Description

Pomegranate Seed Oil

Pomegranate (Punica granatum) is an ancient fruit with exceptionally rich ethnomedical applications. The peel (pericarp) is beneficial for its astringent properties; the seeds for stimulating beauty.

Here, aqueous fractions prepared from the fruit's peel and fermented juice and lipophilic fractions prepared from pomegranate seeds were examined for effects on human epidermal keratinocyte and human dermal fibroblast function. Pomegranate seed oil, but not aqueous extracts of fermented juice, peel or seed cake, was shown to stimulate keratinocyte proliferation in monolayer culture. In parallel, a mild thickening of the epidermis (without the loss of ordered differentiation) was observed in skin organ culture. The same pomegranate seed oil that stimulated keratinocyte proliferation was without effect on fibroblast function. In contrast, pomegranate peel extract (and to a lesser extent, both the fermented juice and seed cake extracts) stimulated type I procollagen synthesis and inhibited matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1; interstitial collagenase) production by dermal fibroblasts, but had no growth-supporting effect on keratinocytes.

These results suggest heuristic potential of pomegranate fractions for facilitating skin repair in a polar manner, namely aqueous extracts (especially of pomegranate peel) promoting regeneration of dermis, and pomegranate seed oil promoting regeneration of epidermis.

Aslam et al. (2005). Pomegranate as a cosmeceutical source: pomegranate fractions promote proliferation and procollagen synthesis and inhibit matrix metalloproteinase-1 production in human skin cells. J Ethnopharmacol. 2006 Feb 20;103(3):311-8. Epub 2005 Oct 10. Department of Pathology, The University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine Road/Box 0602, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

Written by:
the late Dr. Zakir Ramazanov
Professor of Molecular Biology
President & CEO/National Bioscience Corp.

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