major bioactive compounds (ellagic acid, gallic acid, quercetin, and punicalagin) of pomegranate peel for two pomegranate varieties (i.e., Bhagwa and Ganesh) using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results indicated that the freeze dried pomegranate peel powder of both pomegranate varities potential to extraction higher amount of bioactive compounds with methanol as extraction solvent as compared to other drying methods and solvents. Freeze-dried peel powder of Bhagwa pomegranate showed a higher amount of gallic acid (32.2 mg/g), ellagic acid (13.6 mg/g), punicalagin (15.2 mg/g), and quercetin (2.5 mg/g) with methanol solvent as compared to the other extract of Bhagwa and Ganesh varieties. The basis on the results of the current study, it can be concluded that the freeze-drying method of drying pomegranate peel powder and methanol as an extraction solvent are effective to recover higher amounts of bioactive compounds that can be utilized in food and pharmaceutical sectors at commercial scale.
Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is an eco‐friendly technology that has attracted a great amount of attention in the food and nutraceutical industries due to its considerable benefits over conventional techniques. It has high selectivity and can be employed to extract heat sensitive, easily oxidized compounds with high efficiency. Less organic solvent is used during extraction, leaving no toxic residues in the product. With these advantages, SFE has been widely applied in bioactive compound extraction from natural plant materials or by‐products. This review summarizes the recent application of SFE in nutraceutical industries including recovery of carotenoids, phenolic compounds, lipids, flavor and fragrance, and decaffeination of tea and coffee. The key parameters affecting SFE are also discussed with focuses on pretreatment, temperature and pressure, flow rate, extraction time, and cosolvent/modifier. Overall, this review builds a comprehensive picture of SFE application in the nutraceutical industry. It is anticipated that this article can provide useful information for researchers to pursue more applications of this technology in the food and nutraceutical industries. The current review provides an overview of the recent applications of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) in nutraceutical industries including recovery of carotenoids, phenolic compounds, lipids, flavor and fragrance, and decaffeination of tea and coffee. The key parameters affecting SFE are also discussed with focuses on pretreatment, temperature and pressure, flow rate, extraction time, and cosolvent/modifier.
An analytical method in pomegranate whole fruits and arils was developed in LC-MS/MS and validated as per SANTE/12682/2019. Samples were extracted following acetonitrile-based modified QuEChERS protocol. The method was linear and the coefficient of determination ranged between 0.998 to 0.999. Through this method, all the pesticides were detected and quantified at 10 µg kg⁻¹. The accuracy test at 10, 50, and 100 µg kg⁻¹ spiking level recorded recovery between 70-120% and RSD less than 15% in both matrices. No significant matrix effect was observed for most pesticides. Intra (RSDr) and inter-day (RSDwr) precision estimated at 50 µg kg⁻¹ found acceptable RSD in both matrices. Measurement uncertainty at 50 µg kg⁻¹ was in the range of 4.02 to 16.12 µg kg⁻¹. Quantifying pesticides in pomegranate whole fruits, peel, and arils using the proposed method is highly suitable and reproducible for 74 pesticides in a short run time of 25.00 min.
Punica granatum L. (pomegranate) is known popularly by its nutritional values and healthy benefits. The current study is aimed the evaluation of antibacterial effects of Punica granatum fruit extracts that cultivated in Algeria against environmental and clinical isolates of β-lactamase producing methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae by using agar diffusion methods and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)-determination. Moreover, the extracts were investigated for their phenolic content by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. The quantitative assays of total polyphenols revealed a richness of the different pomegranate extract in polyphenols, peel and seed ethanol extracts contain the highest values (880.06 ± 11.2 mg GAE/100 g and 1160.1 ± 45.20 mg GAE/100 g, respectively). Flavonoid contents were high in both of acetone, ethanol extracts of peel, followed by ethanol, and acetone extracts of juice. According to the disc diffusion data, all phenolic extracts had a bacterial inhibitory effect against all extended-spectrum beta-lactamase ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae with a strong inhibitor with MIC 512 g/mL strength. The pericarp extract is particularly effective against Escherichia coli, Citrobacter freundii, and Klebseilla pneumoniae. However, the extract Punica granatum (pericarp and juice) revealed broad-spectrum antibacterial activity with an inhibitory diameter zone size of 11 0.9 mm to 29 1.12 mm against β-lactamase generating methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) species.These results were similar in both of agar diffusion and MIC methods. From the above study, it can be concluded that Algerian pomegranate extracts possess remarkable antibacterial activity. This result could be related to the presence of bioactive metabolites in this fruit. Therefore, intensive future studies should be performed to characterize the antibacterial components that are behind for this biological property.
