ABSTRACT
Pomegranate is an economically important plant (not only as a fruit) due to its health benefits and it is the major research subject of many studies. There are many studies conducted and revealed the health benefits of pomegranates. Pomegranate fruits are generally used as raw fruit, however it is also used as herbal healer since ancient times (Schubert et al. 1999, Sadeghi et al. 2009, Teixeira da Silva 2013). Singh et al. (1990) reported that pomegranate finds wide application in the traditional Asian medicines both in Ayurvedic and Unani systems. Production and consumption of pomegranate fruit is globally increasing due to the potential health benefits of the fruit, i.e., high antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effect and anti-carcinogenic (Gil et al. 1996, Malik et al. 2005, Jurenka, 2008). The pomegranate juice is one of the nature’s most powerful antioxidants where it is reported to have 3 times higher antioxidant activity than red wine and green tea (Gil et al. 2000). Not only the juice, but almost all parts of the tree featured in medicine for thousands of years. According to Jurenka (2008), juice, seed oil, peel, leaves, flower, roots and bark of the pomegranate has different source of chemical constituents, which are beneficial for human health (Table 18).
