Functional foods are of great significance since our society is accelerating into aging. An aging society has many physiological metabolic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia and geriatric diseases. Fundamental treatments for the elderly are almost impossible and the social burden is heavy. If these diseases can be prevented or alleviated by improving dietary habits using functional foods, the significance would be very large. Pomegranate has been found to have 124 different kinds of phytochemicals. Polyphenols have a wide range of protective effects including various physiological metabolic diseases and cancers. It is necessary to develop functional foods such as preservatives and food extenders which can contribute to food safety, required in the food industry, by using such bioactive substances. Pomegranates have been reported to decrease the impact of many serious illnesses. There is a considerable amount of bioactive substances in the peel of a pomegranate, which has potent anticancer, antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-apoptotic properties. Unfortunately, the peel is typically discarded after processing. Despite knowledge regarding the bioactive substances in the pomegranate peel and peel extracts, including their functionality and diversity, the knowledge is not well known by consumers in general.
The aim of this study was to review up to date research trends for processing and developing new functional foods by utilizing nutritional functional substances, favourite food materials, and materials for processing food contained in pomegranate peels and pomegranate peel extracts. This study will summarize the data found in pomegranate peel and pomegranate peel extract literature mainly recently published in Science Direct. There are polyphenolic compounds (ellagitannins, punicalagin, proanthocyanidin, flavonoids, polysaccharides, etc.) in the fruit peel, making up about 50% of the pomegranate’s weight. The polyphenol content of a pomegranate fruit peel is 149.91 mg/g, which is about 100 times higher than the juice. Paying attention to the fact that the ellagitannin content (14.22 mg/g) in the fruit peel is also twice as high as that of the fruit juice and seeds, that confirms the possibility of utilizing the peel as a food ingredient capable of developing new, functional bioactive foods.

• 김성기(한국과학기술정보연구원 ReSEAT 프로그램) | Sung-Kih kim Corresponding author