Bioactive compound characterization is an important steps for utilization of pomegranate peel waste as food and nutraceutical ingredients. In the present investigation the effects of different drying (freeze, tray-oven and sun) and solvents such as methanol, ethanol, water, acetone and hexane were investigated on the extraction and recovery of major bioactive compounds (ellagic acid, gallic acid, quercetin and punicalagin) of pomegranate peel for two pomegranate varieties (i.e. Bhagwa and Ganesh) using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results indicated that the peel powder obtained by freeze drying (-45°C) method which extracted by methanol was higher amount in bioactive compounds compared to the other drying methods and solvents. Freeze dried peel powder of Bhagwa pomegranate showed higher amount of gallic acid (32.2 mg/g), ellagic acid (13.6 mg/g), punicalagin (15.2 mg/g) and quercetin (2.5 mg/g) with methanol solvent as compared to the other extract of Bhagwa and Ganesh varieties. Basis on the results of current study it can be concluded that the freeze drying method for drying pomegranate peel powder and methanol as a solvent are effectives to recover higher extraction of bioactive compounds which can be utilize to develop human and animal health.
Buah Delima (Punica granatum L.) merupakan tanaman yang memiliki banyak manfaat, diantaranya memiliki kandungan antioksidan. Kandungan antioksidan dalam buah delima yang utama adalah vitamin C. Vitamin C sebagai antioksidan dibutuhkan dalam sistem imun untuk menjaga kekebalan tubuh dan juga dapat menjaga elastisitas kulit. Kandungan vitamin C dari buah delima dapat diperoleh dengan cara ekstraksi. Vitamin C tidak tahan pada suhu yang tinggi, sehingga dibutuhkan teknologi ekstraksi yang tepat. Ultrasound Assisted Extraction (UAE) merupakan ekstraksi ultrasonikasi yang dipilih karena tidak menggunakan suhu yang tinggi dan waktu ekstraksi lebih singkat. Penelitian ini bertujuan menentukan kondisi UAE optimum yang meliputi kombinasi 3 variabel, yaitu amplitudo, waktu, dan jumlah pelarut yang menghasilkan vitamin C optimum dari ekstrak daging buah delima. Tipe alat UAE yang digunakan pada penelitian ini adalah tipe Qsonica – Q500 (500 W, 20 kHz). Metode penelitian adalah eksperimental laboratorium menggunakan RSM (Response Surface Methodology) tipe CCD (Central Composite Design) dengan amplitudo minimum 40% dan maksimum 50%; waktu minimum 20 menit dan maksimum 25 menit; dan jumlah pelarut minimum 150 ml dan maksimum 225 ml. Hasil penelitian menyimpulkan bahwa banyaknya jumlah pelarut memberikan pengaruh yang nyata, sedangkan amplitudo dan lama waktu ekstraksi tidak berpengaruh nyata. Model signifikan pada nilai P < 0,05 dengan kondisi UAE optimum pada kombinasi perlakuan amplitudo 50%, waktu 25 menit, dan jumlah pelarut 150 ml yang menghasilkan nilai kadar vitamin C optimum sebesar 47,79 mg/100 gram.
The purpose of this experiment was to define the influence of different doses of calcium chloride (CaCl2) applications on fruit yield, some quality properties, and nutrition of plant in Hicaznar pomegranate cultivar during 2016 and 2017 in Aydın (Turkey) ecological condition. In the study, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0% solutions of calcium chloride (CaCl2) were applied by spraying except the control dose to the trees. The solution doses were twice applied during the fruit growing season in June and August. According to the results, fruit yield, peel thickness, fruit length, diameter, and weights were increased compared to control dose with CaCl2 applications. Foliar CaCl2 applications increased foliar Ca content by 60%. Concentrations of other plant nutrients other than N and Ca were decreased in parallel with increasing CaCl2 doses. Foliar P content was not affected in this case. As a result, the amount of CaCl2 solution to be applied to leaves in Hicaznar pomegranate was determined as 0.6%.
