Journal฀of฀Applied฀Botany฀and฀Food฀Quality฀85,฀202฀-฀206฀(2012) 1 Faculty฀of฀Agriculture,฀University฀of฀Zagreb,฀Zagreb,฀Croatia 2 Institute฀for฀Adriatic฀Crops฀and฀Karst฀Reclamation,฀Split,฀Croatia 3 Faculty฀of฀Agriculture,฀Ataturk฀University,฀Erzurum,฀Turkey Physico-chemical฀characteristics฀of฀main฀pomegranate฀(Punica฀granatum฀L.)฀cultivars grown฀in฀Dalmatia฀region฀of฀Croatia J. Gadže 1 , S. Voća 1 , Z. Čmelik 1 , I. Mustać 1 , S. Ercisli 3 , M. Radunić 2 (Received฀฀March฀13,฀2012) * ฀Corresponding฀author Summary Consumers฀ are฀ increasingly฀ expecting฀ the฀ fruits฀ to฀ be฀ tasty฀ and attractive฀while฀being฀safe฀and฀healthful.฀We฀determined฀the฀external and฀ internal฀ fruit฀ quality฀ properties฀ of฀ main฀ pomegranate฀ cultivars widely฀grown฀in฀Croatia.฀Of฀the฀three฀cultivars,฀‘Pastun’฀produced฀ the฀ biggest฀ fruits฀ (460฀ g)฀ followed฀ by฀ ‘Konjski฀ zub’฀ as฀ 309฀ g฀ and ‘Ciparski’฀as฀341฀g.฀Cultivars฀exhibited฀a฀range฀of฀ f ฀avor฀(from฀sour฀ to฀sweet)฀and฀acidity฀(0.9฀to฀4.3%฀in฀juice).฀Aril฀colour฀of฀‘Ciparski’฀ and฀‘Pastun’฀were฀red฀while฀‘Konjski฀zub’฀had฀light฀pink฀aril฀colour. ‘Pastun’฀had฀the฀highest฀soluble฀solids฀and฀acidity฀in฀both฀fruit฀juice฀ and฀ peel.฀ ‘Ciparski’฀ was฀ in฀ high฀ for฀ total฀ anthocyanins฀ content฀ (12.8฀mg฀of฀cyanidin-3,5-diglucoside฀equivalents฀per฀100฀g฀of฀fresh mass)฀while฀‘Pastun’฀is฀high฀for฀total฀phenolics฀content฀(144.7฀mg gallic฀ acid฀ equivalent฀ per฀ 100฀ g฀ fresh฀ mass)฀ in฀ juice.฀ Our฀ results indicated฀ that฀ there฀ were฀ important฀ quality฀ differences฀ among pomegranate฀cultivars฀grown฀in฀Croatia. Introduction Pomegranate฀(Punica฀granatum฀L.)฀is฀one฀of฀the฀oldest฀known฀edible fruits฀and฀more฀recently฀its฀fruits฀are฀gained฀more฀interest฀for฀its฀anti- oxidant฀ and฀ nutritional฀ values฀ that฀ are฀ important฀ for฀ human฀ health฀ (TEZCAN T T ฀et฀al.,฀2009;฀TEHRANIFAR T T ฀et฀al.,฀2010).฀The฀edible฀part฀of฀ the฀ fruit฀ contains฀ considerable฀ amounts฀ of฀ sugars,฀ vitamins,฀ poly- saccharides,฀polyphenols฀and฀minerals฀(ERCISLI฀et฀al.,฀2007;฀OZGEN et฀al.,฀2008).฀Moreover฀recent฀clinical฀studies฀revealed฀its฀effective฀ antimicrobial฀(MCCARRELL฀et฀al.,฀2008),฀antiviral,฀anticarcinogenic฀ and฀anti-inf ฀ammatory฀activities฀(VIUDA V V -MARTOS฀et฀al.,฀2010).