Pomological, Organoleptic and Biochemical Characterizations of Tunisian Pomegranate Fruits Punica granatum L.

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 ). 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.