The formulation of shelf-stable intermediate-moisture products is a critical food safety issue. Therefore, knowing the precise boundary for the growth-no-growth interface of Staphylococcus aureus is necessary for food safety risk assessment. This study was designed to examine the effects of various humectants and to produce growth boundary models as tools for risk assessment. The molecular mobility and the effects of various physical properties of humectants, such as their glass transition temperatures, their membrane permeability, and their ionic and nonionic properties, on S. aureus growth were investigated. The effects of relative humidity (RH; 84 to 95%, adjusted by sucrose plus fructose, glycerol, or NaCl), initial pH (4.5 to 7.0, adjusted by HCl), and potassium sorbate concentration (0 or 1,000 ppm) on the growth of S. aureus were determined. Growth was monitored by turbidity over a 24-week period. Toxin production was determined by enterotoxin assay. The 1,792 data points generated were analyzed by LIFEREG procedures (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, N.C.), which showed that all parameters studied significantly affected the growth responses of S. aureus. Differences were observed in the growth-no-growth boundary when different humectants were used to achieve the desired RH values in both the absence and the presence of potassium sorbate. Sucrose plus fructose was most inhibitory at neutral pH values, while NaCl was most inhibitory at low pH values. The addition of potassium sorbate greatly increased the no-growth regions, particularly when pH was <6.0. Published kinetic growth and survival models were compared with boundary models developed in this work. The effects of solutes and differences in modeling approaches are discussed.
Food-borne diseases are of major concern worldwide. To date, around 250 different food-borne diseases have been described, and bacteria are the causative agents of two thirds of food-borne disease outbreaks. Among the predominant bacteria involved in these diseases, Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of gastroenteritis resulting from the consumption of contaminated food. Staphylococcal food poisoning is due to the absorption of staphylococcal enterotoxins preformed in the food. Here, we briefly review the latest data on staphy-lococcal enterotoxins and some papers exemplifying the interactions between S. aureus and the food matrix; environmental factors affecting staphylococcal enterotoxin production are discussed.
Antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxic activities of ethanol extract of tuberous roots of Amorphophallus campanulatus were studied. Disc diffusion technique was used to determine in vitro antibacterial and antifungal activities. Cytotoxicity was determined against brine shrimp nauplii. In addition, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined using serial dilution technique to determine antibacterial potency. The extract showed significant antibacterial activities against four gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus megaterium, Staphylococcus aureus. Streptococcus β-haemolyticus) and six gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli. Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella sonnei, Shigella flexneri, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Salmonella typhi). The MIC values against these bacteria ranged from 16 to 128 μg/ml. The antifungal activity was found weak against the tested fungi. In cytotoxicity determination, LC50 of the extract against brine shrimp nauplii was 7.66 μg/ml.
The antioxidant activities of peel, pulp and seed fractions of 28 fruits commonly consumed in China were determined using the ferric reducing/antioxidant power assay (FRAP assay). The contribution of vitamin C to the antioxidant activity of fruit pulps was also calculated. The results showed that hawthorn pulp had the highest FRAP value among all fruit pulps and followed by date, guava, kiwifruit, purple mulberry, strawberry, white pomegranate, lukan and honey tangerine pulps and etc. Most of fruit peel and seed fractions were stronger than the pulp fractions in antioxidant activity based on their FRAP values. The contribution of vitamin C to the FRAP value of fruit pulps varied greatly from fruit to fruit as calculated. We concluded that peel and seed fractions of some fruits, such as pomegranate peel, grape seed, hawthorn peel, longan and lychee seeds possessed relatively high antioxidant activity and might be rich sources of natural antioxidants.