฀ The฀cultivation฀of฀the฀pomegranate฀is฀mainly฀conf ฀ned฀to฀semi-arid฀ mild-temperate฀ to฀ subtropical฀ climates฀ in฀ the฀ main฀ growing฀ areas฀ including฀most฀of฀Mediterranean฀countries฀(STOVER฀and฀MERCURE, 2007)฀where฀pomegranate฀trees฀are฀particularly฀adapted฀to฀saline฀and poor฀soils฀(MARTINEZ฀et฀al.,฀2006). In฀Croatia,฀pomegranates฀grow฀mainly฀in฀Neretva฀valley฀located฀in East฀coast฀of฀Adriatic฀and฀it฀has฀traditionally฀been฀consumed฀as฀fresh fruit฀ and฀ also฀ processed฀ as฀ juice.฀ In฀ the฀ country฀ pomegranates฀ are spread฀mainly฀as฀a฀minor฀fruit฀and฀traditional฀plantations฀use฀a฀few local฀ cultivars.฀ However฀ more฀ recently,฀ there฀ is฀ high฀ demand฀ and฀ public฀ awareness฀ to฀ its฀ cultivation฀ and฀ it฀ is฀ getting฀ more฀ commer- cialisation฀in฀the฀country.฀The฀fruits฀are฀usually฀sold฀in฀nearby฀local markets฀and฀supermarkets฀for฀fresh฀consumption. The฀ quality฀ of฀ pomegranate฀ fruits฀ is฀ strongly฀ dependent฀ on฀ the cultivars,฀ growing฀ regions,฀ climate,฀ maturity฀ and฀ cultural฀ practices฀ (POYRAZOGLU฀et฀al.,฀2002;฀TEHRANIFAR T T ฀et฀al.,฀2010). Fruit฀maturity฀time฀of฀pomegranate฀is฀commonly฀determined฀based฀ on฀ external฀ (peel฀ colour,฀ size)฀ and฀ internal฀ (aril฀ colour,฀ sugar฀ con- tent฀and฀acidity)฀factors฀(ERCISLI฀et฀al., 2007;฀AL฀SAID฀et฀al.,฀2009). Appearance,฀ especially฀ red฀ colour฀ and฀ size,฀ effects฀ the฀ consumers฀ behaviour฀ and฀ they฀ are฀ accepted฀ as฀ the฀ most฀ important฀ external quality฀parameters฀for฀pomegranate฀(ALIGHOURCHI฀and฀BARZEGAR, 2009;฀ CELIK฀ and฀ ERCISLI,฀ 2009).฀ Fruit฀ maturity฀ occurs฀ in฀ general in฀ September฀ and฀ October฀ according฀ to฀ growing฀ areas฀ in฀ Croatia. There฀ are฀ no฀ standard฀ maturity฀ indices฀ or฀ postharvest฀ quality฀ at- tributes฀ to฀ assist฀ in฀ the฀ harvesting฀ and฀ management฀ of฀ postharvest฀ fruit฀ quality฀ in฀ pomegranates฀ grown฀ in฀ Croatia.฀ Previously,฀ only฀ a few฀ published฀ results฀ on฀ the฀ limited฀ physical฀ properties฀ of฀ pome- granate฀ cultivars฀ have฀ been฀ reported฀ in฀ Croatia฀ (MARINOVIĆ฀ and฀ V EGO V V ,฀2009;฀UGARKOVIĆ฀et฀al.,฀2009).฀No฀published฀data฀were฀found฀ on฀their฀chemical฀and฀textural฀properties฀related฀to฀eating฀quality฀and processing฀in฀particular฀comparing฀pulp฀and฀juice.฀Obtaining฀these data฀can฀help฀breeders฀and฀consumers฀to฀select฀genotypes฀with฀high฀ level฀of฀desirable฀compounds฀along฀with฀better฀physical฀properties.