The Effects of Drying Methods, Packaging Atmosphere and Storage Time on Dried Pomegranate Aril Quality

Muharrem Gölükcü

doi:10.15832/tbd.06219

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of drying methods, packaging atmosphere, and storage time in preserving the quality of dried pomegranate aril on total phenolic matter, total anthocyanin, antioxidant activity, and CIE L, a*, b*, C, h colour values. The highest contents of phenolic matter (5580 mg kg-1), anthocyanin (679.76 mg kg-1), antioxidant capacity (IC50, 26.16 mg g-1) and CIE a* colour value (10.73) were observed in freeze dried sample, followed by vacuum, convective, and sun dried samples in descending order. Phenolic matter, anthocyanin, antioxidant capacity (1/IC50) and CIE a*, b*, C colour values of the samples packed under nitrogen gas were higher than those packed under air atmosphere. Significant changes in the quality parameters of the product were examined during storage, and the highest loss was determined in anthocyanin content among analyzed quality parameters. The result of present study indicated that freeze drying was the best method for dried pomegranate aril production

Highlights

Pomegranate (Punica granatum) is widely cultivated in Middle East, the Mediterranean countries and the United States (Schubert et al 1999)
The mean fruit weight of Hicaznar cultivar was measured as 673 g and aril ratio was calculated as 47.55%
Our findings showed that anthocyanin content of the samples except for freeze drying decreased as compared with fresh one on dry matter base

Summary

Introduction

Pomegranate (Punica granatum) is widely cultivated in Middle East, the Mediterranean countries and the United States (Schubert et al 1999). Turkey is one of the major pomegranate producing countries in the world. Pomegranate production has rapidly increased after 1990 in Turkey. Consumption of the fruit and its products steadily increased in the world due to the awareness of its functional properties. Phenolic compounds have antioxidant properties and they play a role in preventing cancer and cardiovascular disease by preventing free radical formation in the body (Gil et al 2000; Poyrazoğlu et al 2002; Fadavi et al 2006; Kıralan et al 2009). It has been reported that punicic acid, which is the major fatty acid of the pomegranate seed, has prevention effects on prostate and skin cancers and lipid level lowering effect in liver (Hora et al 2003; Albrecht et al 2004)

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Conclusion