Pomegranate is an important source of bioactive compounds and has been used for folk medicine for many centuries. Pomegranate juice has been demonstrated to be high in antioxidant activity and is effective in the prevention of atherosclerosis. In a previous study, we found that pomegranate peel had the highest antioxidant activity among the peel, pulp and seed fractions of 28 kinds of fruits commonly consumed in China as determined by FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power) assay. In this study, we extracted antioxidants from pomegranate peel, using a mixture of ethanol, methanol and acetone, and the antioxidant properties of the extract were further investigated as compared with the pulp extract. The contents of total phenolics, flavonoids, proathocyanidins and ascorbic acid were also measured. The results showed that pomegranate peel extract had markedly higher antioxidant capacity than the pulp extract in scavenging or preventive capacity against superoxide anion, hydroxyl and peroxyl radicals as well as inhibiting CuSO4-induced LDL oxidation. The contents of total phenolics, flavonoids and proathocyanidins were also higher in peel extract than in pulp extract. The large amount of phenolics contained in peel extract may cause its strong antioxidant ability. We concluded that pomegranate peel extract appeared to have more potential as a health supplement rich in natural antioxidants than the pulp extract and merits further intensive study.
In this study RAPD markers were used to determine the diversity level among 24 Iranian pomegranate genotypes. One hundred decamer random primers were used for PCR reactions, among which 16 showed reliable polymorphic patterns. These primers produced 178 bands, of which 102 were polymorphic. Cluster analysis of the genotypes was performed based on data from polymorphic RAPD bands, using Jaccard's similarity coefficient and UPGMA clustering method. The highest and lowest similarities detected between genotypes were 0.89 and 0.29, respectively. At a similarity of 60%, the genotypes were divided into four sub-clusters. Cophenetic correlation coefficient between similarity matrix and cophenetic matrix of dendrogram was relatively high (r = 0.9) showing the goodness of fit of the dendrogram. RAPD markers showed to be a useful tool for studying the genetic diversity of pomegranate.
To assess the in vitro antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxic activities of amblyone, a triterpenoid isolated from Amorphophallus campanulatus (Roxb).
Disc diffusion technique was used for in vitro antibacterial and antifungal screening. Cytotoxicity was determined against brine shrimp nauplii. In addition, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined using serial dilution technique to determine the antibacterial potency.
Large zones of inhibition were observed in disc diffusion antibacterial screening against four Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus megaterium, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes) and six Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella sonnei, Shigella flexneri, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi). The MIC values against these bacteria ranged from 8 to 64 μg/ml. In antifungal screening, the compound showed small zones of inhibition against Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger and Rhizopus aryzae. Candida albicans was resistant against the compound. In the cytotoxicity determination, LC(50) of the compound against brine shrimp nauplii was 13.25 μg/ml.
These results suggest that the compound has good antibacterial activity against the tested bacteria, moderate cytotoxicity against brine shrimp nauplii and insignificant antifungal activity against the tested fungi.
Food-borne diseases are of major concern worldwide. To date, around 250 different food-borne diseases have been described, and bacteria are the causative agents of two thirds of food-borne disease outbreaks. Among the predominant bacteria involved in these diseases, Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of gastroenteritis resulting from the consumption of contaminated food. Staphylococcal food poisoning is due to the absorption of staphylococcal enterotoxins preformed in the food. Here, we briefly review the latest data on staphylococcal enterotoxins and some papers exemplifying the interactions between S. aureus and the food matrix; environmental factors affecting staphylococcal enterotoxin production are discussed.
In the present study, antimicrobial activity of the ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP), collected at different periods (June, August, and October-November) from various regions (Taipei, Mingchien, and Fanglia) in Taiwan, against Staphylococcus aureus was investigated. The effects of cell age, incubation temperature, and pH in response to EEP were also investigated. Depending on concentration, collecting area, and time, EEP exerted various degrees of antibacterial activity against S. aureus. The minimum inhibitory concentration of EEP tested ranged from <3.75 to 60 microg/ml, while the minimum bactericidal concentration ranged between 7.5 and 120 microg/ml against S. aureus. In general, a higher antibacterial activity was noted with EEP collected in August than other months. EEP of Mingchien-6 showed the most profound antibacterial activity among the EEP samples tested. The age of a bacterial culture affected its susceptibility to EEP. Cells in the late-exponential phase were most susceptible to EEP. Higher temperature (37 degrees C) and acidic pH enhanced the antibacterial activity of EEP.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial effect of a Punica granatum Linn (pomegranate) phytotherapeutic gel and miconazole (Daktarin oral gel) against three standard streptococci strains (mutans ATCC 25175, sanguis ATCC 10577 and mitis ATCC 9811), S. mutans clinically isolated and Candida albicans either alone or in association. The effect of minimum inhibitory concentrations of the gels on the adherence of these microorganisms to glass was assessed in the presence of 5% sucrose, using increasing and doubled concentrations of the diluted solution of the gels ranging from 1:1 to 1:1024. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of adherence of Punica granatum L. gel against the test organisms were: 1:16 for S. mutans (ATCC), S. mutans (CI) and S. sanguis; 1:128 for S. mitis and 1:64 for C. albicans. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of adherence of miconazole against the same organisms were: 1:512, 1:64, 1:4, 1:128 and 1:16, respectively. In experiments with three and four associated microorganisms, the Punica granatum L. gel had greater efficiency in inhibiting microbial adherence than the miconazole. The results of this study suggest that this phytotherapeutic agent might be used in the control of adherence of different microorganisms in the oral cavity.
