Effect of Punica granatum peel extract on learning and memory in rats

Objective: To evaluate potential memory enhancing effect of Punica granatum peel extract on rats. Methods: Healthy adult male albino rats of Wistar strain were used. Each group of 6 rats were administered either distilled water or 50 mg/kg of extract or 100 mg/kg of extract for 15 days and subjected to passive avoidance test or T maze test. In the next phase rats were administered distilled water or 100 mg/kg of extract for 15 days and the rats were given injection diazepam before subjecting them to the tests. Results: The overall performance was better in test groups compared to control groups. Among the test groups, 100 mg/kg rats performed better than 50 mg/kg. The effect on spatial learning parameters like mean number of alternations and mean percentage bias was more marked compared to retention testing parameters like latency. 100 mg/kg Punica extract treated group also improved performance of diazepam treated rats. Conclusions: There is a definite trend of memory improvement by Punica granatum peel with effects being more marked on spatial learning tendency and long term memory than on retention capacity.