Antimicrobial Potential of Pomegranate Extracts

The search for plant extracts with efficacious antimicrobial activity remains important, partly due to fears of the side effects associated with conventional antibiotics and to counter the emergence of resistant microorganisms. Pomegranate extracts have been used for millennia for their anti-infective properties, with activity more recently being attributed to its rich composition of ellagitannins and other secondary polyphenolic compounds. This chapter highlights the growing number of publications that have probed the activity of pomegranate extracts against microbes. Research generally supports folklore claims and has shown that pomegranate extracts possess unusual and potent broad-spectrum activities against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (planktonic and biofilm), fungi, viruses and parasites. Possible pathways/mechanisms of antimicrobial activity of pomegranate extracts are discussed and enhancement/potentiation of such activity using metal ions considered.