English abstract
Pomegranate is one of the most promising heart protective agents to emerge in recent years. Although pomegranate has been grown in Oman over the centuries, little is known about the nutritional contents and potential health benefits of the cultivars grown locally. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of consuming the juice of locally grown pomegranate cultivar on biomarkers of coronary heart disease (CHD) as well as assess vitamin C content and total antioxidant status (TAS) in the juice. Eight healthy (control) and nine CHD risk adult volunteers from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and SQU Hospital (SQUH) participated in the study. They consumed 100 ml of Omani pomegranate juice (PJ) daily (except weekends) for six weeks (phase 1) followed by a washout period (wop) of no PJ intake for 16 weeks and concluded by 3 weeks consumption (phase 2). Fasting blood samples for relevant analysis were collected prior and at the end of each stage. Similarly, systolic and diastolic blood pressures and heart rate were measured. Over the entire period of study, PJ consumption by CHD risk volunteers resulted in moderate but significant decreases (P<0.05) in both systolic (5.76%) and diastolic (8.05%) blood pressure. Also, significant decreases (P<0.05) were recorded between blood glucose levels at baseline and end of the washout period for both normal (control) volunteers and the CHD risk group. However, glycated hemoglobin (HbAlc) levels increased significantly in both the control and CHD risk groups, but remained within the normal intervals. Furthermore, LDL cholesterol levels significantly decreased in both healthy (10.13%) and CHD (8.90%) subjects. PJ intake exerted a significant increase by 20% after 6 weeks of PJ consumption, and by 14.55% by the end of the entire study in serum Apo-A lipoprotein levels in the control group. Mean serum total cholesterol (TC) levels declined moderately in both control (2.65%) and CHD (2.20%) groups. However, there were significant reductions in serum ALT (14.2% in CHD volunteers, urea (18.51% in control, and potassium (5%) after six weeks of PJ consumption in phase 1 in control volunteers. The small but significant increase in serum calcium levels in both control (2.26%) and CHD (4.07%) volunteers at the end of the entire study period highlights the importance of PJ consumption in calcium metabolism and absorption. The level of vitamin C in Omani P) was 27,27+1.30 mg/100g, which confirms that Omani PJ is a rich source of vitamin C which is a well-documented powerful antioxidant that might have antiatherogenic properties. Overall, this study has shown that the intake of Omani PJ reduced oxidative stress and improved lipid profile in both healthy and CHD volunteers.
