ABSTRACT
Pomegranate, a popular fruit known as the “Jewel of Autumn,” is a native of the Middle East countries. A traditional symbol of prosperity, fecundity, divine femininity, and eternal life, it is considered to be one of the oldest domesticated trees. Its fruit has been explored and used since ancient times for ethnomedical indications. Due to its distinctive multiple officinal parts, such as rind, bark, leaves, seeds, and whole fruit, and effective bioactive constituents such as tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, organic acids, triterpenes, and steroids, it is regarded as a vital functional food. Countless health benefits of these bioactive constituents have been reported in various diseases encompassing cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, cancer, diabetes, inflammation, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, obesity, brain ischemia, and male infertility. Considering its remedial benefits, it is known as a pharmacy unto itself. Though the whole fruit per se is a wonder, the major therapeutic benefits are derived from the nutritional constituents of its peel and seeds, as these exhibit numerous benefits in dental hygiene, skin disorders, photo-aging, cancer, body detoxification, and sore throat and cough. Attempts have been made to develop effective delivery systems of its nutra-constituents, though challenges such as high dose, low bioavailability, low solubility, and instability remain. Of late, diverse nanocarriers of various constituents of pomegranate seeds and peel have been reported, including nanoparticles, nanoemulsions, nanocapsules, nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), and self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems (SNEDDS). This chapter embodies the formulation development and characterization methods of various such nanoformulations of pomegranate fruit components, with special emphasis on its seed and peel, including a brief review of the patents filed in this domain.
