Phytochemistry, Pharmacological Activities, and Drug Interactions of Pomegranate, Punica granatum L. (Punicaceae)

Abstract

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a Mediterranean plant that has been used in various countries for the treatment of various diseases in traditional medicine for many generations. These reported medicinal properties of pomegranate are mainly attributed to the presence of various phytochemical compounds in the plant. Scientific literature search was done in PubMed and Google Scholar databases. Full articles published in English for the last 25 years were selected. Pomegranate juice is the widely studied product of a plant. This is because of its wide medicinal and dietary use. Approximately 500 pure compounds have been isolated and characterized from different parts of the plant species. Phytochemically, the juice, seeds, flowers, and peels of P. granatum are the most studied parts of the plant. Major phytochemical compounds isolated from the plant include alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, tannins, sterols, and terpenes. Most of the compounds isolated from P. granatum belong to ellagitannins (punicalagins) and gallotannins. Medicinally, the use of different parts of pomegranate for the treatment of different types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases is the most widely reported in both preclinical and clinical researches. The herb/food-drug interactions of pomegranate juice with approved drugs have shown that pomegranate juice has the potential to inhibit some drugs, especially those metabolized by cytochrome CYP3A and CYP2C9. The current chapter gives a broad overview of the phytochemical, pharmacological, and herb/food-drug interactions of pomegranate.