Pomegranates may help stop the spread of Alzheimer’s disease, scientists have claimed.
An ingredient called punicalagin helps prevent the inflammation that destroys brain cells known as micrologia, a team of researchers at the University of Huddersfield found.
It is hoped that the findings may also potentially benefit sufferers from rheumatoid arthritis and Parkinson’s disease by reducing painful inflammation from these conditions.
Alzheimer’s affects 800,000 people in the UK, with 163,000 new cases a year being diagnosed.
The key breakthrough in this study has been showing that punicalagin - which is a form of chemical compound known as a polyphenol – found in pomegranates can inhibit inflammation in specialised brain cells known as micrologia.
This inflammation leads to the destruction of more and more brain cells, making the condition of Alzheimer’s sufferers progressively worse.
There is still no cure for the disease, but the research shows that punicalagin in pomegranates could prevent it or slow down its development.
The study was headed by Dr Olumayokun Olajide, who worked with co-researchers at the University of Huddersfield’s Department of Pharmacy, plus scientists at the University of Freiburg in Germany.
The team used brain cells isolated from rats to test their findings, which have been published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research.
Dr Olajide is still working on the amounts of pomegranate that are required, in order to be effective in the form of a drug.
However, he said that juice products which are 100 per cent pomegranate contain approximately 3.4 per cent punicalagin, and added: 'But we do know that regular intake and regular consumption of pomegranate has a lot of health benefits – including prevention of neuro-inflammation related to dementia.'
Dr Olajide says most of the anti-oxidant compounds are found in the outer skin of the pomegranate, not in the soft part of the fruit.
Although this has yet to be scientifically proven, pomegranates may be useful in any condition for which inflammation – not just neuro-inflammation of the brain – is a factor, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s and cancer.
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