Pomegranate Extract Has Strong Potential in Healthy-Aging Market, Says Euromed

Photo © iStockphoto.com/© Alexei Zaycev

Pomegranate may be a botanical to watch in the healthy-aging category. According to herbal extracts supplier Euromed (Bridgeville, PA), results from recent clinical studies suggest that the company’s Pomanox pomegranate extract possesses a variety of health benefits related to healthy aging.

Guy Woodman, general manager, and Andrea Zangara, scientific marketing officer, tell Nutritional Outlook that pomegranate’s natural antioxidants help fight free radicals and slow down both internal and external signs of aging. The company’s Pomanox extract is standardized to 30% of the polyphenols punicalagins. Punicalagins also help to protect cardiovascular function, they add, by improving blood circulation and function of the endothelium, which is “crucial to healthy aging.”

Much of the existing research on Pomanox has focused on its cardiovascular-health benefits; however, additional healthy-aging benefits like modulation of inflammatory and metabolic responses, digestive prebiotic benefits, and lowering of oxidized LDL cholesterol have also been observed in these clinical studies. Taken together, these indications suggest that pomegranate can “help maintain a superior quality of life as we age,” say Woodman and Zangara.

In 2017, Euromed acquired nutraceutical ingredients manufacturer Probelte Biotechnology (Murcia, Spain), the company that developed Pomanox. Over the past seven years, Probelte has conducted clinical studies on pomegranate extract, the most recent of which was published last year in the Journal of Nutritional Science.¹ In that study, researchers supplemented 55 subjects with either Pomanox or a placebo for eight weeks. By the end of the study, the participants given Pomanox exhibited lower blood pressure, indicating that Pomanox may help to prevent hypertension. Hypertension, say Woodman and Zangara, is “the greatest contributor to cardiovascular disease (CVD) worldwide, and one of the most common CVD risk factors. They also point out the prevalence of hypertension increases with age.

Other clinical studies on Pomanox indicate that it may help to reduce stress, reduce muscle fatigue, and boost recuperation post-exercise. Woodman and Zangara say that the company plans to continue to invest in research on pomegranate and cardiovascular health, building on the years of research conducted by Probelte Biotechnology. They add that the company is looking to position Pomanox as a sports nutrition and digestive health ingredient as well, based on existing clinical data. 

Woodman and Zangara also state that research on pomegranate extract has increased significantly over the last decade, with new information supporting pomegranate’s cardiovascular, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and digestive-health potential. This growing body of research, they add, “will catch the attention of the medical community and ultimately the consumer,” and they note that pomegranate extract’s full market potential “has yet to be fulfilled.”

In spite of the mounting evidence supporting pomegranate’s potentially myriad health benefits, adulteration remains a key hindrance to pomegranate reaching its market potential, say Woodman and Zangara. They state that the prevalence of adulterated pomegranate extracts, which do not contain the natural profile of punicalagins found in pomegranate, are a real concern for the botanicals industry. Recently, the American Botanical Council’s (Austin, TX) published a new pomegranate Laboratory Guidance Document to inform stakeholders about pomegranate adulteration and to provide guidelines for testing pomegranate juices and extracts for adulteration. 

In a press release from Euromed, the company noted that Pomanox has been named as one of three finalists for NutraIngredient’s Ingredient of the Year for Healthy Aging. The finalist will be announced at this year’s Vitafoods Europe trade show, held from May 15-17 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Said Woodman: “We’re delighted that this seven-year investment in efficacy studies on Pomanox…was recognized by the industry and is one of this year’s nominees for the prestigious NutraIngredient Award.”

Also read: 

Pomegranate Adulteration and Test Methods Evaluated in New Guidance Document

Pomegranate Metabolite Improves Mitochondrial and Muscle Function?

Pomegranate Extract May Improve Cardio-Metabolic Health Markers

References:

1. Stockton A et al., “Effect of pomegranate extract on blood pressure and anthropometry in adults: a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial,” Journal of Nutritional Science. Published online August 9, 2017.