Pomegranate

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Pomegranates are red-skinned fruits that contain a large amount of small seed-like casings called 'Arils'.

It can be easier to separate the Arils from the rind by freezing the pomegranate, or preparing the pomegranate in a large bowl of water (where the rind floats and the arils sink)

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Eating pomegranate arils alone or in conjunction with other foods or making a pulpy juice from the rings are both effective methods of self-administration

It is hard to write a serious summary on Pomegranates, since I merely want to complain about separating the arils from the rind and I also want to espouse how awesome Pomegranate arils taste on Vanilla Ice Cream.

Seems pretty healthy though, and most likely one of the 'healthier' fruits out there. I would be hard pressed to call it a 'superfood' though, since the term is pretty meaningless. Punicic Acid is very similar in effects to Conjugated Linoleic Acid which is demonstrably unspectacular, and Punicalagins are anti-oxidants when anti-oxidants are in everything.

Tastes nice though, I buy them when they're in season

Kurtis Frank

The below are the compounds found in Pomegranate fruits. For science on the health benefits of Pomegrantes, refer to the Punicalagins page for the juice (water-soluble components) and the Punicic Acid page for Pomegranate Oil (fat-soluble components). For eating the fruit itself, a combination of the two pages would give a good overall notion, but the Punicalagins page is probably more similar to the fruit itself:

• The anti-oxidant Punicalagins molecules, as well as the two molecules that make up Punicalagins (Ellagic acid and Gallic acid). Tannins (catechin chains) are also present and contribute to anti-oxidant purposes^[1]
• Punicic Acid^[2] at around 63.5% of total fatty acids in pomegranate (confirmed) and perhaps an additional 14.2% of Punicic Acid isomers^[3] which could be alpha-eleostearic acid as they have been isolated in Pomegranates before^[4]
• Trace amounts of the fatty acids oleic, stearic, linoleic and palmitic acids.^[3]
• Small amounts of the pro-estrogenic compounds Coumestrol and Estrone^[5] which might be bioactive.^[6]
• Small amounts (0.015% of oil extract) of flavonoids^[3] that are not Punicalagins or related molecules
• Water-soluble proteins found in the seeds (bioactivity unknown)^[7]
• β-sitosterol^[8]

When using Pomegranate Seed Oil (Shorthanded to PSO), the content of Punicalagins are decreased while the concentration of Punicic Acid and other fatty acids is increased; sometimes up to 72% (some studies on Punicic Acid used PSO at this concentration)

References

1. Ben Nasr C, Ayed N, Metche M. Quantitative determination of the polyphenolic content of pomegranate peel. Z Lebensm Unters Forsch. (1996)
2. Vroegrijk IO, et al. Pomegranate seed oil, a rich source of punicic acid, prevents diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in mice. Food Chem Toxicol. (2011)
3. Schubert SY, Lansky EP, Neeman I. Antioxidant and eicosanoid enzyme inhibition properties of pomegranate seed oil and fermented juice flavonoids. J Ethnopharmacol. (1999)
4. Tran HN, et al. Pomegranate (Punica granatum) seed linolenic acid isomers: concentration-dependent modulation of estrogen receptor activity. Endocr Res. (2010)
5. Moneam NM, el Sharaky AS, Badreldin MM. Oestrogen content of pomegranate seeds. J Chromatogr. (1988)
6. THE OESTROGENIC ACTIVITY OF POMEGRANATE SEED OIL
7. Yang H, et al. Identification of seven water-soluble non-storage proteins from pomegranate (Punica granatum Linn.) seeds. Food Sci Technol Int. (2012)
8. Rosenblat M, Volkova N, Aviram M. Pomegranate phytosterol (β-sitosterol) and polyphenolic antioxidant (punicalagin) addition to statin, significantly protected against macrophage foam cells formation. Atherosclerosis. (2012)

(Common misspellings for Pomegranate include pomigranite, pomigranate, pomegranite)

(Common phrases used by users for this page include silverhydra, punicic acid punicallagin, punicalagins in fruits, punicalagins and punicic acid and pomegranate leaf, pomegranates and estrone, pomegranate-extract supplement examine)

(Users who contributed to this page include KurtisFrank)