Freshly squeezed natural pomegranate juice is one of the most valuable foods, and its biological activity is much higher than in many other fruit and berry juices. Its composition is very rich: there are a lot of organic acids and mostly citric, that’s why pomegranate juice has such a strong, racy flavour; there are essential amino-acids, water-soluble polyphenols, sugar and B, A, E, PP vitamins; and also folacin, a natural form of folic acid. In addition, pomegranate juice contains minerals: phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, sodium; tannin and pectic substances, which play an important role in the metabolism of the human body. Pomegranate, as well as many other known fruit has been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times. In Babylon pomegranate was cultured in the III Millennium BC, using it as a medicinal plant. Roman and Greek physicians, including the “father of medicine” Hippocrates, considered it a very valuable fruit and they referred patients for the treatment of the diseases of the stomach and intestine. Later, Avicenna also appreciated the healing properties of pomegranate: he recommended using it to treat dysentery, diseases of throat, at fever and bleeding. Healers in Eastern countries still use pomegranate in the treatment of many diseases.
