Wild Pomegranate Research Articles

Evaluation of Dyeing Properties of Carpet Woolen Yarn with Natural and Wild Pomegranate Peel (Punica granatum)

ABSTRACTNatural and wild pomegranate peel have been used as colorants for wool yarn because of their high tannin contents. The woolen yarns dyed with pomegranate peel showed different shades of yellow and brown. Wild pomegranate peel has been used traditionally for dyeing wool to obtain brown and darker shades. Both natural and wild pomegranate peel were applied on woolen yarn in presence of four different mordants. Good light fastness was observed in dyed yarns that is due to the formation of complex with the metal which protects the chromophore from photolytic degradation. The values of washing fastness of the dyed samples show very good grades but the rubbing fastness in dyed yarns with wild pomegranate rind are not so good. Therefore, the dyeing potential of wild pomegranate peel as a natural source for wool yarn dyeing is considerable.

Development of cultivated and wild pomegranate mixed fruit jelly and its quality evaluation during storage

The present study was undertaken for the development of jelly from cultivated and wild pomegranate fruit juice mix and its quality evaluation during storage of six months. A product with 55 % mixed fruit juice content (cultivated and wild pomegranate juice in 80:20 ratio) with 45 % sugar was found to be the best on the basis of sensory analysis of prepared jelly. Jelly could safely be stored for a period of half year under both the ambient and refrigerated conditions without much change in its various chemical attributes viz., total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, anthocyanins, pectin, total phenolics and sensory quality characteristics viz., colour, texture, flavour and overall acceptability. However, the changes in the quality characteristics of the jelly were slower in refrigerated storage conditions as compared to ambient conditions. Under refrigerated conditions, changes in TSS from 67.00 to 67.36 0B,titratable acidity from 0.75 to 0.71%, ascorbic acid from 9.18 to 7.35 mg/100 g, anthocyanins from 11.34 to 10.17 mg/100 g and total phenols from 63.10 to 60.06 mg/100 g were observed after 6 months of storage. Both the packaging material viz., polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and glass jars were found suitable with comparatively slower changes occurring in glass jars under refrigerated conditions.

Screening of Punica Granatum seeds for antibacterial and antioxidant activity with various extracts.

The name pomegranate derives from Latin p?mum "apple" and gr?n?tum "seeded" [1]. Pomegranate is native to Iran and northeast Turkey and has been cultivated throughout the Middle East, Southern Asia and Mediterranean region for several millennia. It is also extensively grown in South China and in South East Asia. Kandahar in Afghanistan is famous for its high-quality pomegranates [2]. Pomegranate seeds are used as a spice known as anardana’(from Persian: anar + dana, pomegranate + seed), most notably in Indian and Pakistani cuisine but also as a substitute for pomegranate syrup in Persian cuisine [3]. Dried whole seeds can often be obtained in ethnic Indian subcontinent markets. Seeds of the wild pomegranate variety known as‘daru’ from the Himalayas are regarded as quality sources for this spice [4-5]. Dried seeds can be used in several culinary applications [6]. One serving (87 grams) of pomegranate seeds contains the following nutrients as described in Tables 1-4 [7-10]. The calorific value of the pomegranate seed is 83 calories per 100 grams. Pomegranate seeds are a rich source of dietary fiber (20% DV) which is entirely contained in the edible seeds [11]. Punicic acid, also known as pomegranate seed oil, is the main fatty acid which is a type of conjugated linoleic acid with potent biological effects. Pomegranates contain punicalagins and punicic acid, unique substances that are responsible for most of their health benefits [11]. A 100- g serving of pomegranate seeds provides 12% of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin C, 16% DV for vitamin K and 10% DV for folate. Pomegranate seeds are a rich source of dietary fiber (20% DV) which is entirely contained in the edible seeds

Anardana (dehydrated wild pomegranate arils) as livelihood option for rural communities in Chenab valley of Jammu and Kashmir

