15 Adv. Hort. Sci., 2023 37(1): 15-23 DOI: 10.36253/ahsc-13850 Effects of cold storage on quality para- meters and nutraceutcal compounds of pomegranate fruits (cv. Acco) A. Cirillo 1 ( * ) , A. Magri 2, 3 , M. Petriccione 2 , C. Di Vaio 1 1 Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Università, 100, 80055 Portci (NA), Italy. 2 Research Centre for Olive, Fruit and Citrus Crops, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), Via Torrino, 3, 81100 Caserta, Italy. 3 Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutcal Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Via Vivaldi, 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy. Key words: Bioactve compounds, cold storage, Punica granatum L., quality fruit. Abstract: Punica granatum L. contains several bioactve compounds wi th antoxidant actvity that have a positve effect on human health. This study aims to investgate the changes in the chemical-physical and qualitatve para- meters of pomegranate fruits cv. Acco from harvest up to +90 days of cold stor- age (+4°C and 95% RH). Morphological parameters, juice yield, weight loss, total soluble solids content (TSS), pH, ttratable acidity, the color of the epicarp (L*, a*, b*), content of polyphenols, anthocyanins, flavonoids, and antoxidant actvity were analyzed. The results showed an increase (about 29%) in the juice content (%) at +60 days of cold storage. Cold storage has also shown positve effects on some bioactve compounds. Flavonoids and anthocyanins content increased from 287.98 mg CE/100 ml of juice to 389.23 mg of CE/100 ml of juice and from 8.32 to mg/100 ml of juice to 11.13 mg/100 ml of juice at + 90 days of cold storage, respectvely. On the basis of our results that confirmed the litera- ture data, the pomegranate fruit is rich in bioactve compounds that exert ben- eficial actons on human health, and it has also been demonstrated that such nutraceutcal compounds increased during cold storage, allowing the fruit to be preserved a long term. 1. Introducton The pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is generally cultvated in the Mediterranean Basin, in the regions of Southern Asia, in India and in North and South America, where long and hot summer favor an optmal fruits ripening (Erkan and Dogan, 2018). Its adaptaton to the Mediterranean cli- mate has favored its spread in several countries giving rise, over the cen- turies, to numerous local genotypes. The fruits are generally harvested when fully ripe and displayed a smooth shining leathery skin with a color varies from green, to pink, reddish, or dark red (Love et al., 2014). The pomegran- (*) Corresponding author: aurora.cirillo@unina.it Citation: CIRILLO A., MAGRI A., PETRICCIONE M., DI VAIO C., 2023 - Effects of cold storage on quality para‐ meters and nutraceutical compounds of pome‐ granate fruits (cv. Acco). - Adv. Hort. Sci., 37(1): 15-23. Copyright: © 2023 Cirillo A., Magri A., Petriccione M., Di Vaio C. This is an open access, peer reviewed arti- cle published by Firenze University Press (http://www.fupress.net/index.php/ahs/) and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Received for publication 11 October 2022 Accepted for publication 11 January 2023 AHS Advances in Horticultural Science