Abstract
Pomological characterization and biochemical study were conducted on five pomegranate fruits cultivars. Results show statistically significant difference between varieties. Indeed, pomegranate seeds play a key role in determining the pomological quality of the fruit. Interestingly, Kalai ranks first with 256.06 g of the mass of fresh seeds which has 73% of the Total fresh weight (TFW). Besides, the mass of fresh seeds and TFW showed a significant negative correlation with the percentage of fresh peel (r = -0.987 and r = -0.930, respectively, p < 0.01). Parallelly, two major sugars were detected in seeds: glucose, fructose followed by arabinose. Meanwhile, malic and citric acids are both main organic acids accumulated in pomegranate seeds. By determining the acidity index “AI”, citric acid was found to be the most predominant organic acid in sour pomegranate varieties like Kalai and Garsi. Though, Tounsi and Zahri variety are the sweetest, thus, having least amounts of citric acid and highest AI levels.
Highlights
Pomegranate is generally cultivated in the Mediterranean basin, and in regions of Southern Asia, in India and in North and South America, where high temperatures allow a good fruit ripening
Two major sugars were detected in seeds: glucose, fructose followed by arabinose
Malic and citric acids are both main organic acids accumulated in pomegranate seeds
Summary
Pomegranate is generally cultivated in the Mediterranean basin, and in regions of Southern Asia, in India and in North and South America, where high temperatures allow a good fruit ripening. The acceptability of pomegranate to the consumer and processor depends on a combination of several quality attributes that are related to the physico-chemical and mechanical properties including skin colour, absence of physical defects sugar content, acidity and flavour [2]. Pomegranate varieties differ in their taste, ranging from sweet to sour [3] which is determined mainly by organic acid-sugar quantitative and qualitative content balance of the fruit. The desired pomegranate taste varies, in different countries and regions [1]. These compounds (organic acids and sugars) serve as unequivocal markers for sensory attributes assessment and genotype characterization [4]
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