The study was conducted in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir to document present status, scope and socio-economic profile of the families involved in the collection and trade of anardana (Punica granatum L. ‘Dhruni’) towards better livelihood options for the rural communities. A random survey of Ganote, Dharam, Gool, Farmoot, Sangaldan, Gundi, Maha kund, and Chaderkot revealed that each household in these areas collects 400–500 kg of dried seed, with per household annual collection touching about 550–625 kg in Kanga and Parmote villages of Ramban. Study also revealed that the annual income from anardana was highest in Kanga village (Rs. 2,85,900/ha) with 57.19% contribution to total household income, while it was lowest in Ganote Rs. 1,76,500/ha (41.11%). However, its commercial potential is yet to be tapped. Good ‘anardana’ fetches a price ranging between Rs. 300 to 400 per kg at village level, where the local commission agents working on behalf of traders at Jammu, Amritsar or Delhi procure in bulk. Some produce from nearby areas is also brought to Ramban market where it is sold in open auction. It was found that in addition to fulfilling the domestic needs, each household engaged in collection of ‘anardana’ adds an average of Rs. 60,000 to their annual income.

Biochemical diversity in wild and cultivated pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) in Pakistan

ABSTRACTThe present study was conducted to screen out elite pomegranates through determination of biochemical diversity in wild and cultivated genotypes for a breeding program and for fresh/processed use in industry. The results showed high morphological diversity in accessions of wild pomegranate fruits as compared to cultivated genotypes. The first six principal components covered 80.75 and 75.49% diversity in 53 wild and 62 cultivated pomegranate genotypes, respectively. High values of the coefficient of variance (10.78–18.62%), and a high range of minimum to maximum values of total soluble solids, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid content, total soluble sugars, and total phenolic content (0.10–1.25, 5.88–29.96, 9.69–19.85 and 175.05–595.42), respectively, were recorded in the studied genotypes. Ascorbic acid content had a strong correlation with antioxidant activity (0.952%), super dismutase oxides (0.94%), catalase (0.921%), and titratable acidity (0.91%). Peroxides had a strong correlation (0.88%) with catalase, and 0.81% each with super dismutase oxides and antioxidant activity. Wild and cultivated pomegranates were clustered successfully in separate groups, based on biochemical traits. A variety improvement program and selection of high-quality pomegranate genotypes could help to reduce pomegranate-related malnutrition issues in the human diet.

Influence of active packaging on quality attributes of dried wild pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) arils during storage

Wild pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is the only wild fruit of foothills of Himalaya which has got commercial importance in North India because of the high acidic nature of its arils. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate best packaging material for storage of mechanical cabinet dried wild pomegranate arils. The freshlyextracted arils were pre-treated to check the browning and dried in mechanical cabinet drier at 60 + 2 oC. Dried arils packed in different packaging material with or without moisture absorbers (salt or sugar sachet) were stored under ambient conditions (18 to 28 oC) for 6 months. Although the slight changes in quality attributes of dried arils during storage were observed but the arils packed in Aluminium Laminated Pouch (ALP) containing salt (humectant) showed minimum increase in moisture (8.82 %), non enzymatic browning (0.05 OD), hydroxy methyl furfural (2.85 ppm), furfurals (20.11 ppb) and retained highest amount of titratable acidity (10.92 %), total sugars (24.20 %), ascorbic acid (11.75 mg/100g), anthocyanins (30.81 mg/100g) and phenols (112.38 mg/100g) among all packaging material. So, ALP can be used as a packaging material for the packaging of dried arils (anardana, Indian spice) on commercial scale. Putting of moisture absorber along with the arils inside the pouch as an active packaging system will be an additional advantage to retain the quality of anardana during storage.

