JFS:

Food Microbiology and Safety

Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities

of Punica granatum Peel Extracts
P.S. NEGI, G.K. JAYAPRAKASHA

ABSTRACT: Pomegranate peels were powdered and extracted with ethyl acetate, acetone, methanol (MeOH), and
water for 1 h each at room temperature. Radical-scavenging activity of dried ethyl acetate, acetone, MeOH, and
water extracts of pomegranate peels were compared with butylated hydroxyanisole at 5, 10, 25, and 50 ppm by
high-performance liquid chromatography method using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. MeOH extract exhibited stronger radical-scavenging effect than others. MeOH extract showed marked reducing power in potassium
ferricyanide reduction method. Antibacterial activity of acetone, MeOH, and water extracts was evaluated by
pour plate method against a few Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Acetone extract showed the highest
antibacterial activity, followed by MeOH and water extract.
Keywords: pomegranate peel extracts, radical-scavenging activity, reducing power, antibacterial activity, DPPH

native to the mediterranean region and

has been used extensively in the folk medicine of many countries. In India, the arils
are used as such or are made into juice. Alternatively, the arils can be used for preparation of different value-added products such
as concentrate, canned beverages, wine,
jam, and jelly (Adsule and Patil 1995). Fresh
juice contains a small amount of pectin,
ascorbic acid, and polyphenolic flavonoids.
The soluble polyphenolic content of pomegranate juice (0.2% to 1.0%) includes anthocyanins, catechins, tannins, and gallic and
ellagic acids (Aviram and others 2000). Kirilenko and others (1978) reported that the
antibacterial action of pomegranate juice
varied with variety and depended on the
contents of phenolic compounds, pigments,
and citric acid. De and others (1999) also reported potential antimicrobial activity of
pomegranate seeds against Bacillus subtilis,
Escherichia coli, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Leaves and bark of this plant are known
to be a rich source of gallotannins and ellagitannins (Nawwar and others 1994; Tanaka
and others 1986). Ozkal and Dinc (1994) reported the presence of tannins, anthocyanins, and flavonoids in pomegranate rind.
Khaidarov and others (1991) extracted tannins from the rinds of pomegranate with the
yield of 0.8% to 1.0%. Botrus and others
(1984) suggested that the peels could be
utilized for production of pharmaceutical
preparations containing biologically active
substances. Jassim (1998) reported antifungal and antiviral compositions comprising of
pomegranate extract. These compositions
prevented the growth of fungus and virus
2003 Institute of Food Technologists
Further reproduction prohibited without permission

but were not able to affect bacterial viability

substantially.
The oxidative deterioration of fats and oils
in foods is responsible for rancid odors and
flavors, and leads to decrease in nutritional
quality and safety due to the formation of
secondary potentially toxic compounds. The
addition of antioxidants such as butylated
hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and propyl gallate is used to
preserve flavor and color and to avoid vitamin destruction. Nevertheless, toxicological
effects and consumer preference for natural
products have resulted in increased interest
in the use of and research on natural antioxidants (Namiki 1990; Pokorny 1991; Madhavi
and Salunkhe 1995). Therefore, the importance of natural antioxidants, especially of
plant origin, has greatly increased in recent
years (Chidamabaramurthy and others
2002). Microbial activity, a primary cause of
deterioration of many foods, often is responsible for the loss of quality and safety. Concern over pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms in foods is increasing due to
increase in outbreaks of food-borne diseases (Tauxe 1997). Currently there is a growing
interest in using natural antibacterial compounds, like plant extracts of herbs and spices for the preservation of foods. Plant extracts
possess a characteristic flavor and sometimes show antioxidant activity as well as
antimicrobial activity (Smid and Gorris 1999).
The purpose of the present investigation was
to study the antioxidant properties of pomegranate peel extracts and evaluate their antibacterial activity against a few Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in order to
establish their biological activity for value
addition to industrial byproducts.

Materials and Methods

Materials
1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, (+)-catechin (DPPH), and BHA were obtained from
Sigma Chemical Co (St. Louis, Mo., U.S.A).
All the solvents and chemicals used were of
analytical reagent, high-performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC) grade.

