Pomegranate Juice: Nutritious Extracts from Pomegranate Fruit
Pomegranate juice is made from the pomegranate fruit. It contains excellent antioxidant properties, especially polyphenols. It is also rich in Vitamin A, E and folic acid. Preliminary study has shown that this fruit juice may help in the prevention of heart diseases, reducing the risk of certain cancers and also slowing the cartilage deterioration in osteoarthritis. However, more researches are still needed to support these findings.
Commercial pomegranate juice is available for sale in different forms and brands. There are bottled fresh pomegranate juice as well as pomegranate juice concentrate. When buying these commercial juices, go for the unsweetened pure juice as added sugar will add calories to the juice.
If you want to have fresher juice, you can make it freshly in your home kitchen. The tart flavor of the freshly squeezed pomegranate juice is even more and you can be sure that it is 100% pure and free from any additives, such as preservatives.
Pomegranate juice can be extracted easily through different method. The more common ways of doing this are by using a hand-press juicer or a blender. Extracting pomegranate juice using hand-press juicer is about the same as extracting grapefruit juice where the fresh pomegranate is cut into half and press over the juicer to extract the juice. If you’re using a blender or a food processor, you have to first deseed the pomegranate. Then, put the pomegranate seeds into the equipment bowl and blend until liquefied. After that, pour the mixture through a strainer and into a bowl. Press the mixture gently through the strainer using a spoon until most of the juice has been extracted.
Video: Extracting Fresh Pomegranate Juice
Freshly extracted pomegranate juice can be filled in glass bottles (NOT plastics containers) for storage. The juice can be served as drinks or used in cooking. Unfinished juice can be refrigerated for up to three days or kept frozen for up to one year for later consumption.
Generally, pomegranate juice is a safe and healthy supplement. However, like grapefruit juice, it may have potential interaction with various drugs and medications. Nevertheless, the evidence about the potential pomegranate-drug interactions is still limited. Therefore, anyone who takes certain prescription medication should get advice from his or her healthcare provider if he or she intends to consume pomegranate products regularly.