Screening of methods for extraction of wild pomegranate arils

An experiment was conducted to find out the best method for the extraction of arils from wild pomegranate fruits at Department of Food Science and Technology, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India. Before, manual extraction of wild pomegranate arils, partial drying of fruits (< 10% moisture) in three different drying modes like mechanical cabinet, solar tunnel and open sun for varying time-temperature combinations was done. Exposure of fruits to time-temperature combination of 40°C for 6 hours (h) in mechanical cabinet drier was found best followed by solar tunnel drier (36–44°C for 12 h) and open sun (28–30°C for 36 h). Best drying treatments were selected on the basis of quality attributes like ease in separation of arils, no defects, good appearance and sensory scores of extracted arils on 9 point hedonic scale. Manual extraction of arils from mechanical cabinet dried wild pomegranate fruits also took minimum time in comparison of solar tunnel and open sun dried by a single worker, whereas, maximum time was taken for fresh fruits (control).

Biochemical and Morpho-Genetic Characterization of Wild and Cultivated Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.)

Biochemical and Morpho-Genetic Characterization of Wild and Cultivated Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.)

In Vitro Selection of Cell Lines in Punica granatum L. (Daru) Against Bacterial Blight

Disease resistant cell lines of wild pomegranate were selected against bacterial blight caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. punicae. Callus from cotyledon explants was exposed to purified toxic culture filtrate produced by bacteria. Initiation, maintenance of callus as well as selection process was carried out on MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/l BAP and 4.0 mg/l NAA. Resistant lines were selected at 40 % level of culture filtrate after two cycles of selection. Microshoots from selected calli were regenerated on medium containing 2.0 mg/l BAP, 1.5 mg/l Kinetin and 3.0 mg/l GA3. Fresh weight of callus increased progressively up to third subculture passage while shoot bud induction from selected calli was observed only after third subculturing. The selected microshoots were rooted on half strength MS medium containing 400 mg/l activated charcoal medium. After in vitro testing of shoots regenerated from selected calli four resistant plantlets were obtained.

Variability in Wild Pomegranate (Punica granatum l.) Population from Ganderbal and Budgam Districts of Kashmir Valley

Intensive survey was conducted in different areas of district Ganderbal and Budgam during 2009. Significant variability was recorded with different morphological and physico-chemical properties of pomegranate genotypes. Yield per tree ranged from (13.80–58.40Kg) and yield efficiency (0.30–1.58Kg/cm2), fruit length (5.06–7.30 cm), fruit diameter (6.16–8.29 cm), fruit weight (120.25–297.50 g), total aril weight (58–194.25 g), weight per aril (0.18–0.29 g). Fruit chemical varied from TSS (12–16 %), juice content (32.85–60.12 %), acidity (0.31–0.46 %), TSS/acid ratio (26.09–45.96), ascorbic acid content (9.23–20.26), reducing sugar content (6.22–9.23 %), total sugars content (7.31–11.23 %) and anthocyanin content (9.65– 19.23 mg/100 g of fruit). The data presented may be helpful in understanding pest resistance among pomegranate. Keywords: Genotypes, Pomegranate, Selection, Survey, Variability

Studies on the effect of drying methods and packaging on quality and shelf life of dried wild pomegranate arils

Wild pomegranate (Punica granatum L) is an important wild fruit of economic importance. Pretreated arils were dried in different drying modes like mechanical cabinet drier (62+ 2°C), solar cabinet drier (50–55°C) and open sun (18–24°C). Mechanical cabinet drier was found to be most suitable on the basis of faster drying rate, physico-chemical and sensory characteristics. The mechanical cabinet dried arils were packed in aluminum laminate pouch (99.8 gsm), polyethylene pouches (93.9gsm), thermofoam trays (wrapped with polypropylene transparent sheet) each of 100g capacity and stored at ambient (15–25°C) and refrigerated conditions (4–7°C) for a period of six months. Aluminum laminate pouch was found to be most suitable packaging material.

Development of wild pomegranate aril-in-syrup and its quality evaluation during storage

Studies undertaken to prepare arils-in-syrup product from wild pomegranate and its quality evaluation during storage are reported here. Out of ten combinations of arils, syrup and TSS of syrup the product with 40 per cent arils and 60 per cent syrup of 75°B was adjudged to be the best on the basis of its sensory and some physico-chemical characteristics like colour, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid. It could safely be stored for a period of six months under both the ambient and refrigerated storage conditions without much changes in various quality characteristics. However, Sugars increased from 36.77 to 41.52%, ascorbic acid decreased from 8.34 to 4.99mg/100g, anthocyanins decreased from 8.09 to 3.15 mg/100g, phenols decreased from 32.91 to 25.75% during storage. Changes in the quality characteristics of the product were slower in refrigerated storage conditions than ambient. Both the packaging materials viz., PET and glass jars were found suitable, with comparatively less changes occurring in glass jar under refrigerated conditions.

