The American Botanical Council (ABC) announced the latest installation of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP), with the newly-released BAPP bulletin on pomegranate (Punica granatum) juice and extracts.
 
Pomegranate is a popular food and dietary supplement ingredient. As a food, the fleshy seeds are consumed raw or after pressing as pomegranate juice. For dietary supplements, the whole fruit, rind (or husk), seed, or seed oil is processed into various forms, such as powdered herb, extracts, etc.
 
At least three different forms of adulteration have been reported in pomegranate products in the global marketplace, ABC reports. Pomegranate juices have been diluted with water, or have contained undeclared levels of juices from other lower-cost fruits. Pomegranate products have also been made mostly from unknown or unidentified lower-cost source materials with little-to-no pomegranate constituents. Pomegranate extracts have also been “spiked” with additional undisclosed ellagic acid or other polyphenols from exogenous, non-pomegranate sources.
 
Ellagic acid is a naturally-occurring polyphenolic compound found in pomegranate and many other plants. It can be obtained in a highly-purified form from a number of lower-cost botanical sources, including Aleppo oak, galls (abnormal growths that can occur on any plant part), and various tree barks. It could also be made via chemical synthesis. Some commercial “pomegranate” extracts claim to contain up to 70%, but even up to 90%, ellagic acid, presumably to give the buyer a false sense of perceived value of the pomegranate extract, but, in reality, the product is not truly a pure pomegranate extract.
 
The new pomegranate bulletin was co-authored by John H. Cardellina II, PhD, an expert in natural products chemistry and analysis, and Stefan Gafner, PhD, ABC chief science officer and the technical director of BAPP. The bulletin lists known adulterants, summarizes current analytical approaches to detect them, and information on nomenclature, supply chain, and the market importance of pomegranate. The bulletin was reviewed by 14 experts from the nonprofit medicinal plant research sector and the herb industry from the U.S. and other countries.
 
“Five years have elapsed since our initial [pomegranate] publication in 2016,” Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of ABC, who also co-authored BAPP’s initial pomegranate bulletin. “At least two additional research papers have been published in the global scientific literature that confirm what we published in that first article; we believe it was time to revise our previous publication to demonstrate to responsible members of the global botanical industry that intentional adulteration and fraud in the pomegranate market continues to exist and that pomegranate ingredient and finished product buyers must be aware of new research and appropriate analytical methods.”
 
“Ellagic acid concentrations have become a marketing tool for pomegranate supplements, suggesting to industry members and consumers that higher levels represent more concentrated, more potent, and thus more efficacious extracts,” Gafner said. “This is despite clinical studies indicating that various pomegranate constituents, in addition to ellagic acid, are responsible for its pharmacological activity and beneficial health effects. As such, pomegranate products that do not contain certain naturally-occurring pomegranate compounds such as the characteristic punicalins and punicalagins not only may be adulterated but also may not provide the expected health benefits.”
 
As with all BAPP publications, the bulletin is freely accessible to all ABC members, registered users of the ABC website, and all members of the public (registration required).