Evaluation of the Most Important Fruit Characteristics of Some Commercial Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Cultivars Grown in Iran F. Varasteh a and K. Arzani Dept. of Horticultural Science Faculty of Agriculture Tarbiat Modares University (TMU) Tehran Iran Z. Zamani Dept. of Horticulture University of Tehran Karaj Iran A. Mohseni Dept. of Sub-Tropical Fruits Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture Tehran Iran Keywords: fruit character, Punica granatum Abstract Iran is one of the most important pomegranate producers and exporters in the world. In spite of various pomegranate cultivars grown in different regions of the country, few published data on the characteristics of the cultivars in the literature are available. The aim of this research was to study the main fruit characteristics of five commercial pomegranate cultivars including ‘Malas-e-Torsh- e-Saveh’, ‘Rabab-e-Neiriz’, ‘Malas-e-Yazdi’, ‘Shishe-Cap-e-Ferdows’ and ‘Naderi-e- Natanz’. Fresh weight, dry weight, volume, length, diameter, peel thickness, aril percentage, juice percentage, total soluble solids (TSS), titrable acidity (TA) and pH were the traits measured. The result of this research may be used to develop an index for cultivars selection for pomegranate production and breeding programs in the future. INTRODUCTION Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) belongs to the Punicaceae family and is one of the oldest known edible fruits (Pekmezci and Erkan, 2003). Pomegranates are widely grown in many tropical and subtropical countries, especially in the moderate climate of the Mediterranean regions (Salaheddin and Kader, 1984). In addition, pomegranate trees have great adaptability to adverse climatic conditions, such as saline soils and drought conditions (Sepulveda et al., 2000). Pomegranate has been cultivated for a long time in Iran. There are many wild and cultivated pomegranates throughout Iran. It probably originates from central Asia in regions from Iran to the Himalayas in northern India (Jackson and Looney, 1999). At present, Iran with more than 650,000 tons annual production, is one of the major pomegranate producers and exporters in the world. The most important pomegranate growing regions of the country are Fars, Khorasan, Markazi, Isfahan and Yazd provinces, which include about 75% of the total production of the country. The most important pomegranate cultivars in Iran are ‘Malas-e-Torsh-e-Saveh’, ‘Rabab-e-Neiriz’, ‘Malas-e-Yazdi’, ‘Shishe-Cap-e-Ferdows’ and ‘Naderi-e-Natanz (Budrood)’. Physico-chemical characteristics of some pomegranate cultivars grown in Saveh in Iran have been studied previously (Zamani, 1990). The physico-chemical composition of 25 pomegranate cultivars grown in Iran has been characterized (Barzegar et al., 2004; Fadavi et al., 2005). In addition, the correlation between quantitative and qualitative characteristics of pomegranate fruit has been studied. (Sarkhosh et al., 2005). The main objective of the present research was to study the physico-chemical characteristics of some commercial pomegranate cultivars grown in different regions of Iran. a f_varaste2000@yahoo.com 103 Proc. I st IS on Pomegranate Ed.: A.I. Özgüven Acta Hort. 818, ISHS 2009