Physicochemical properties and aroma volatile profiles in a diverse collection of California-grown pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) germplasm

• Citric acid was the predominant organic acid in pomegranate cultivars in this study.
• