Quercetin in pomegranate improves athletic performance in Athlete – A randomized clinical trial

STUDY

RATIONALE

Quercetin is classified as a flavonol, one of the six subclasses of flavonoid compounds and is present in several vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, tea and red wine. It is one of the most commonly studied dietary flavonoids as it is an excellent free radical scavenging antioxidant. A diet rich in flavonoids which is known for their antioxidant property reduces the risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke. (Kelly, G. S. (2011) (Boots, A. W., Li, H., Schins, R. P., Duffin, R., Heemskerk, J. W., Bast, A., & Haenen, G. R. (2007). Pomegranate is rich in so many nutrients and polyphenols like quercetin, chlorogenic acid, resvetrol.

Nutritive values of 100 gms pomegranate is as follows,

                

Vital Polyphenols in 100 gms Pomegranate

|Chlorogenic Acid

1.6-1.8 mg

|Quercetin

2.5 mg

|Resevetrol

1.44 mg

|Total polyphenols

67-70 mg

 Pomegranate is an ancient fruit which is worldwide consumed as fresh fruit and juice since ancient times. (Viuda‐Martos, M., Fernández‐López, J., & Pérez‐Álvarez, J. A. (2010).  Pomegranate acts as a therapeutic fruit loaded with different bioactive compounds, it’s different parts like seed, peel, juice and leaves are rich in potential bioactive compounds.( Ranjha, M. M. A. N.,et al. (2021)

Pomegranate is a potent antioxidant. This fruit is rich in flavonoids and has antiatherogenic, antihypertensive, and anti-inflammatory properties. Pomegranate is beneficial in the prevention and treatment of several types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and to the reproductive system. (Zarfeshany, A., Asgary, S., & Javanmard, S. H. (2014).

Currently, there is not enough data to prove tha t quercetin can be recommended as a sports supplement to increase the physical performance of players in various sports. A large number of studies conducted translate to the lack of unambiguous evidence of a positive and harmless effect so that the substance could be introduced into general use. (Racinowski, M., et al. (2022)

Thus we have seen that many studies conducted to see the effect of quercetin on athletes, cardiac diseases, as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents, but all are in supplement form. As pomegranate is rich in quercetin and also being the local fruit, it is easily available at everywhere throughout the year so we will try to check the effect of it on athletic performance whether it will increase or not, by checking Vital Parameters as in Methodology section, which is as follows:

VO2 Max

Electronic hand dynamometer test

Muscular Endurance Test – Push ups, curl ups

Flexibility test – Sit and Reach test,

Speed test for runners, how much time to take for 100 m and 400 m running