Antioxidant Activity of Iranian Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Seed Extracts

Pomegranate, a small tree with potential human health benefits, is grown mainly in Iran, India and USA as well as in most Near and Far East countries. It has been used extensively in folk medicine for a number of therapeutic purposes. In the present study, the ferric reducing/antioxidant power assay (FRAP) was employed and the FRAP value of the seed fraction of six different cultivars of pomegranate in Iran was determined in an attempt to compare their differing antioxidant acitivity. The antioxidant activity of seed fraction of six different cultivars of pomegranate in water extracts showed that the Sour white peel cultivar has the highest FRAP value (3.45±0.85 μM) and the Agha Mohamad Ali cultivar has the lowest value (2.76±0.76 μM); ethanolic extract of the seeds showed that Sour white peel and Black peel cultivars have the highest (3.88±1.31 μM) and lowest (1.62±0.47 μM) antioxidant activity, respectively. Results indicated that the extracts obtained from pomegranate seeds using various solvents exhibited various degrees of antioxidant activity. Further, it was cleared that Sour white peel had the highest potent antioxidant activity among different pomegranate seed cultivars and, so might be useful for its health benefits.