Preparations of Pomegranate By-Products are Effective as Dermatological Healing Herbal Medicines
Journal Title: Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research (BJSTR) - Year 2019, Vol 13, Issue 4
Abstract
The use of phytotherapy and crude medicinal plants has great relevance worldwide and especially in developing countries, since it has a direct impact on health practices. Currently, in Brazil, the National Policy of Medicinal Plants and Phytomedicines (PNPMF) and the National Policy of Integrative and Complementary Practices (PNPIC) coordinate what is related to this subject in the country and, traditionally, most crops have been focused on obtaining a single high-value product, discarding the remaining parts of the plant or fruit, or exploiting them to obtain low value products [1]. Many of these materials are rich in polyphenols, which are capable of chemically binding to proteins, promoting their precipitation. This key behaviour is the basis for this class of substances to have a pronounced activity in treating wounds of difficult treatment [2]. The high incidence and consequent epidemiological recurrence of chronic wounds leads to an increase in researches aimed at identifying new therapeutic strategies for the treatment and prevention of these diseases. Researches in the area of natural products, especially the use of medicinal plants for this purpose, represents an important strategy to increase the therapeutic arsenal available for dermatological use. Punica granatum L. belongs to the Punicaceae family and is a small tree native to the Mediterranean region. Its fruits, commonly known as pomegranate, have been known as a reservoir of bioactive compounds, especially polyphenols, with potential and important biological activities [3]. Pomegranate fruits are important sources of hydrolysable tannins, ellagitannins and ellagic acid [4]. They are also used as functional food ingredients in various forms, such as juice, jelly, and alcoholic beverages produced with fresh seeds, as well as spices prepared from dried seeds [5]. The pharmacological activities described in the scientific literature for the secondary metabolites isolated and identified from pomegranate fruits allow to relate to them a large number of therapeutic applications both for the prevention and treatment of dermatological diseases in which acute or chronic inflammatory process is involved. Following the premise that agrifood by-products are not residues but raw materials for new products and as part of our effort to identify the responsible substances for the pharmacological activities attributed to plants utilized in traditional medicine, we have studied the pericarp (peel) of pomegranate fruits in order to identify the components with antimicrobial activity [6]. In this study we have identified the ellagitannin punicalagin as the biological marker of pomegranate peel extracts, which were active against multi-resistant bacterial strains. Despite of the several studies involving the fruits of pomegranate, its active components and its possible applications as ingredients in products for the treatment of several diseases, there are not many works aimed at the standardization and stability evaluation of both extracts and products made from these materials. In this sense, our research group has been concentrating efforts to establish a biomarker and, consequently, the parameters of quality for the extracts made from pomegranate peels in an attempt to establish reproducible parameters for the qualitative standardization. In order to meet this objective, we proposed the formulation of a hydrogel based on extracts of pomegranate peels and evaluation of their physicochemical properties as well as their stability, having as a qualitative and quantitative parameter the content of the ellagitannin punicalagin [7,8]. We also have carried out a preparation of crude extracts of Punica granatum peels and from this the antimicrobial potential of a 2% aqueous solution was evaluated through a suspension test. An ethanolic solution of same concentration was used to prepare a healing hydrogel that has its microbiological quality control evaluated.
Authors and Affiliations
Thelma B Machado, Felipe FM VIEIRA, Keila CFA Silva, Maria Beatriz PP Oliveira
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP594728
- DOI 10.26717/BJSTR.2019.13.002425
- Views 157
- Downloads 0
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