The Punica granatum L. (pomegranate) by-product POMx was partitioned between water, EtOAc and n-BuOH, and the EtOAc and n-BuOH extracts were purified by XAD-16 and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography to afford ellagic acid (1), gallagic acid (2), punicalins (3), and punicalagins (4). Compounds 1 - 4 and the mixture of tannin fractions (XAD-16 eluates) were evaluated for antioxidant, antiplasmodial, and antimicrobial activities in cell-based assays. The mixture of tannins (TPT), XAD-EtOAc, XAD-H2O, XAD-PJ and XAD-BuOH, exhibited IC50 values against reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation at 0.8 - 19 microg/mL. Compounds 1 - 4 showed IC50 values of 1.1, 3.2, 2.3 and 1.4 microM, respectively, against ROS generation and no toxicity up to 31.25 microg/mL against HL-60 cells. Gallagic acid (2) and punicalagins (4) exhibited antiplasmodial activity against Plasmodium falciparum D6 and W2 clones with IC50 values of 10.9, 10.6, 7.5 and 8.8 microM, respectively. Fractions XAD-EtOAc, XAD-BuOH, XAD-H2O and XAD-PJ compounds 1 - 4 revealed antimicrobial activity when assayed against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Aspergillus fumigatus and Mycobacterium intracellulare. Compounds 2 and 4 showed activity against P. aeruginosa, C. neoformans, and MRSA. This is the first report on the antioxidant, antiplasmodial and antimicrobial activities of POMx isolates, including structure-activity relationships (SAR) of the free radical inhibition activity of compounds 1 - 4. Our results suggest a beneficial effect from the daily intake of POMx and pomegranate juice (PJ) as dietary supplements to augment the human immune system's antioxidant, antimalarial and antimicrobial capacities.
The physical and chemical analyses of five different pomegranate genotypes (Punica granatum L.) were investigated for two years. The average fruit weight lies between 140.9-281.1 g, skin bottom colour is yellow in all types, skin upper colour pink-red, skin thickness 2.82-3.59 mm, fruitlet colour clear pink-dark red, the weight of 100 kernels 24.1-41.4 g and the percentage of kernels ranged between 43.4-61.3%. In addition, the total soluble solid content was found between 13.5-16.7%, while total acid varied between 2.66-3.58%.
Ten pomegranate varieties were analysed for their percent of skin, juice, seed, lipid content and moisture, and sugars, minerals, vitamin C, protein, pH, titrable acidity (TA) and soluble solid content (SSC) of juices. Predominant sugars were fructose (3.50 to 5.96g/100g) and glucose (3.40 to 6.40g/100g). Saccharose and maltose were not practically detected in any variety. K, Na, Ca, Mg, Mn, Cu, Fe, Zn, Pb and Cd were determined by ICP atomic spectroscopy. Contents of K, Na, Ca and Mg were the highest among minerals in fruit juices. The average concentration of vitamin C, protein, TA, SSC and pH were 0.09-0.40mg/100g, 0.29-1.93%, 4.0-24.5g/L, 10.0-16.5°Brix and 2.90-4.21, respectively.
