Effect of Pomegranate Extract Consumption on Satiety Parameters in Healthy Volunteers: A Preliminary Randomized Study

Angela Stockton; Emad A S Al-Dujaili

doi:10.3390/foods11172639

Effect of Pomegranate Extract Consumption on Satiety Parameters in Healthy Volunteers: A Preliminary Randomized Study

Foods. 2022 Aug 31;11(17):2639. doi: 10.3390/foods11172639.

Authors

Angela Stockton¹, Emad A S Al-Dujaili²

Affiliations

¹ Dietetics, Nutrition and Biological Sciences, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK.
² Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK.

Abstract

There has been an increasing interest in nutraceuticals and functional foods in reducing appetite and to lose weight. We assessed the effect of oral pomegranate extract (PE) and PE juice (PJ) intake vs. placebo on satiety parameters in healthy volunteers. Twenty-eight subjects (mean age 34.5 ± 13.7 years, body mass index [BMI] 25.05 ± 3.91 kg/m2) were randomized to 3-week priming supplementation with PE (Pomanox®) or placebo. On week 3, satiety parameters were determined on 1 testing day after participants ingested a breakfast and a lunch meal with PJ juice, using 100-mm visual acuity scales (VAS) for hunger, desire to eat, fullness and satisfaction. Meal quality and palatability were also tested. The desire to eat was less at all time points in the PJ juice with PE priming group and participants were also less hungry (p = 0.044) than those who consumed placebo. There was an overall significant difference between the groups (p < 0.001). Participants in the PJ juice with PE priming group experienced significantly greater satisfaction (p = 0.036) and feeling of fullness (p = 0.02) than those in the placebo group. These findings suggest that consumption of PE could have the potential to modulate satiety indicators.

Keywords: appetite; obesity; polyphenols; pomegranate extract; satiety; visual analogue scale.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding. However, AS PhD Scholarship was initially supported by RJ, UK for a short period of time which subsequently funded by the Postgraduate Committee, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.