Pomegranate Extract Uses

Pomegranates were popular with the ancient Egyptians and Greeks as a food, medicine and a symbol of prosperity. Modern consumers value the fruit for its antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that can promote a healthy cardiovascular system, boost immunity and potentially help prevent cancer. Pomegranate extracts provide all the health benefits of pomegranate juice without all the calories and sugar.

Identification

The pomegranate's botanical name, Punica Granatum, translates as "apple with many seeds." There are several different cultivars of pomegranate with rinds that vary in color and seeds that are either hard or soft. The most common type in the United States is known as the "Wonderful" pomegranate, with dark purple-red rind and pulp and medium-hard seeds. Pomegranate extracts may include all the parts of the plant, including bark, leaves, rind, fruit pulp and seeds. Pomegranate has been used in folk medicine practices for diarrhea, hemorrhages, bronchitis, sore throats and other conditions, although not all of these uses have been studied in the lab.

Atherosclerosis

When cholesterol and fatty plaques build up on the inside of your arteries, it's called atherosclerosis, and it can increase your risk of blood clots forming in those arteries. An article published in 2002 in "Drugs under Experimental and Clinical Research" summarized various studies investigating the effects of pomegranate extracts on atherosclerosis in both mice and human subjects. The article reported that pomegranate polyphenol antioxidant compounds are effectively able to prevent atherosclerotic plaques.

Blood Pressure

High blood pressure occurs when your arteries narrow and your heart has to work harder to pump more blood through your body. It can be caused by a variety of factors including high cholesterol. Researchers in Israel published a study in "Clinical Nutrition" in June 2004 looking at the effects of pomegranate consumption for up to three years by patients with atherosclerosis, narrowed carotid arteries and high blood pressure. Compared to a placebo group, the subjects who used pomegranate had significantly reduced bad LDL cholesterol, a 12 percent reduction in systolic blood pressure and a 16 percent decrease in blood lipids, or fats.

Cancer

Pomegranate extracts have also been investigated for their effects on cancer cells. One such study, published in the "Journal of Medicinal Food" in 2004, found that the extracts were able to inhibit the proliferation of a leukemia cell line in the lab. Pomegranate extracts were also shown to inhibit the growth of cancer stem cells, which are highly resistant to conventional chemotherapeutic agents and can cause breast tumors, in research published in "Oncology Reports" in 2010. In addition, a team at the University of California Riverside discovered that pomegranate kept prostate cancer cells from spreading, in research reported in May 2011 in "Integrative Biology."

Obesity

Commercial pomegranate supplements are often touted as a weight loss aid. Scientists at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands tested pomegranate seed oil on obese mice. They discovered that the pomegranate extract resulted in a lower body weight, lower body fat and improved insulin sensitivity without affecting food intake or energy expenditure.