The antimicrobial activities of orange juice, milk, cheese, honey, and yoghurt were determined against some recurrent bacterial pathogens and spoilage agents, including Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Micrococcus, and Proteus spp. Orange juice and the combination of yoghurt and orange juice had the broadest spectrum of activity followed by honey and then yoghurt, and then to a lesser extent the combination of yoghurt and honey, and honey and orange juice. In contrast, no inhibition was observed with milk or cheese. Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, and Pseudomonas spp. were most resistant to the action of the foods, whereas Micrococcus, Bacillus, and E. coli were remarkably sensitive. Low pH (pH 3.2) was shown to contribute to the inhibitory activity of orange juice. Whereas, water activity (aw) was not the major factor in the bacterial growth inhibition caused by honey. In summary, it is good practice to include foods that restrict the growth of microorganisms in prepared foods such as school picnics and foods that may be inadequately stored such as camping meals. Orange juice, yoghurt, and honey were shown to meet these requirements. Their inclusion either individually or in combinations in ‘high risk” products such as salad dressings and sandwiches should be considered.
The production of antileukemic enzyme L-asparaginase in two distinctly related bacteria, Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and in their recombinants expressing the Vitresocilla hemoglobin (VHb) has been studied. Both bacteria showed a substantially different degree of carbon catabolite repression of the enzyme production. E. aerogenes grown under catabolite repression had more than 20-fold lower L-asparaginase activity than the controls. This figure was only 1.6-fold for P. aeruginosa. In the medium with restricted nutrient content, however, the inhibitory effect of glucose on the enzyme production was less pronounced. The presence of VHb, an efficient oxygen uptake system, had also different effects in both bacteria. Under conditions of no catabolite repression, this protein caused about 7-fold lower L-asparaginase activity in E. aerogenes, but similar or even slightly stimulatory effect in P aeruginosa. The use of a relatively poor carbon source, mannitol, caused a lower L-asparaginase level and no glucose type catabolite repression. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The goal of this study was to determine the effect of drying temperature on the shrinkage, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) degradation and aroma retention of apples. Apple samples were found to shrink continuously until a water content value of 2 kg/kg d.b. The degradation of ascorbic acid followed a pseudo-first-order reaction and the degradation rate constant increased when temperature increased from 40 to 70 degrees C. The loss of aroma volatiles increased with temperature and drying time. (c) 2006 Swiss Society of Food Science and Technology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
This study evaluated the production of five new pomegranate varieties (ME14, ME15, PTO2, PTO7 and CRO1), being all indigenous to Southeastern Spain where the species shows high variability. A morphological and organoleptic characterisation of the edible portion of the seeds were investigated. Some chemical characteristics of the juice, including total soluble solids, pH, acidity and maturity index, were assessed. Morphological characteristics of both the edible and the woody portions of the seed were evaluated. Also productive and organoleptic characteristics of all varieties were considered, being ME14 and ME15 the highest yielders. Furthermore, PTO2 and CRO1 showed the heaviest seeds (both showing an average weight of 0.61 g) while ME15 the lightest one (0.37 g). Regarding seed juice content, there were significant differences among the evaluated varieties; whereas PTO2 and CRO1 showed the highest juice contents, PTO7 yielded the lowest one. However, the cultivar PTO7 showed a significantly higher acidity content than the others, along with the lowest maturity index at all. Finally, ME14 and ME 15 were very interesting because of their high production, large fruit size and excellent seed organoleptic characteristics.
The antioxidant activity of pomegranate juices was evaluated by four different methods (ABTS, DPPH, DMPD, and FRAP) and compared to those of red wine and a green tea infusion. Commercial pomegranate juices showed an antioxidant activity (18−20 TEAC) three times higher than those of red wine and green tea (6−8 TEAC). The activity was higher in commercial juices extracted from whole pomegranates than in experimental juices obtained from the arils only (12−14 TEAC). HPLC-DAD and HPLC-MS analyses of the juices revealed that commercial juices contained the pomegranate tannin punicalagin (1500−1900 mg/L) while only traces of this compound were detected in the experimental juice obtained from arils in the laboratory. This shows that pomegranate industrial processing extracts some of the hydrolyzable tannins present in the fruit rind. This could account for the higher antioxidant activity of commercial juices compared to the experimental ones. In addition, anthocyanins, ellagic acid derivatives, and hydrolyzable tannins were detected and quantified in the pomegranate juices. Keywords: Pomegranate; Punica granatum; Punicaceae; juice; phenolics; anthocyanins; ellagic acid; punicalagin; tannins; antioxidant activity; ABTS; DPPH; DMPD; FRAP
Pomegranate peels were powdered and extracted with ethyl acetate, acetone, methanol (MeOH), and water for 1 h each at room temperature. Radical-scavenging activity of dried ethyl acetate, acetone, MeOH, and water extracts of pomegranate peels were compared with butylated hydroxyanisole at 5, 10, 25, and 50 ppm by high-performance liquid chromatography method using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. MeOH extract exhibited stronger radical-scavenging effect than others. MeOH extract showed marked reducing power in potassium ferricyanide reduction method. Antibacterial activity of acetone, MeOH, and water extracts was evaluated by pour plate method against a few Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Acetone extract showed the highest antibacterial activity, followed by MeOH and water extract.