POMEGRANATE BIODIVERSITY AND HORTICULTURAL MANAGEMENT

The pomegranate, native to Persia, had its first domestication in Iran about 2000 BC. The name, pomegranate, owes its origin to Latin; “pome” meaning apple, and “granate” meaning many seeded and it was, initially called Malum granatum, meaning seeded apple. From the place of its origin, the pomegranate spread to nearby areas, such as the Mediterranean and subsequently reached eastern countries like India and China. Presently, it is cultivated in India, Iran, Turkey, China, Spain, USA, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Greece, Azerbaijan, Yemen, Jordan, Portugal, Cyprus, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, northern parts of Chile, and to a lesser extent, in Burma, and Japan. It is thought as exotic fruit in European countries, as paradise fruit in Arabic countries. Generally, the fruit is used for eating fresh and decorative purposes. Extracted juice is used to a limited extent for grenadine and pomegranate wine, as well as a delicious, highly-coloured jelly. The fruit will keep many weeks at room temperature and longer in cold storage. The rind shrinks and becomes thinner and tougher in storage, improving the eating quality. Also, it is very important fruit in terms of human health. The family Punicaceae contains a single genus Punica L. of two species, Punica granatum L. (pomegranate) and Punica protopunica Balf.f., syn. Socotria protopunica. Wild pomegranates are found in the Near-East Transcaucasia, Dagestan, Central Asia (Kopet-Dag, Pamiro-Alaj) and also in Asia Minor, Iran and Afghanistan. In the Kopet-Dag wild forms show a wide range of variation probably still untouched by breeders. The cultivation of the pomegranate is mainly confined to tropics and subtropics and it grows well in arid and semi-arid climates. Favorable growth takes place where winters are cool and summers are hot. It is evergreen in the tropics and deciduous in the subtropics. It has the ability to withstand frosty conditions, but below -12°C the hardiness is poor. A temperature of 38°C and dry climate during fruit development produce best quality fruits. Areas with high relative humidity or rain are totally unsuitable for its cultivation as fruits produced under such conditions tend to taste less sweet.

Albania, the domestication country for pomegranate (Punica granatum L.)

A special discussion, regarding the domestication of wild pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) in Albania, has first started in 1995. This discussion triggered a study that continued for the next several years. This research resulted in the identification of a wild pomegranate belt of about 300 km, along the Adriatic and Ionian coastline of the western part of Albania. Considering the results of this study regarding morphological, biological and biochemical assessments, toponymic and linguistic data, it is revealed that there are some indications that pomegranate could have been domesticated in Albania independently from other regions.

Air Drying Kinetics of Pomegranate Seeds

The thin layer drying of pretreated wild pomegranate seeds was conducted in a laboratory mechanical dryer at air temperatures of 55, 60 and 65°C. Six different mathematical models were used to predict the drying behavior. Thompson model was adjudged as the best model. The coefficients of this model were found to be correlated best with drying temperatures by using two degree polynomials. The effective diffusivity was determined to be 3.18 x 10-10 to 4.36 x 10-10 m2/s. The activation energy for diffusion was found to be 29.07 kJ /mol. The variation in shrinkage exhibited a linear relationship with moisture content. The rate constants for “a” and “b” parameters of colour were determined and their value was 0.0128 and 0.0136 min-1, respectively.

