Pomegranate juice (PJ) constituents have shown to exhibit anticarcinogenic, antimicrobial, antioxidant and antiviral activities. In the present study, the concentration of phenolic compounds and the antiradical activity of PJs from the fruits of the two relatively new Greek cultivars “Persephone” and “Porphiroyeneti” were determined in comparison to the “Wonderful” cultivar. Total phenolic content and antiradical activity of the examined juices were found to vary in the same decreasing manner as follows: “Porphiroyeneti” > “Wonderful” > “Persephone”. The antimicrobial activity of PJs was also determined, showing equal or higher effect than commercial antimicrobial agents (streptomycin, ampicillin, bifonazole and ketoconazole). All tested extracts demonstrated noteworthy antibacterial activity with minimal inhibitory concentration ranging from 0.05 to 0.20 mg mL⁻¹ and minimal bactericidal concentration ranging from 0.10 to 0.40 mg mL⁻¹. Moreover, PJ extracts showed satisfactory fungistatic (0.05–0.2 mg mL⁻¹) and fungicidal (0.1–0.3 mg mL⁻¹) activity against all fungi tested. Among the cultivars tested, “Porphiroyeneti” showed slightly better antiradical and antimicrobial activity. In addition, a GC-MS methodology was developed for the determination of the phenolic profile of the extracts of PJ after different types of chemical hydrolysis. Finally, an HPLC-PDA-ESI-MSⁿ analysis was conducted for the identification of the phenolic compounds in the extracts of PJ. In total, more than 30 non-anthocyanidinic and more than 20 anthocyanidinic compounds were identified. Our results confirm the functionality of pomegranate juices and the potential applications of PJ extracts towards novel products as food additives or preservatives.

The role of maternal colostrum to infant development has been extensively studied and presented. Among the main factors which contribute to breast milk composition are maternal diet, age and body mass index, parity, duration of pregnancy and stage of lactation. This study aims to investigate the potential impact of several factors including demographic (i.e. maternal age and nationality) on the colostrum fatty acid profile. Colostrum was collected the third day postpartum in a Greek maternity hospital. Certain lipid quality indices and fatty acid ratios were estimated and results were statistically processed. The main identified fatty acids were palmitic (C16:0), oleic (C18:1ω-9), and linoleic (C18:2ω-6) acids. Among fatty acids, saturated fatty acids predominated (47.61%), followed by monounsaturated fatty acids (39.26%), while polyunsaturated fatty acids had the lowest proportion (13.13%). Values of lipid quality indices were within the reported in the literature ranges. Maternal body mass index, nationality, age, mode of delivery, gender and fetal weight percentile were studied in respect to their potential influence on the fatty acid profile of colostrum fat. Results suggest that colostrum fatty acid profile was mainly dependent on maternal nationality and age rather than mode of delivery and maternal BMI. Regarding the effect of maternal nationality, significant differences were found for saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Of the most interesting findings is that colostrum fat from older (≥35 years) mothers had less saturated fat and more appropriate LQIs values. Finally, a reversed correlation was observed between the customized centile of the infants and the colostrum fat content.

The antiradical and antioxidant properties of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) extracts from the arils, juice, and seeds were examined and compared for classical and ultrasound-assisted extraction. The total phenolic concentration, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl, 2,2′-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging, and ferric reducing antioxidant power assays were compared. High correlations were found between total phenolic concentration and antiradical activities. Juice extracts exhibited the highest total phenolic concentrations and antiradical activity compared to seed and aril extracts. However, juice extracts provided the lowest antioxidant capacities because phenolics present in juice may scavenge free radicals rather than reduce Fe(III). Arils were similar due to their high juice content. Only seed extracts exhibited statistically significant higher scavenging and antioxidant activities with the use of ultrasound-assisted extraction that may be attributed to the antioxidant character of the phenolics to scavenge free radicals. The total phenolic concentrations in aril and juice extracts by ultrasound-assisted extraction were similar to results obtained by classical extraction. The results show that pomegranate juice and seeds have high nutritional value.

The object of this study was to determine the phenolic profile, the total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of pomegranate wine and compare to multi-varietal red wine using different spectrophotometric and spectrometric techniques. Total phenolic content was determined by the Folin–Ciocalteu assay. The antioxidant capacity was measured by the DPPH and the ABTS radical scavenging assays. The radical-scavenging capacity was higher for pomegranate wine (statistically significant difference was observed for the DPPH assay) in agreement with its higher total phenolic content (383.19 ± 18.22 and 296.57 ± 25.23 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 mL for pomegranate and grape wine respectively). Customized HPLC-PDA-ESI-MSⁿ and GC-MS methods were applied for the identification and chemical characterization of the phenolic compounds for both wines. Identification using LC-MS was based on their λ_max (nm) and the characteristic fragments which derived from the sequential fragmentation in MS while GC-MS was based on commercial libraries and mass spectra of authentic standards. Eighty one different phenolic compounds were characterised by LC-MS and one hundred eight compounds by GC-MS after different chemical hydrolysis regimes. The study signifies the prior treatment with alkaline hydrolysis which had a considerable effect on the detection of phenolic compounds. The results showed that the combination of LC-MS and GC-MS methods allowed the detection of different compounds while results from both techniques are complementary and may confirm each other. Phytochemicals with proven biological activities including antimicrobial, antiviral and chemoprotective, have been identified mainly in pomegranate wines. Furthermore, a significant diversity between pomegranate and grape wines was observed, in terms of their phenolic content and antioxidant profiles indicating the-nutritive and health-promoting effects of pomegranate wine.