Antioxidant, Biochemical, and In-Life Effects of Punica granatum L. Natural Juice vs. Clarified Juice by Polyvinylidene Fluoride Membrane.

Valeria Maria Morittu,Domenico Britti,Pietro Lombardi,Federico Infascelli,Alberto Figoli,Raffaella Tudisco,Rosa Tundis,Vincenzo Mastellone,Nadia Musco,Alfredo Cassano,Monica Rosa Loizzo

doi:10.3390/foods9020242

Abstract

A clarification method was proposed to ameliorate the technological quality of fruit juices by preserving bioactive compounds. This study evaluated the in vitro antioxidant and hypoglycemic activities and the in vivo effects of Punica granatum L. natural (NJ) and clarified (CJ) juice by polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membrane. CJ was more active as an antioxidant and as a α-glucosidase inhibitor than NJ. Mice were orally gavaged with water (Control), NJ, and CJ for 28 days. NJ group showed significant decrease of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate amino transferase, and creatine-phosphokinase. CJ administration was associated with urea, creatine-phosphokinase, and triglycerides values significantly lower with respect to the control. Oxidative status was ameliorated with CJ administration, showing a reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs) reduction of 32% and a biological antioxidant potential (BAP) boosting of 23% compared to the control, whereas NJ did not show a similar effect. Results confirmed the beneficial properties of pomegranate juice, showing that membrane clarification may enhance such effects in terms of antioxidant activity.

Highlights

Punica granatum L. is a shrub bush or small tree, deciduous, up to 6–7 m, densely branched, with often thorny branches widely grown in Asia, the Mediterranean border, and the American continent
No significant differences were found for total soluble solids, as well as phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and ascorbic acid between natural juice (NJ) and clarified juice (CJ)
Membranes completely removed suspended solids, producing a brilliant red juice, but did not modify pH and soluble solids. These results are consistent with the estimated pore size of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes (0.13 μm) and with data reported by Mirsaeedghazi et al [24] in the clarification of pomegranate juice with PVDF MF

Summary

Introduction

Punica granatum L. (pomegranate) is a shrub bush or small tree, deciduous, up to 6–7 m, densely branched, with often thorny branches widely grown in Asia, the Mediterranean border, and the American continent. Pomegranate and its constituents have safely been consumed for centuries without any side effects. Studies of pomegranate constituents in animals showed no toxic effects, at concentrations commonly used in folk and traditional medicine [2]. In recent years, this traditional use has received attention from the scientific community; the in vitro and in vivo studies carried out demonstrated anti-inflammatory, cardio-preventive, anticancer, and antioxidant properties of pomegranate fruits [3,4]. Al-Jarallah et al [5] showed that pomegranate extract supplementation substantially reduced levels of oxidative stress in coronary arteries and atherosclerotic plaques in SR-BI/apoE dKO mice. Ethanolic pomegranate extracts up to a concentration of 5 mg/mL promoted longevity, formation, and fertility of new generations and growth properties of Caenorhabditis elegans [6]

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