Environmental and geographical conditions influence color, physical properties, and physiochemical composition of pomegranate fruits

Abstract

The highest quality pomegranate necessitates a tropical or subtropical environment for proper growth and development. This study evaluated two pomegranate cultivars including Rabab Poost Ghermez Neyriz (RPGN) and Makhmal Malas Shahreza (MMS) for physical traits, biochemical properties, and juice quality in their native locations as well as other warm and arid regions during two growing seasons (2019–2020 and 2020–2021) in Iran. The results showed that cultivars with the maximum redness (a*) were more likely to originate in cooler climates, and the cultivar’s responses to changing climates were also different. According to pomegranate characteristics, cultivars in different regions had different fruit, aril, and skin weights. According to these findings, pomegranate fruits cultivated in other climates than the origin climate have a smaller edible fraction. The findings also demonstrate that pomegranate fruits cultivated in mountain climates have more significant biochemical parameters such as total phenol, anthocyanin content, antioxidant capacity, and vitamin C than those produced in desert environment settings. The increased titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), and pH values of pomegranates produced in origin climate than the warm environment; thus, suggest that changes in pomegranate cultivar origin had a clear impact on fruit juice quality. Environmental factors, such as wind speed, altitude, and annual precipitation, had a significant correlation with a* skin, TSS, fruit weight, aril weight, edible portion, pH, TA, phenol, antioxidants, and anthocyanin content.