Genetic relationships among wild pomegranate (Punica granatum genotypes from Coruh Valley in Turkey

The pomegranate has been used traditionally in Coruh Valley in Turkey for a long time; fruits are harvested from wild, semi-domesticated and cultivated trees. In the valley, it occurs in general along with olive trees. We sampled 23 wild-grown pomegranate genotypes sampled from different parts of Coruh Valley and compared them using RAPD primers to determine genetic variability. Eighty-six RAPD primers were used for molecular characterizations, among which 12 gave reliable polymorphic patterns. These primers generated 145 RAPD bands of which 91% were polymorphic. The highest polymorphism ratio was observed with primers OPY06, OPY13, OPBA03, OPBB03, OPBB07, and OPBB09 (100%), while the lowest was with OPBB09 and OPBB10 (75%). The band size was between 250 and 2400 bp. There were five main clusters in the dendrogram; the highest genetic similarity was 0.24 and the lowest was 0.08.

Standardization of pre-treatments for the preparation of dried arils from wild pomegranate

Pre-treatments for drying of wild pomegranate arils were standardized to check discolouration of dried arils. Steam blanching of arils for 30s followed by sulphur fumigation at 0.3% for 60min was found suitable as they took minimum time to dry a given tray load, and had minimum non-enzymatic browning, furfural, hydroxyl methyl furfural and moisture contents. The dried arils of the standardized pre-treatment recorded maximum scores for sensory characteristics like colour, texture, taste, aroma and overall acceptability.

Genetic diversity in inter-simple sequence repeat profiles across natural populations of Indian pomegranate (Punica granatum L.)

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), in the monogeneric family Punicaceae, is found in Iran, Afghanistan, India and Mediterranean countries. Iran is considered to be its primary centre of origin. In India, pomegranate occurs naturally only in the Western Himalayan regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand States. However, there is no information about genetic variation in wild pomegranate at population level. In this paper, we describe genetic diversity across natural populations of Indian pomegranate based on inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. Forty-nine accessions representing eight populations from two regions were analysed using ISSR. Seventeen ISSR primers resulted in 268 polymorphic bands, with 87.01% polymorphism throughout the accessions. Pair-wise population genetic distances ranged from 0.05 to 0.45, with a mean of 0.25 between populations. amova and Nei's genetic diversity analyses revealed higher genetic variation within populations than among populations. A higher genetic differentiation (G(ST)) was observed between the spatially distant populations, indicating a low level of genetic exchange (Nm) among these populations. However, clustering of populations was not in accordance with their geographical affiliations in the tree. The results indicate that the ISSR method is sufficiently informative and powerful to assess genetic variability in pomegranate, and that patterns of genetic variability observed among populations of wild pomegranate from the Western Himalaya differ. Estimation of genetic variation reported here provides a significant insight for in situ conservation and exploitation of genetic resources for this economically important species as potential breeding material.

Analysis of genetic diversity among wild pomegranates in Western Himalayas, using PCR methods

The genus Punica (Punicaceae) is distributed in Iran, Afghanistan, India and Mediterranean countries. Iran is considered to be its primary center of origin. In India Punica granatum is found in wild only in Western Himalayan regions comprising, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand states. However, there is little information available about the genetic variation present in pomegranates in the regions. In this paper we describe the use of DAMD and RAPD methods that generate the profiles, to study genetic diversity in wild genotypes of the P. granatum in India. Forty-nine accessions representing two regions of Western Himalaya were analyzed. Similarity coefficient value varied from 0.08 to 0.79 across different accessions. The results indicate that DAMD (97.08%) revealed more polymorphism in comparison to RAPD (93.72%). The results show that these methods are sufficiently informative to unravel the genetic variations in wild pomegranates in Western Himalayas.

Studies on separation techniques of pomegranate arils and their effect on quality of anardana

The dehydrated arils of wild pomegranate fruits ( anardana) are used as acidulent in culinary preparations and in making various medicines. For easy separation of arils, fruits were subjected to sand roasting, hot water dipping and soaking in cold water. Hot water dip for 2 min saved time required for separation of arils from fruits (80% excluding treatment time and 74% including treatment time). Due to the high temperature during sand roasting, quality of arils and anardana was inferior when compared to other treatments. The desirable color and chemical composition of the product anardana was retained in the treatment hot water dipping for 2 min.