Kinetics of ascorbic acid degradation during air-drying of whole rosehip has been investigated. Changes of vitamin C content during drying have been affected by drying time, drying air temperature and as well as moisture content. Vitamin C degradation rates for whole fruits during drying have been satisfactorily described by first-order kinetics. Temperature dependency of the model has been described also by Arrhenius relationship. Activation energy and reaction rate constant have been determined as a function of moisture content and described as Ea = 38600 + 100M and k0 = exp(6.32 + 0.75M). In addition, rosehip has been pre-treated by cutting into pieces and drying experiments were conducted with air and with the atmospheres prepared with various ratios of air–CO2 mixtures. Cutting of the rosehips before drying accelerated the drying process and increased the retention of vitamin C. The loss of vitamin C was increased depending on the rate of the oxygen in the air–CO2 mixtures used as a drying medium.
Lysosomotropic weak bases impair in-vitro neutrophil functions including intracellular killing of Staphylococcus aureus strain 502a. To investigate whether prevention of phagosomal acidification could account for impaired microbicidal activity, a model phagosome was formulated with a freeze-thawed granule extract as a source of lysosomal enzymes and H2O2 as a source of toxic oxygen metabolites. The lysosomal extract alone killed Escherichia coli strain S15 efficiently at pH 5.5 and 7.0, but had little activity against S. aureus 502a. Sublethal concentrations of the two agents, when combined, acted synergically against either organism. Each organism was killed more effectively at pH 5.5 than at pH 7.0 by the lysosome extract-H2O2 combination, but the killing of E. coli was more rapid than that of S. aureus in the same conditions. These findings suggest that impairment of neutrophil antistaphylococcal activity by weak bases may be mediated by their ability to raise phagosomal pH, and that persistence of E. coli in similar conditions does not occur because the latter is killed by lysosomal constituents in a non-pH-dependent fashion.
There had been a long use of Simples as drugs of longevity. Among these red substances predominated, red ochre and cinnabar as minerals, ephedra bearing red berries and pomegranate and peach as vegetable products. In China herbalism became a cult of longevity with its legendary founder as Emperor Shen Nung and with the god of longevity finally emerging from the peach as Shou-Sing. To excell simple drugs of longevity the first synthetic drug was prepared as brick red colloidal gold. It was called Chin-I. Gold-cum-herbal juice. Dialectally it was pronounced Kim-Iya, whence Alkimiya in Arabic, and finally alchemy. Chin-I was Herbo-golden drug and also gold-making-juice, a miraculous substance. But it was not blood-red. Now came Chin-Tan, Cinnabar-gold, red like blood. Its redness equalled blood and as such was soul, gold as its acceptor had an everlasting body. Chin-Tan was designed as the ideal drug of longevity. Alchemy started by making red gold but degenerated, trying to make bullion gold.
The antioxidant activity of pomegranate juices was evaluated by four different methods (ABTS, DPPH, DMPD, and FRAP) and compared to those of red wine and a green tea infusion. Commercial pomegranate juices showed an antioxidant activity (18-20 TEAC) three times higher than those of red wine and green tea (6-8 TEAC). The activity was higher in commercial juices extracted from whole pomegranates than in experimental juices obtained from the arils only (12-14 TEAC). HPLC-DAD and HPLC-MS analyses of the juices revealed that commercial juices contained the pomegranate tannin punicalagin (1500-1900 mg/L) while only traces of this compound were detected in the experimental juice obtained from arils in the laboratory. This shows that pomegranate industrial processing extracts some of the hydrolyzable tannins present in the fruit rind. This could account for the higher antioxidant activity of commercial juices compared to the experimental ones. In addition, anthocyanins, ellagic acid derivatives, and hydrolyzable tannins were detected and quantified in the pomegranate juices.
