Pressurised water extraction of polyphenols from pomegranate peels

Pomegranate peels are one of the most valuable by-products of the food industry in terms of polyphenols which are conventionally extracted from plant materials by organic solvents, especially with methanol. Pressurised water extraction was investigated for the extraction of polyphenols from pomegranate peels. The most important factors affecting the extraction results were found to be particle size, temperature, and static time. The results indicated that pressurised water extraction was as effective as conventional methanol extraction for the recovery of polyphenols from pomegranate peels. Total phenolic contents of pomegranate peels obtained by pressurised water extraction at optimised conditions and conventional solid–liquid methanol extraction were determined as 264.3 and 258.2 mg/g tannic acid equivalents, respectively. Hydrolyzable tannins were the predominant polyphenols of pomegranate peels corresponding to 262.7 mg/g tannic acid equivalents. Punicalagin content of pomegranate peels by pressurised water extraction was found to be 116.6 mg/g on dry matter basis.     

Fabrication of nanoparticles using partially purified pomegranate ellagitannins and gelatin and their apoptotic effects

Scope: Nanoparticles possess unique chemical and biological properties compared to bulk materials. Bioactive food components encapsulated in nanoparticles may have increased bioavailability and bioactivities. Methods and results: Self‐assembled nanoparticles made of partially purified pomegranate ellagitannins (PPE) and gelatin were fabricated using three PPE‐to‐gelatin mass ratios (1:5, 5:5, and 7:5). The PPE contained 16.6% (w/w) of punicalagin A, 32.5% (w/w) of punicalagin B, and a small amount of ellagic acid‐hexoside and ellagic acid (1%, w/w). Nanoparticles fabricated using the ratio 5:5 had a particle size of 149.3±1.8 nm, positive zeta‐potential of 17.8±0.9 mV, production efficiency 53.0±4.2%, and spherical morphology under scanning electron microscopy. Loading efficiency of punicalagin A and punicalagin B in these particles were 94.2±0.4% and 83.8±0.5 %, respectively. Loading capacity was 14.8±1.5% and 25.7±2.2%, respectively. Only punicalagin anomers were able to bind with gelatin to form nanoparticles, whereas ellagic acid‐hexoside or ellagic acid could not. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy suggested that the interactions between ellagitannins and gelatin were hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. PPE‐gelatin nanoparticle suspension was less effective than PPE in inducing the early stage of apoptosis on human promyelocytic leukemia cells HL‐60. But they had similar effects in inducing late stage of apoptosis and necrosis. Conclusion: Pomegranate ellagitannins bind with gelatin to form self‐assembled nanoparticles. Ellagitannins encapsulated in nanoparticles had decreased apoptotic effects on leukemia cells HL‐60.     

HPLC/DAD/ESI-MS analyses and anti-radical activity of hydrolyzable tannins from different vegetal species

In the present work, several tannin extracts from myrtle and pomegranate were analyzed and characterized using HPLC/DAD/ESI-MS methods. Both aqueous and hydroalcoholic myrtle leaf extracts were found to be rich in galloyl-glucosides, galloyl-quinic acids, ellagitannins and flavonoids. In these extracts we observed a predominance of galloyl-glucosides and galloyl-quinic derivatives with respect to ellagic derivatives; 87.14% and 12.86%, respectively, average gallic and ellagic derivatives with respect to total tannins content. In pomegranate extracts, substantial differences were found in polyphenol contents between peel and seed extracts with regard to the relative abundance of gallic and ellagic acid derivatives: 28.81% and 71.19%, respectively, as average total gallic and ellagic derivatives in peel extracts; 61.30% and 38.70%, in seed extracts. The antiradical properties were evaluated and compared to those of two commercial extracts of chestnut bark and grape seeds. The collected data could suggest the use of myrtle and pomegranate extracts as nutraceuticals and functional foods for their important antioxidant properties.     

Aqueous two-phase extraction of punicalagin (α+β) from pomegranate peel by response surface methodology

In order to enhance the recovery of punicalagin from pomegranate peel, extraction of punicalagin (α + β) was studied using aqueous two-phase system. Box Behnken design of response surface methodology was used as a tool to study the effect of Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) concentration, PEG molecular weight, salt concentration, solute amount and pH on the extraction yield of punicalagin. The optimal conditions were found to be 18% (w/v) PEG concentration, 8000 PEG molecular weight, 16% (w/v) salt concentration, 0.5 g solute amount and 6 pH. Under these conditions, experimental yield and predicted yield was found to be 43% and 48%, respectively.     

石榴皮多酚体外抗脂质过氧化作用研究

为研究石榴皮多酚的抗脂质过氧化作用及起关键作用的成分,采用3个脂质过氧化研究体系,即卵黄体系、低密度脂蛋白体系和大鼠肝脏匀浆体系,利用硫代巴比妥酸法测定了石榴皮多酚纯化物、安石榴苷标准品和鞣花酸标准品对体外金属离子诱导性脂质过氧化的抑制作用。结果表明:安石榴苷,鞣花酸和石榴皮多酚纯化物均能有效抑制体外金属离子诱导的脂质过氧化,并且具有良好的剂量效应关系,其抗脂质过氧化的能力强弱顺序依次是:安石榴苷>鞣花酸>石榴皮多酚纯化物>茶多酚,说明安石榴苷是石榴皮多酚中抗脂质过氧化的的关键物质。