Pomegranate as a promising opportunity in medicine and nanotechnology

Pomegranate tree is one of the oldest fruit trees known to humans (4000 and 3000 BCE). Pomegranate blooms as a symbol of life, permanence, wellbeing, femaleness, fertility, knowledge, immortality, and holiness. In efforts to figure out the best source of phenolic compounds in human diet, pomegranate receives a great amount of popularity owing to the biological effects that exerts through free radical scavenging capabilities by its phenolic compounds. Pomegranate has risen to fame for its medical applications since ancient times. Antioxidant, immunity-boosting, and anti-carcinogenic properties are the major virtues of the pomegranate as a fruit that can be applied as an herbal cure. Unique antimicrobial, antihelminthic, and antioxidant effects seen in pomegranate extracts encourage scientists to employ them as cancer preventative agents. Present review is aimed to study the different parts of the pomegranate along with their characteristics and components, chemical compositions, antibacterial effects and the mechanisms of its bactericidal behavior, medicinal applications and its anticancer properties. Then, nanotechnology applications of pomegranate including its use in biosynthesizing different nano particles (NPs) and developing drug delivery systems like nanoemulsion, nanoparticles, nanoliposomes, phytosomes, nanovesicles and niosomes will be discussed in detail. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.