DEVELOPMENT OF NEW HEALTHY PRODUCTS: FRESH PROCESSED POMEGRANATE SEEDS

Abstract

The pomegranates have been cultivated over the whole Mediterranean region since ancient times. This fruit presents unique organoleptic and nutritional properties which have been always appreciated. However, its consumption is still reduced due to the difficulty in obtaining the delicious arils provoking that the enormous potential of this cultivar has not been completely achieved jet. A possible answer could be the development of a new high quality product: minimally fresh processed pomegranate arils. The objective of the present work was to determine the suitability of the pomegranate cultivar 'Mollar of Elche' to fresh processing and modified atmosphere packaging. Finally, the possibility of using UV-C radiation in combination with cold temperatures to longer preserve the fresh properties of this product was also tested. Once the arils of the pomegranates were manually extracted from the fruit, they were fresh processed (washed, rinsed and dried). Before packaging, pomegranate arils were subjected to different UV-C radiation treatments (2.27, 4.54, 9.08 and 13.62 kJ/m 2 ). Finally, 125 g of pomegranate arils were packaged in polyethylene baskets and sealed with bioriented polypropylene of 25 μm (PPB25) to generate a passive modified atmosphere (MA) inside the packages. The product was stored up to 15 days at 5°C and several analyses were carried out during the shelf life of the product: microbial count, sensorial quality and gas composition inside the baskets.