Extraction
Pomegranate fruits were collected from
the local markets. Peels (tray load of 3 kg/m2)
were removed and dried in shade under
natural conditions. The sample was spread
out during daylight hours for 5 d until it
dried to brittleness. Dried peels were powdered to get 60-mesh size using a mixer
grinder (Remi, Hyderabad, India). The powder (25 g) was extracted using magnetic stirrer (Remi, Hyderabad, India) at 200 rpm
with 100 mL of ethyl acetate (EtOAc) at 30 C
for 1 h. The extract was filtered through
Whatman nr 41 filter paper in a Buchner
funnel to remove of peel particles. The residue was re-extracted with 50 mL EtOAc. The
extracts were pooled and evaporated at reduced pressure in a flash evaporator (Bchi, Switzerland) at 40 C to recover almost
90% of solvent. It was further dried in a desiccator under vacuum to constant weight.
The same procedure to extract bioactive fractions was followed for other solvents, such as
acetone, methanol (MeOH), and water
(Singh and others 2001). The yields of
EtOAc, acetone, MeOH, and water extracts
were 0.26, 1.13, 2.35, and 1.9 g, respectively.

Determination of total phenolics

The concentration of phenolics in the ex-

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Food Microbiology and Safety

Introduction
OMEGRANATE (PUNICA GRANATUM L.) IS

Punica granatum peel extracts . . .

tracts was determined by the method of
Jayaprakasha and others (2003), and results
were expressed as (+)-catechin equivalents.
The pomegranate peel extracts were dissolved in a mixture of MeOH and water (6:4
vol/vol). Different concentrations of standard (+)-catechin and extracts were taken in
test tubes and the volume was adjusted to
0.2 mL by addition of distilled water. One
milliliter of ten-fold diluted Folin-Ciocalteu
reagent, and 0.8 mL of 7.5% sodium carbonate solution was added to all the tubes. After
standing for 30 min at room temperature,
the absorbance was measured at 765 nm
using Genesys-5 UV-visible spectrophotometer (Milton Roy, N.Y., U.S.A.). The estimation of phenolic compounds in all the extracts was carried out in triplicate.

Jayaprakasha and others (2001). Different

concentrations of pomegranate peel extracts
(50, 100, 200, and 400 ppm) in 1 mL MeOH
were mixed with 2.5 mL of phosphate buffer
(0.2 M, pH 6.6) and 2.5 mL of 1% potassium
ferricyanide in a 10 mL test tubes. The mixtures were incubated for 20 min at 50 C. At
the end of the incubation, 2.5 mL of 10%
trichloroacetic acid was added to the mixtures and centrifuged at 5000 rpm for 10 min.
The upper layer (2.5 mL) was mixed with 2.5
mL of distilled water and 0.5 mL of 0.1% ferric chloride, and the absorbance was measured at 700 nm. The reducing power tests
were run in triplicate. Increase in absorbance
of the reaction indicated the reducing power
of the samples.

Antibacterial assay
DPPH radical-scavenging activity

Food Microbiology and Safety

Radical-scavenging activity of pomegranate peel extracts was assayed according to 1,

1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl HPLC method
of Choi and others (2000). Appropriate
quantities of pomegranate peel extracts in a
1:1 ratio of MeOH to water were transferred
to different test tubes to obtain final concentrations of 5, 10, 25, and 50 ppm. The
volume was adjusted to 200 L by the addition of MeOH. Then the test tubes were incubated with 0.5 mM DPPH-MeOH solution (1 mL) and 100 mM Tris HCl buffer (800
L) pH 7.4 for 20 min at room temperature in
the dark. The reaction mixture was then subjected to a reverse phase HPLC analysis.
The chromatographic system consisted of a
Hewlett Packard HPLC model HP 1100 Series (Hewlett-Packard, Calif., U.S.A.), fitted
with a Waters -BondapackTM (Waters Corporation, Milford, Mass., U.S.A.) C18 column
(300 4.6 mm I.D.). The injection system
used was a 20 L sample loop. The free radicalscavenging effects of pomegranate peel
extracts and BHA were evaluated by decrease in the peak area of the DPPH radical
at 517 nm using HP 1100 Series Variable
Wavelength Detector. The peak area of
DPPH radical was quantified using HP
ChemStations software. A 7:3 ratio of MeOH
to water was used as the mobile phase at a
flow rate of 1 mL per min under isocratic
condition. The Tris HCl buffer (1 mL) incubated in the DPPH solution (1 mL) was analyzed as a control, and BHA was used for
comparison. Radical-scavenging activity
was calculated with the following equation:
Percentage of radical-scavenging activity =
(1 peak area of sample or BHA/peak area
of control) 100.

