Health Benefits of Ellagic Acid

Ellagic acid is found in plants as a free diet hydroxybenzoic acid. However, it is mostly located in plant vacuoles as hydrolyzable tannins so-called ellagitannins. Ellagitannins are known as ellagic acid glucose esters which are hydrolyzed into ellagic acid. Ellagic acid is found in high concentrations in many fruits including strawberries, respberries, cranberries and grapes as well. In addition, fruits with hard-shelled such as walnuts and almonds were revealed to contain a significant amount of ellagic acid, This bioactive compound was reported to be the main phenolic compound of the fruits belonging to the genus Rubus of the Rosaceae family (red raspberries and cloudberry), as it represents 77-88% of the evaluated phenolic compounds in these fruits.Likewise, the content of ellagic acid in strawberries of Fragaxia species was estimated at 51% of the total phenolic compounds. In vitro and in vivo studies on ellagic acid have demonstrated its pharmacological benefits. Ellagic acid has been reported to have antimutagenic on bacteria and in mammalian systems as well. It has also shown strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic activities as well as a better preservative effect against oxidative stress when compared to vitamin E. The mechanism of the antioxidant effect of ellagic acid has been described to consist of contributing to the regeneration of antioxidant cellular such as GSH and ascorbate. Furthermore, ellagic acid participates in the activation or induction of enzme genes such as SOD, CAT, GST, NADPH: quinone oxidoreductase responsible for the management of oxidative stress. The mechanism of antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic effects is associated with the inhibition of xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes. The anticancer effect of ellagic acid could be explained by the modulation of the metabolism of environmental toxins, preventing the initiation of carcinogenesis induced by these chemicals.

Keywords:

Ellagic acid , fruits , health