Dr. Gabriel Betanzos Cabrera of the Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo, who has conducted several studies on the properties of Granada for six years, working to evaluate in vivo antimicrobial property of a microencapsulated red Granada.
In an interview with the News Agency Conacyt, Betanzos Cabrera explained that the microencapsulated Granada, prepared by him at an earlier stage of research, is being tested as an antimicrobial in mice.
“One of the tests is to evaluate its effectiveness as prevention and other treatment. Particularly this project is intended to be in vivo, because I have an earlier publication of antimicrobial activity in vitro with bacteria in the laboratory. Now looking for a new model, “he explained the researcher.
In general, as detailed Betanzos Cabrera, his most recent research focuses on demonstrating the protective effect and treatment of microencapsulated red Granada using a mouse model infected with Escherichia coli Enteroaggregative.
In vitro Dr. Betanzos has done in his laboratory experiments, the juice was found to have antimicrobial activity in strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis isolated from eye infections. The research was published in the international journal Food & Nutrition Research last year. Expect to find this activity in an in vivo model.
A powder with the beneficial properties of Granada
“I have worked with the fruit of Granada for several years, but given that there has been difficulty for consumption because it is a seasonal fruit and peel time and patience, I gave myself the task of responding to these two issues, “he explained.
In an attempt to resolve those obstacles were less recurrent consumption of Granada in the state of Hidalgo, despite being one of the first producers nationwide, Dr. Betanzos created a powder from the fruit through a process spray drying.So it would be available at any time of year and it would be easy consumption.
“It is as a powder dissolved in water becomes a drink of Granada that retains the properties of the fruit. If we see microscopically, there are microcapsules 10 microns in diameter on average and these capsules are those with the content of the juice Granada “, he said.
During the six years that the researcher has been studying the properties of Granada, he said that it was found that the fruit has many beneficial health properties, such as being an excellent antioxidant, even better than the blueberry.
“It turns out that Granada is better, we will check and is also in the literature. Another property that was discovered is that it is an excellent antihypertensive and a good cardioprotective. In addition, in 2011 we published a paper on their antidiabetic power, find that it is able to reduce glucose levels. With this work we distinguished with the Nestlé Fund for Nutrition Prize of the Mexican Health Foundation in the category of Basic Science, “he said.
However, Betanzos Cabrera said that throughout his research has insisted that the dust of Granada is not a miracle product is a natural product, not a drug, and the fact that the product contains medicinal properties, does not mean which is a drug.
Currently, the powder is ready to be marketed, but waiting for the patent process is completed.
