Study Reveals Pomegranate Juice Effective in Fighting Bacteria

NEW YORK -- Recent preliminary research by Milton Schiffenbauer, PhD, a biology professor at PaceUniversity in New York, indicates that 100 percent pomegranate juice and POMx liquid extract (pomegranate polyphenol extract), made from the Wonderful variety of pomegranate grown in California, have antiviral and antibiotic effects. His findings were introduced May 22 at the American Society for Microbiology’s annual meeting in Toronto in a presentation titled, “The Inactivation of Virus and Destruction of Bacteria by Pomegranate Juice.”

In this exploratory study, Schiffenbauer tested 100 percent pomegranate juice and POMx liquid extract and the effect each had on a bacterial virus T1 and several bacteria over various periods of time, in various conditions and with the addition of other ingredients. The titer of T1 virus (a model system) which infects E.coli B  decreased up to 100 percent within 10 minutes of the addition of 100 percent pomegranate juice or POMx liquid extract. The research was funded by PaceUniversity and POM Wonderful LLC, and was conducted using POM Wonderful pomegranate products.

Both were also found to be effective in the destruction of bacteria S. mutans, known to cause cavities, S. aureus, the most common cause of staph infections, and B. cereus, a common cause of food poisoning. Schiffenbauer’s findings also indicate that 100 percent pomegranate juice and POMx liquid extract inhibit the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), having widespread implications in the treatment of these potentially pathogenic microorganisms.

The addition of the POM products to various oral agents, including toothpaste and mouthwash, gave these agents an antimicrobial effect.

This work comes on the heels of earlier studies conducted by Schiffenbauer that found that white tea and green tea extracts also have antimicrobial effects. According to Schiffenbauer, pomegranate has achieved even better results than the teas.

Source: Pace University