Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Introduction Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a nutrient dense fruit with a high health value 1 and one of the most important Iranian fruit crop. Iran is the world’s leading producer of this fruit with a production of over 700,000 tons/year. 2 According to historical evidences, Iran is the origin of pomegranate. This fruit has been spread from this region to other areas. 3 A vast range of pomegranate varieties can be found in Iran; 760 original, decorative and wild ones. 4 Pomegranate is considered as one of the most tolerant fruit crops capable of growing under arid and semi-arid climatic conditions. 5 Researches have proved that pomegranate fruits or their processed products prevent disease and have a benefcial and profound impact on human health. 6 Pomegranate juice contains a high amount of total soluble solid (TSS), anthocyanins, polyphenolic compounds, vitamin C, sugars and proteins, in addition to 85% moisture content. 7 Antioxidant, anticancer and anti-atherosclerotic effects of pomegranate chemical compounds have been confrmed in numerous works. 8–10 Cultivar, growing region, climate, maturity and cultural practice are the main factors determining chemical composition of pomegranate fruits. 11–15 Signifcant differences in various fruit quality parameters such as organic acids, phenolic compounds, sugars and water-soluble vitamins have been reported in previous studies. 16–18 Although Iran and its neighboring regions are considered as center of origin of this species and in spite of numerous pomegranate cultivars native to Iran studies on the properties of the cultivars are limited. Various authors reported a vast range of different phenolic compounds in all parts of pomegranate tree such as bark, leaves, peel, seeds and fruits, 19–23 however similar investigation on Iranian cultivars are rare. Cultivar selection for commercial production for meeting market requirments can be carried out based on such data. The aim of present study was to compare and evaluate some quality biochemical characteristics and different polyphenolic compounds in juice of seven commercial Iranian pomegranate cultivars. Materials and methods Samples Seven Iranian commercial pomegranate cultivars were studied including; Malas Mommtaz Saveh (MMS), Shishe Kab (SK), Zagh Aghda (ZA), Malas Daneh Ghermez Yazd (MDGY), Naderi Badroud (NB), Shirin Pust Daneh Ghermez Yazd (SDGY) and Zard Anar Arsenjan (ZAA). Fruits were harvested randomly from uniform trees with the same age (4-year-old trees) in a collection orchard in Arsenjan regin, Fars province in october 20 th (according to long term data in the area, pomegranate fruit quality parameters reach their optimum content at this date of year). The average temperature, rainfall and relative humidity in growing season of 2016 were 27 ◦ C, 170 mm and 30%, respectively. The trees were planted in randomized block design and spaced 5 and 3 m between and along the rows, respectively. The trees were grown under drip irrigation and routine cultural practices suitable for commercial fruit production. Orchard management programs (application of fertilizers, pests, diseases and weeds control) were conducted uniformly according to optimized available recommendations (based on soil and water samples analysis) for the orchard site. 7 kg of pomegranate fruits was harvested for each cultivar approximately. They were kept at 4 ◦ C till analysis. Three replicates were maintained for each analysis and each replicate indicating four pomegranate fruits. Horticult Int J. 2018;2(6):469‒473. 469 © 2018 Jamali et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Comparison of fruit quality characteristics and polyphenolic compounds in seven Iranian pomegranate cultivars Volume 2 Issue 6 - 2018 Babak Jamali, Ali Reza Bonyanpour Department of Horticulture Crops Research, Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Iran Correspondence: Babak Jamali, PhD, Department of Horticulture Crops Research, Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Shiraz, Iran, Email Received: April 30, 2018 | Published: December 27, 2018 Abstract Present study was carried out in order to compare and evaluate some quality biochemical characteristics and different polyphenolic compounds in juice of seven commercial Iranian pomegranate cultivars. Malas Mommtaz Saveh, Shishe Kab, Zagh Aghda, Naderi Badroud, Malas Daneh Ghermez Yazd, Shirin Pust Daneh Ghermez Yazd and Zard Anar Arsenjan cultivars were studied. Fruits were harvested randomly from a collection orchard in Arsenjan regin, Fars province. Some physical characteristic of fruits and biochemical parameters of juice were determined. Also polyphenolic composition of juices were measured using HPLC analysis. Significant differences were found among studied pomegranate cultivars for various physical fruit characteristics, quality parameters and polyphenolic composition of juice in present study. Malas Daneh Ghermez Yazd had the highest fruit physical characteristics such as fruit weight, length, diameter, and aril weight and juice percentage. Also this cultivar had the maximum of TSS and total polyphenolic compounds and gallic acid concentration of juice. The highest TSS, antioxidant activity and caffeic acid, chloregenic acid, vanilin and ellagic acid concentration were detected in juice of Shishe Kab. Thus these two pomegranate cultivars evaluated as cultivars with better health and nutritional value in comparison to other cultivars. Keywords: anthocyanins, ellagic acid, Iran, Punica granatum Horticulture International Journal Research Article Open Access