Morphological and nutraceutical characterization of six pomegranate cultivars of global commercial interest

Abstract

Pomegranate tree is diffused worldwide, and several ancient varieties and novel cultivars are adopted for producing fruits. This study aimed at investigating the morphological and nutraceutical characteristics of six pomegranate cultivars of worldwide interest. The cultivars were chosen based on their economic relevance and commercial traits. Fresh fruits were characterized through morphological parameters, while seeds and juices were analysed for sugars, organic acids, phenolic compounds, and mineral content. The cultivars showed big or medium-size fruits, and, among them, Acco, 29-101 and Purple Queen showed the highest aryl yields. The highest juice pH value, maturity index and seed moisture content were observed on ME17, while 29-101 had the highest presence of crude fiber. Purple Queen juice was characterized by a red intense color. Kingdom and Wonderful juices exhibited the highest concentrations of organic acids and total anthocyanins. Acco seeds were the richest in macro and micro-mineral. Hierarchical cluster analysis allowed to cluster Wonderful-Kingdom, Acco-29-101 and Purple Queen-ME17 as pairs of cultivars showing the highest similarity, additionally the heatmap showed several quite highly correlated parameters. The results indicated different qualitative profiles and attributes of pomegranates to comply with consumer expectations.