We examined the antibacterial action of several tannins on plasma coagulation by Staphylococcus aureus and the effect of conventional chemotherapy combined with tannic acid below the MIC. Coagulation was inhibited in plasma containing tannic acid (100 mg/L), gallic acid (5000 mg/L), ellagic acid (5000 mg/L), (-)-epicatechin (1500 mg/L), (-)-epicatechin gallate (500 mg/L) or (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (200 mg/L) after incubation for 24 h. All tannins inhibited coagulation at a concentration below the MIC. The MICs of oxacillin and cefdinir for S. aureus were reduced to < or = 0.06 mg/L in Mueller-Hinton agar plates with tannic acid (100 mg/L) at a concentration below the MIC. The antistaphylococcal activity of tannic acid was reduced in plates with 10% rabbit blood, but not in those with 10% rabbit plasma. Membranous structures formed in a culture medium containing equal proportions of plasma and tryptic soy broth after incubation for 24 h. The colony counts of S. aureus in membranous structures in the medium containing oxacillin (40 mg/L) and tannic acid (100 mg/L) were c. 10-fold lower than those in medium containing oxacillin (40 mg/L) alone (P < 0.01). Tannic acid merits further investigation as a possible adjuvant agent against S. aureus skin infections treated with beta-lactam antibiotics.
Punica granatum L. (Punicaceae) fruit rind powder (PGFRP) at the dose of 100 mg/kg orally as aqueous suspension was found to stimulate the cell-mediated and humoral components of the immune system in rabbits. PGFRP elicited an increase in antibody titer to typhoid-H antigen. It also enhanced the inhibition of leucocyte migration in Leucocyte Migration Inhibition test and induration of skin in delayed hypersensitivity test with Purified Protein Derivative (PPD) confirming its stimulatory effect on cell-mediated immune response.
Antioxidant-rich fractions were extracted from pomegranate (Punica granatum) peels and seeds using ethyl acetate, methanol, and water. The extracts were screened for their potential as antioxidants using various in vitro models, such as beta-carotene-linoleate and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) model systems. The methanol extract of peels showed 83 and 81% antioxidant activity at 50 ppm using the beta-carotene-linoleate and DPPH model systems, respectively. Similarly, the methanol extract of seeds showed 22.6 and 23.2% antioxidant activity at 100 ppm using the beta-carotene-linoleate and DPPH model systems, respectively. As the methanol extract of pomegranate peel showed the highest antioxidant activity among all of the extracts, it was selected for testing of its effect on lipid peroxidation, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, and human low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation. The methanol extract showed 56, 58, and 93.7% inhibition using the thiobarbituric acid method, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, and LDL oxidation, respectively, at 100 ppm. This is the first report on the antioxidant properties of the extracts from pomegranate peel and seeds. Owing to this property, the studies can be further extended to exploit them for their possible application for the preservation of food products as well as their use as health supplements and neutraceuticals.
The use of and search for drugs and dietary supplements derived from plants have accelerated in recent years. Ethnopharmacologists, botanists, microbiologists, and natural-products chemists are combing the Earth for phytochemicals and "leads" which could be developed for treatment of infectious diseases. While 25 to 50% of current pharmaceuticals are derived from plants, none are used as antimicrobials. Traditional healers have long used plants to prevent or cure infectious conditions; Western medicine is trying to duplicate their successes. Plants are rich in a wide variety of secondary metabolites, such as tannins, terpenoids, alkaloids, and flavonoids, which have been found in vitro to have antimicrobial properties. This review attempts to summarize the current status of botanical screening efforts, as well as in vivo studies of their effectiveness and toxicity. The structure and antimicrobial properties of phytochemicals are also addressed. Since many of these compounds are currently available as unregulated botanical preparations and their use by the public is increasing rapidly, clinicians need to consider the consequences of patients self-medicating with these preparations.