Pomegranates Juices

While searching for bottled water and fruit juices information in India, I stumbled upon some informantion on pomegranates. The abridged information is reproduced below.



Antioxidant activity
During processing, whole pomegranates are pressed for juice; not only because it is more economically feasible then separating the juicy pulpy seeds, but also because the red rind releases additional polyphenols. As a result, pomegranate juice may contain three times the total antioxidant value found in other widely-touted sources such as red wine or green tea. It contains hydrolyzable tannins (punicalagin and galloyl glucose), anthocyanins, and gallic/ellagic acid and their derivatives—all of which are potent scavengers that neutralize free radicals. Higher levels of the polyphenol punicalagin are found in the whole pomegranate (with rind) then in the seeds only. And it is this increased antioxidant level that may be correlated with the prevention of LDL or ‘bad cholesterol’ accumulation. (The fruit also delivers 40 percent of an adult’s daily vitamin-C requirement, as well as small amounts of vitamin-B complex and folic acid, and, calcium, phosphorus and iron.)

Cancer fighter
In July 2006, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, suggested that men diagnosed with prostate cancer and having already had preliminary treatment, may benefit from a daily dose of pomegranate juice to suppress further growth, and delay the need for further therapies. “Prostate cancer survivors in their late 60’s and 70’s are being told that pomegranate juice may allow them to outlive their risk of dying from their cancer,” wrote lead author Dr Allan Pantuck, in the journal of Clinical Cancer Research. One possible mechanism may be that pomegranate juice exerts an anti-inflammatory effect. This is not a cure, but perhaps a method to change the way prostate cancer grows.