Analysis of Flavone Content in Honey of Pomegranate Flowers

[Objective] The aim was to analyze content of flavones in honey of pomegranate flowers. [Method] Contents of total flavones in 24 honey samples of pomegranate flowers from Mengzi City in 2011 and 2012 were measured as per- spectrophotometry method with acetone as an extractant and rutin as a control. [Result] The average content of flavones in honey of pomegranate flowers was at （2.36±1.36）mg/100 g in 2011 and significantly higher than that in 2012 at （1.71± 0.53）mg/100 g. Analysis was conducted on flavones content in different batches and the results indicated that content of flavones in honey in different batches changed from increasing to decreasing, namely, the content was maximal in peak flowering stage, followed by late flowering stage and initial flowering stage. [Conclusion] The research provides references for development, use and function exploration of the honey of pomegranate flowers.

Physi-Chemical Property Research of Polysaccharides from Pomegranate Flowers

Pomegranate flowers as row materials were used for extraction of polysaccharides by water-extraction and alcohol-precipitation method. After purification, the physical and chemical properties, structure, monosaccharide composition and molecular weight were studied. The results showed that the polysaccharides from pomegranate flowers mainly contained two kinds of water soluble acidic polysaccharides, and monosaccharide composition were arabinose and galactose, both contained hydroxyl, carboxyl, amino, hydroxyl radical, sulfate, beta glycosidic bond and alpha glycosidic bond structure. The molecular weight of PP1 and PP2 were 6.16 × 104 (±6.6%) and 9.01 × 104 (±3.2%), respectively. The results of this study laid the foundation for further development and application of polysaccharides from pomegranate flowers.

Staining Effect of Pomegranate Flower Extract on Human Blood Cells： First Results

Pomegranate flower plant, popularly known using for the treatment of various diseases, was not investigated as a source of dye for cytological studies using human blood cells. The importance of this study is to appear dyeing result of pomegranate flower extract on human blood cells. The natural dye source was pomegranate flower known as roselle and potassium aluminum sulfate （alum = KAISO4＇ 12H20） was used as mordant or metal salt. Distilled water was used as solvent. Fresh, clean and air-dried flowers were extracted with distilled water at 100℃ for 30 minutes and then filtered. One drop blood from a healthy 20-year woman was spread as a peripheral on to ten plates and dried at nearly 25℃. These slides were stained by soaking in pomegranate flower extract with/without alum （KA1SO4·12H2O） at 100℃ for 60 minutes. Slides were washed with distilled water, dried and done microscobic examination. The different blood cells dyed dark orange in alum mordant media at 100 ℃. As a result, pomegranate flower has the capacity to use dyeing human blood cells such as eosinophil, basophil and neutrophil.