Determination of reducing power

The reducing power of the test samples
was determined by the method of
1474

Bacterial cultures namely, Bacillus cereus,

Bacillus coagulens, B. subtilis, Staphylococcus
aureus, E. coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa
were obtained from the Department of Food
Microbiology at the Central Food Technological Research Inst. and grown in nutrient
agar media (HiMedia, Mumbai, India) at
37 C. Each bacterial strain was transferred
from stored slants at 4 to 5 C to 10 mL nutrient broth and cultivated overnight; 1 mL of
this culture was transferred to 9 mL nutrient

broth and cultivated for 48 h at 37 C. The

cells were harvested by centrifugation
(1200 g, 5 min), washed, and suspended
in saline.
The antibacterial activity of acetone,
MeOH, and water extracts of pomegranate
peels were tested against different bacteria
by the method of Negi and others (1999).
Different concentrations of test material in
propylene glycol were added to flasks containing 20 mL melted nutrient agar. In case of
control equivalent amount of propylene glycol was added. One hundred L (about 103
CFU/mL) of each bacterium to be tested was
inoculated into the flasks under aseptic conditions. The media was then poured into
sterilized petri plates in duplicate and incubated at 37 C for 20 to 24 h. The colonies
developed after incubation was counted.
The inhibitory effect was calculated using
the following formula: percentage of inhibition = (1 T/C) 100, where T is CFU/mL of
test sample and C is CFU/mL of control. The
minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)
was reported as the lowest concentration of
the compound capable of inhibiting the complete growth of the bacterium being tested.

Statistical analysis
The radical-scavenging activity, reducing

Figure 1HPLC chromatograms of DPPH radical present in the assay mixture

at 50-ppm concentration. A, control; B, BHA; C, pomegranate peel extracts of
MeOH; D, acetone; E, EtOAc; F, water.

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCEVol. 68, Nr. 4, 2003

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Punica granatum peel extracts . . .

power, and growth inhibition were calculated
as mean SD (n = 3). The data on the effect
of different extracts were analyzed by 2 factor experiments in a Randomized Complete
Block Design with an experiment involving 4
extracts and BHA; 4 concentrations and 3
replications for radical-scavenging activity; 4
extracts, 5 concentrations, and 3 replications
for reducing power; and 3 extracts, 2 concentrations, and 3 replications for growth inhibition studies. The least significance difference
test was used for making comparisons. Linear regression coefficient between radicalscavenging activity and phenolics concentrations was calculated, and homogeneity of
regression coefficient was tested (Gomez and
Gomez 1984).

ppm, the percentage of radical-scavenging

activity of MeOH was significantly higher
than the other extracts. Acetone extract also
showed good radical-scavenging activity. It
was significantly higher than BHA, EtOAc,
and water extracts at 10- and 25-ppm concentrations. Water extraction exhibited the
poorest radical-scavenging activity. These
results revealed that MeOH extract has
highest free radical-scavenging compounds, acting possibly as primary antioxidants due to high polyphenolic concentration. The radical-scavenging activity of the
extracts is attributed to their hydrogen-do-

nating ability (Shimada and others 1992).

On the other hand, antioxidants are believed to intercept the free radical chain of
oxidation and to give hydrogen from the
phenolic hydroxyl groups, thereby forming
a stable end product that does not initiate or
propagate further oxidation of lipid (Sherwin 1978). The data obtained reveal that the
extracts are free radical inhibitors and primary antioxidants that react with free radicals.
The antioxidant activity has been reported to be concomitant with the reducing power (Tanaka and others 1988). Figure 3 shows

Results and Discussion

EtOAc, acetone, MeOH, and water.

