| Gen
info
In traditional medicinal
use for more than 3000 years.
Botany
A shrub 2-3 meters
high. Branchlets are slender and 4-angled. Leaves are oblong-lanceolate
to oblong-elliptic; 4-6 cm long, short-stalked, and pointed at both
ends. Flowers are red with six segments in the calyx which are 2-3 cm
long. Petals are obovate, 2 cm long. Stamens are numerous. Fruit is
rounded, reddish-yellow or purplish, 7-10 cm iin diameter. Rind is thin,
tough, and brittle. Fruit contains numerous seeds, surrounded by a flavorful
pinkish-red pulp.
Distribution
Garden plant; nowhere
spontaneous.
Chemical constituents
and properties
The bark yields four
alkaloidsL pelletierine, isopelletierine, methyl-pelletierine, and pseudo-pelletierine.
Juice yields citric acid and sodium citrate.
Fruit is rich in vitamin C; a good source of iron.
Fruit rind contains tannin.
Pelletierine is anti-taeniacidal; isopelletierine, antihelminthic.
Rind of the fruit is astringent.
Seeds are stomachic; pulp is cardiacal and stomachic.
Leaves, seeds, bark and roots considered hypotensive, antispasmodic
and anthelmintic.
Bark is considered antibacterial, antiviral and astringent.
Seeds are demulcent and stomachic.
In Indian traditional
medicine, considered astringent, anthelmintic, aphrodisiac, laxative,
diuretic, stomachic, cardiotonic and refrigerant.
Parts
used
Roots, flowers, seeds
and fruit rinds.
Uses:
Nutritional
Fruit contains vitamin
C, citric and malic acids. Eaten green as boiled vegetable; ripe, iced
and sugared.
Folkloric
Decoction of root bark
used for tapeworm.
Decoction of tender leaves used as gargle for buccal afflictions.
Decoction of roots used for tuberculosis, chronic debility, chronic
feverishness.
Decoction of leaves used as eyewash.
Powdered flower buds used for bronchitis.
Decoction of juice of the flower with equal parts of Cynodon dactylon
used to stop epistaxis and as gargle.
Infusion of flowers used as vermifuge.
The bark (alkaloids) used for tapeworms.
Decoction of the dried rind of the fruit used for stomach pains and
dysentery; infusion used for colitis.
Juice belileved to be beneficial for leprosy.
Bark, leaves and immature fruit (tannins) used as astringents for diarrhea,
dysentery and hemorrhages.
Dried pulverized flower buds used for bronchitis.
In Mexico, decoction of
flowers used a gargle for throad inflammation.
In Indian traditional
medicine, use for diarrhea..
In Myanmar, decoction
of dried bark of stem and root used as taeniafuge.
Others
Ink prepared from fruid rind.
Studies
•
Antibacterial Activity of Punica granatum L. against Gastro Intestinal
Tract Infection Causing Organisms: Extracts exhibited
antimicrobial activity against all organisms except P aeruginosa.. Study
suggests the potential of bioactive compounds to be developed from P.
granatum pericarp for use in treatment of GIT bacterial infection.
• Antifungal: Use of Punica granatum as an
antifungal agent against candidosis associated with denture stomatitis:
Study concludes that the extract of P. granatum may be useful as a topical
antifungal for the treatment of candidiasis associated with denture
stomatitis
• Phytochemicals / Anti-E. Coli: Inhibitory Effects of Active Compounds
from Punica granatum on Verocytotoxin Production by Enterohemorrhagic
Escherichia coli 0157:H7:. Phytochemical screening yielded
sterols, flavonoids, triterpenes, phenols and tannins. Its high activity
The study showed high activity against all strains of E. coli.
• Antidiarrheal: Studies on antidiarrhoeal activity
of Punica granatum seed extract in rats : Study extablished
the efficacy of P. granatum seed extract as an antidiarrheal agent.
• Antiviral: Study
of aqueous extracts of the whole fruits have shown activity against
the influenza virus.
• Analgesic Activity: Flower extracts
of P. granatum showed significant analgesic activity.
• Antibacterial Activity: In a study of 21 plants extracts from five Thai medicinal plants, tested against Staph aureus and E col;i, the ethanolic extract of P granatum possed the most outstanding in vitro antibacterial activity.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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