Pomegranate Sterols

Pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub that has been cultivated and celebrated widely throughout the ancient world. From its origins in the lands of Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and surrounding regions, it was introduced to the Far East, India, the Americas, the Caucasus, Europe, Northern Africa, and Central Asia, where each culture adopted it as both food and medicine. Able to withstand the dry and arid climates from which it sprang, the pomegranate fruit — actually classified as a berry, with its ruby-red jewel-like seeds housed in a tough, membranous outer husk and inner spongy mesocarp — became the treasured emblem of pharaohs, kings, and the elite. As depicted on coins and in mythology, pomegranate was believed to possess fertility, prosperity, and immortality properties. Thanks to the advancement of modern analytical techniques, the rich array of phytochemical constituents in pomegranate and its claim to fame as a superfruit has been identified. I