Pomegranate peel extracted with MeOH
gave maximum yield (9.4%), whereas EtOAc
gave minimum yield (1.04%). The phenolic
content in EtOAc, acetone, MeOH, and water extracts were found to be 170, 400, 460,
and 140 mg/g, respectively. All the extracts
at low concentration showed a potent radical-scavenging activity, hence the crude extracts were not fractionated. The free radicalscavenging activity of pomegranate peel
extracts was evaluated by the decrease in
the peak area of the DPPH radical at 517 nm.
Figure 1 shows the amount of DPPH present
in the assay mixture, which was eluted at
3.293 0.055 min. The reduction of peak
area of DPPH in assay mixture containing
BHA and pomegranate peel extracts indicates their relative radical-scavenging power. The results of the radical-scavenging activity of the 4 different extracts along with
BHA are presented in Figure 2. The radicalscavenging activity of EtOAc, acetone,
MeOH, and water extracts varied from
71.33% to 86.33% at 50-ppm concentration.
The highest radical-scavenging activity was
observed in MeOH extract and the lowest in
water extract. A sharp increase in radicalscavenging activity with an increase in the
concentration of extract was observed until
the concentration reached 25 ppm after
which, there was little increase in radicalscavenging activity. The percentage of radical-scavenging activity by the pomegranate peel extracts showed positive correlation
with concentration of phenolics. Regression
coefficient values were 0.88, 0.72, 0.74, and
0.87 for EtOAc, acetone, MeOH, and water
extracts, respectively. The regression coefficient for various extracts did not differ significantly from each other. MeOH extract
showed significantly higher radical-scavenging activity than the others did. At 50

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Figure 2Radical-scavenging activity of pomegranate peel extracts at different concentrations by DPPH method. *Mean values and standard deviations,
corresponding to 3 replications with the same letter, are not significantly different (P < 0.05).

Figure 3Reducing power of pomegranate peel extracts

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1475

Food Microbiology and Safety

OMEGRANATE PEELS WERE EXTRACTED WITH

Punica granatum peel extracts . . .

Food Microbiology and Safety

the reducing powers of different pomegranate peel extracts using potassium ferricyanide reduction method. At 400-ppm concentration, the extract obtained using
acetone, EtOAc, MeOH, and water showed
absorbance of 1.637, 1.85, 2.4, and 1.68, respectively. The reducing power of MeOH
extract was significantly higher than all other extracts. At 100, 200, and 400 ppm, it
showed significantly higher reducing power than others. At 50 ppm, MeOH extract
was similar to EtOAc extract. The reducing
properties are generally associated with the
presence of reductones (Pin-Der Duh
1998). Gordon (1990) reported that the antioxidant action of reductones is based on
the breaking of the free radical chain by
donating a hydrogen atom. Reductones also
react with certain precursors of peroxide,
thus preventing peroxide formation. The
data presented here indicated that the
marked antioxidant activity of pomegranate
peel extracts seems to be the result of their
reducing power. The pomegranate peel phenolics may act in a similar fashion as reductones by donating the electrons and reacting with free radicals to convert them to more
stable product and terminate free radical
chain reaction.
The yield of EtOAc extract was very low
when compared with the other 3 extracts.
Preliminary screening did not reveal high
antibacterial activity; therefore it was not
included in this study. The effect of acetone,
MeOH, and water extracts on the inhibition
of bacterial growth is presented in Figure 4.
The results show that acetone extract was
the most effective fraction; at 150 ppm it
inhibited the complete growth of B. subtilis
and about 80% growth in others. In the case
of E. coli, inhibition was only 60% by this
fraction at 150 ppm. MeOH extract was less
effective than acetone extract but it had
higher activity than water extract against all
the bacteria tested. For each bacterium,
growth inhibition by acetone extract at both
concentrations was significantly higher than
by water extract (P = 0.05). Although at 300
ppm MeOH extract showed similar inhibition as acetone extract for all the bacteria, its
activity was lower at 150-ppm concentration.
MeOH extract was more effective than water extract. It showed significantly higher
inhibition for all bacteria, except at 150 ppm
for B. cereus and P. aeruginosa, and 300 ppm
for S. aureus, where inhibition by both the
extracts were statistically similar. This observation was confirmed when the MIC of different extracts were compared ( Table 1).
Higher biological activity of acetone extract
was reported earlier also (Morsy and others
1998). The MIC of acetone extract was at or
below 200 ppm, and for water extract it
1476

