| Pomegranate, Punica granatum L.(PG)(Lythraceae), is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree that has a rich history of traditional use in medicine (Orak et al., 2011). Antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, antitumor, antiviral, antimalarial and antimutagenic effects of P. granatum (PG) have already been supported by different studies (Ahmad and Beg, 2001; Al-Zoreky, 2009; Mathabe et al., 2006; Panichayupakaranant et al., 2010; Prashanth et al., 2001). Several researchers reported that it is used for prevention and treatment of some of the cancer types such as lung cancer (Khan and Mukhtar, 2007) and prostate cancer (Malik and Mukhtar, 2006). It is also reported that the aqueous decoction is used against dysentery, stomatitis and diarrhea (Lansky et al., 2004). For centuries, the barks, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds of this plant have been used to heal several diseases (Jayaprakasha et al., 2006). PG fruit peels are usually used according to their astringent properties and the seeds are used especially for stimulating fertility and for beauty (Aslam et al., 2006; Gözekçi et al., 2011). According to the previous studies, it is known that PG fruits are rich sources of polyphenolic compounds (Lansky and Newman, 2007) and the fruit peels contains wide variety of compounds such as gallotannins, ellagic acid, gallagic acid, punicalins, punicalagins, ellagitannins etc.(Mavlyanov et al., 1997; Reddy et al., 2007; Zahin et al., 2010). |
Prof. Dr. Ergin Murat ALTUNER
