Quantitation of ellagic acid in concentrated pomegranate extracts and their juices

Naturally occurring inhibitor of carcinogenesis, ellagic acid was quantified in four kinds of each pomegranate extracts and juices. As solvents, 80% methanol in purified water and 50% methanol in 2 M hydrochloric acid were used for analyzing free and total ellagic acids in hot water bath, respectively. Reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method with diode array detection was used for identifying and quantifying ellagic acid in samples. Retention times and UV spectra of sample peaks matched well with those of authentic reference compound. Ellagic acid was detected in all samples. Total ellagic acid content ranged from 33.9 to 1611 mug/g in hydrolyzed extracts and from 11.0 to 16.9 mug/g in hydrolyzed juices. Good recoveries of ellagic acid from 99.2 to 110.2% (S.D., 1.1-8.5%) were obtained.