฀ Scientif ฀c฀ assessment฀ on฀ physical฀ and฀ chemical฀ content฀ of฀ com- mercially฀grown฀pomegranate฀cultivars฀in฀different฀countries฀is฀also฀ needed฀ for฀ proper฀ evaluation฀ on฀ this฀ unique฀ fruit.฀ Therefore,฀ one of฀ the฀ main฀ objectives฀ of฀ this฀ study฀ was฀ to฀ characterize฀ important external฀ and฀ internal฀ quality฀ attributes฀ of฀ main฀ pomegranate฀ culti- vars฀grown฀in฀south฀Dalmatia,฀Neretva฀valley฀in฀Croatia.฀In฀addition฀ another฀ important฀ aim฀ of฀ the฀ study฀ was฀ to฀ compare฀ the฀ evaluated฀ fruit฀characteristics฀of฀cultivars฀in฀order฀to฀determine฀which฀cultivars฀ have฀the฀best฀quality฀features.฀ Materials฀and฀methods Plant฀Materials฀ The฀fruits฀at฀commercially฀ripe฀stage฀from฀three฀main฀pomegranate฀ cultivars฀ such฀ as฀ ‘Ciparski’,฀ ‘Konjski฀ zub’฀ and฀ ‘Pastun’฀ were฀ har- vested฀ from฀ seven-year-old฀ trees฀ in฀ the฀ Neretva฀ valley฀ in฀ south Dalmatia฀of฀Croatia฀in฀October฀2009.฀The฀trees฀were฀spaced฀5฀and 3฀ m฀ between฀ and฀ within฀ rows.฀All฀ cultivars฀ were฀ grown฀ under฀ the same฀geographical฀conditions฀and฀took฀the฀same฀agronomic฀and฀cul- tural฀practices.฀After฀harvest,฀fruits฀were฀quickly฀transported฀in฀cold฀ chain฀ to฀ the฀ research฀ laboratory฀ at฀ the฀ Institute฀ for฀Adriatic฀ Crops and฀Karst฀Reclamation฀in฀Split.฀Twelve฀pomegranate฀fruits฀sampled฀ from฀ each฀ cultivar฀ and฀ four฀ replicates฀ were฀ maintained฀ for฀ each฀ analysis฀and฀each฀replicate฀includes฀three฀fruits. Fruit฀peel฀and฀aril฀colour Fruit฀ peel฀ and฀ aril฀ colour฀ of฀ pomegranates฀ was฀ measured฀ on฀ each฀ fruit฀computed฀as฀means฀of฀three฀measurements฀taken฀from฀opposite฀ sides฀ at฀ the฀ equatorial฀ region฀ of฀ the฀ fruit฀ by฀ using฀ chromometer฀ (ColorTec-PCM,฀USA)฀and฀results฀were฀represented฀as฀L*,฀a*฀and b*฀value.฀Chroma฀and฀hue฀angle฀were฀calculated฀by฀using฀L*,฀a*฀and฀ b*฀values฀(PERKINS-V EAZIE V V ,฀1992). Physical฀properties Fruits฀were฀weighed฀individually฀on฀balance฀of฀accuracy฀of฀0.001฀g. Length฀ and฀ diameter฀ of฀ the฀ fruit฀ and฀ calyx฀ were฀ measured฀ with฀ a digital฀Vernier฀calliper.฀The฀measurement฀of฀fruit฀length฀was฀made฀ on฀the฀polar฀axis฀of฀the฀fruit,฀i.e.฀between฀the฀apex฀and฀the฀end฀of฀ the฀stem.฀The฀maximum฀width฀of฀the฀fruit,฀as฀measured฀in฀the฀direc- tion฀perpendicular฀to฀the฀polar฀axis,฀is฀def ฀ned฀as฀the฀diameter.฀Arils฀ were฀manually฀separated฀from฀the฀fruits,฀and฀total฀aril฀content฀was weighed.฀ Replicate฀ measurements฀ of฀ the฀ peel฀ thickness฀ on฀ the฀ op-