Pomegranate Extract

Pomegranate peel extract Uses and synthesis methods
Plant extracts
Pomegranate peel extract is a product extracted from the peel of pomegranate Punica granatum L., and the commercial extract is usually standardized to contain 40.0% ellagic acid. Ellagic acid is an effective anticancer agent that can block the replication of human papillomavirus DNA, inhibit the G1 phase of chromosome mitosis in cancer cells, prevent and control the P53 anticancer gene from teratogenicity, repair the P53 gene activity of head and neck cancer cells, and has the same effect on breast, pancreatic, esophageal, skin, colon, and prostate cancer cells; it can enhance the body's immune function; it has antihypertensive and sedative effects. It is used in medicine and cosmetics as an antioxidant, with anti-cancer and antiviral effects.
Source plant
The peel of pomegranate Punica granatum L., a plant of the Punica family. The fruit is picked when it matures in autumn and the top cracks, the seeds and pulp are removed, and the petals are cut and dried in the sun, or dried over a low fire.
[Plant morphology] Deciduous shrubs or trees, usually 2 to 7 meters high. Young branches are quadrangular, with sharp long thorns at the top, glabrous, and old branches are nearly cylindrical. Leaves are opposite or clustered, oblong-lanceolate, papery, 2-9 cm long, 1.0-1.8 cm wide, pointed or slightly concave at the tip, gradually narrow at the base, entire, shiny on the upper surface; lateral veins are slightly fine and dense. Petiole is short. Flowers are bisexual, 1-4 flowers grow at the top of branches; pedicels are 2-3 mm long; flower diameter is about 3 cm; calyx tube is bell-shaped, red or light yellow, 5-7 lobes, lobes are slightly spread out, ovate-triangular, with a yellow-green gland near the top outside, and small papillae on the edge; petals are 5-7, red, yellow or white, alternate with sepals, obovate, and blunt at the tip; stamens are numerous, born in the middle of the calyx tube, anthers are spherical, filaments are thin and short; pistil is 1, ovary is inferior, stigma is capitate. The berries are nearly spherical, usually light yellow-brown, light yellow-green or reddish, with thick peel and persistent calyx lobes at the tip. There are many seeds, obtuse, red to milky white. The flowering period is May-June, and the fruiting period is July-August.

Herbal medicine ingredients
The main active ingredients are tannins and alkaloids. Tannins include retrogallic acid and gallic acid (Gallicacid), the most important of which is ellagic acid (EA) as shown in Figure 2; alkaloids include pelletierine, isopelletierine, and pseudopelletierine.

Pharmacological effects
1. Antibacterial effect: Pomegranate peel extract has a significant antibacterial effect on Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, etc., and has a better inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus.
2. Antifungal effect: Pomegranate peel water extract has an inhibitory effect on 10 types of dermatophytes fungi such as Trichophyton violaceum, Epidermophyton rubrum, Microsporum audouinensis and Nocardia asteroides at a dilution ratio of 1:4.
3. Antiviral effect: Experiments have shown that pomegranate peel decoction diluted to 1:10,000 to 1:100,000 still has the effect of inhibiting influenza virus (type A PR3 strain).
4. Anthelmintic effect: Pomegranate peel alkaloids have a strong killing power against tapeworms and can act on the muscles of the worms, causing them to fall into continuous contraction. Pomegranate hydrochloride at a concentration of 1:10,000 kills tapeworms after 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Other effects: Pomegranate peel extract can significantly increase the zinc content and lecithin body density in prostate tissue, reduce the number of white blood cells in prostate tissue homogenate and the activity of plasma acid phosphatase, and can improve the antioxidant capacity index of plasma. Pomegranate peel extract has an inhibitory effect on non-bacterial prostatitis and bacterial prostatitis in rats.
Chinese medicine pharmacology
Nature and flavor: sour, astringent, warm; slightly toxic. It belongs to the large intestine meridian.
Functions and indications: astringent to the intestine to stop diarrhea, stop bleeding, and expel parasites. It is mainly used to treat epistaxis, otitis media, traumatic bleeding, irregular menstruation, red and white discharge, toothache, vomiting blood, chronic diarrhea, chronic dysentery, bloody stool, prolapse of the anus, spermatorrhea, metrorrhagia, leucorrhea, abdominal pain caused by parasites, scabies, etc.