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Phenolic compounds possess a myriad of health benefits, thus making them potential ingredients for the procurement of food supplements. Anvisa, Brazil’s national regulatory body, has recently revised the regulation on food supplements and only a few phenolic compounds (chlorogenic acid, rutin, proanthocyanidins, and tocopherols) have been mentioned. Despite several scientific evidences on the bioactivity of phenolics, especially concerning their antioxidant activity, Anvisa does not authorize any claims for supplements containing these compounds, except for tocopherols, which was mentioned as “vitamin E”. The upper limit doses allowed for the phenolics appear to be lower than what the literature suggests as necessary to achieve potential health benefits and might be prohibitive for supplements available in the international market. Moreover, Brazilian sources of phenolic compounds are not listed in the Normative Instruction (NI) as authorized ingredients for supplements. The Brazilian NI on food supplements has moved forward, but it is still limited.

Pomegranate, a recognized source of phenolic compounds, has been associated with health-promoting benefits, mostly due to its antioxidant activity. Ellagic and gallic acids, anthocyanins, and ellagitannins are the main phenolics in pomegranate, showing antioxidant activity. For this reason, pomegranate has been used in foods, such as meat products, as an attempt to retard lipid oxidation and increase shelf-life. In recent years, in vitro, in vivo, and human studies reported the antioxidant activity of pomegranate, especially its peels, with reduced incidence of chronic diseases (e.g., cardiovascular ailments, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease). This review aims to present the main antioxidant compounds on pomegranate and their biological effects, the antioxidant activity of pomegranate-based foods, the application of pomegranate as a natural antioxidant food additive, the role of pomegranate in the prevention and management of chronic diseases, as well as the trends and prospects regarding the application of pomegranate in innovative food and health.

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Response surface methodology was applied to improve the polyphenol extraction process of rosemary, oregano, sage, and thyme. Aqueous ethanol (EtOH 50%) rendered the highest polyphenol extraction yield for all tested samples. Based on their total phenolic contents, rosemary, oregano, and thyme were selected for evaluation of their scavenging activities towards DPPH radical and ABTS radical cation and application in an oil model system. All extracts decreased the production of primary oxidation compounds  during Schaall oven test storage. The induction period, as evaluated by the Rancimat test, was also reduced. There was an agreement between both oil model system assays, and rosemary extract showed the highest antioxidant capacity, followed by thyme and oregano. A centroid simplex design was used to evaluate the synergistic effect among the samples. Rosemary was able to play a synergistic effect when combined with thyme and oregano, or when used in binary mixtures.