Pomegranate and Cognitive Performance: A Systematic Review

Background: Cognitive dysfunction, such as dementia, is the most common neurological disorder that affects memory, perception, learning, and problem-solving. Emerging evidence suggests that nutritional factors may prevent or accelerate the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases. Objective: This systematic review was designed to evaluate the association between pomegranate treatment and cognitive function. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases were searched to extract original animal and human studies published until July 2021 without date restrictions. Firstly, 215 studies were retrieved via the search strategy. Irrelevant and duplicated studies were screened out, and critical analysis was used to obtain data. The articles' quality and bias risks were assessed by OHAT and Cochrane Collaboration’s quality assessment tools. Results: Finally, 24 articles (20 animal and 4 randomized controlled trial studies) were included in this review. All included animal and human studies indicated that pomegranate treatment was positively associated with improving specific domains of cognitive function. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that pomegranate treatment could improve cognitive function. Therefore, including pomegranate intake during daily life may lower the risk of cognitive impairment at the population level.