ranged from 400 to 700 ppm, confirming

their highest and lowest antibacterial activity, respectively. The MIC of MeOH extract
varied from 250 to 500 ppm. Variable activity of pomegranate peel also was observed
earlier (Azzouz and Bullerman 1982) as it inhibited the growth of Penicillium citrinum
for 8 d, Penicillium patulum for 4 d, and Penicillium roquefortii and Aspergillus ochraceus
for 3 d; however it had no effect on the
growth of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus
parasiticus.
Different extracts varied in their response
to Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacte-

Table 1Minimum inhibitory concentration (ppm) of different pomegranate

peel extractsa
Organisms

B. cereus
B . subtilis
B. coagulens
S. aureus
E. coli
P. aeruginosa

Acetone MeOH
Water
extract extract extract
200
150
187.5
200
200
200

250
250
250
350
500
250

400
500
600
450
700
400

a Result of 4 replications

Figure 4Effect of pomegranate peel extracts on the growth of different bacteria. *Growth inhibition (percentage), expressed as mean value SD corresponding to 3 replications with the same letter, is not significantly different
(P < 0.05).

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCEVol. 68, Nr. 4, 2003

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ria. In general Gram-positive bacteria are

considered more sensitive than Gram-negative bacteria to different antimicrobial
compounds because of the differences in
the structure of their cell walls (Scherrer and
Gerhardt 1971; Nikaido and Vaara 1985).
But in the present study no definite trend
was observed for Gram-positive and Gramnegative bacteria. Although E. coli, a Gramnegative bacterium, was most resistant to all
extracts, another Gram-negative bacterium,
P. aeruginosa, did not react similarly. At 150
ppm, different extracts inhibited its growth
to a lesser extent than all the Gram-positive
bacteria except S. aureus (acetone and water
extracts). But at 300 ppm, its resistance to
different peel extracts was comparable to
Gram-positive bacteria. For acetone extract,
the MIC of P. aeruginosa was equal (B. cereus
and S. aureus) or higher than other Grampositive bacteria; it was equal for MeOH extract (except S. aureus) and equal (B. cereus)
or lower than all other Gram-positive bacteria for water extract.
The above results indicate that extraction with acetone and MeOH results in the
highest antibacterial and radical-scavenging activities, respectively. The results of the
present work indicate that the selective extraction of antibacterial and radical-scavenging factions from natural sources by appropriate solvents is very important for
obtaining bioactive fractions.
It has been observed that many plant
polyphenols, such as ellagic acid, catechins,
and chlorogenic, caffeic, and ferulic acids,
act as potent antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic agents (Ayrton and others 1992; BuAbbas and others 1993). Nasr and others
(1996) have reported that pomegranate
peels contain ellagic acid, ellagitannins and
gallic acids. Pomegranate peel is a rich
source of tannins and other phenolic compounds (Ozkal and Dinc 1994). Chidamabaramurthy and others (2002) also have reported the presence of gallic and ellagic
acids in the pomegranate peel extracts.
Hence, these compounds may be responsible for the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of pomegranate peel extracts. Further
research is required to identify and isolate
the active compounds present in the peel to

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replace the synthetic additives completely

or partially with these natural plant-based
products.

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MS 20020657 Submitted 11/18/02 Revised 1/3/03
Accepted 2/3/03 Received 2/26/03
We wish to thank Dr. V. Prakash, Director, and Dr. K. K.
Sakariah, Head, Human Resource Development, Central Food
Technological Research Inst., Mysore, for their constant encouragement.

Authors are with Human Resource Development,

Central Food Technological Research Inst.,
Mysore-570 013, India. Fax: 0821-516308 or 0821517233. Direct inquiries to author Jayaprakasha
(E-mail: gkjp@yahoo.com or gkjp@lycos.com).

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Punica granatum peel extracts . . .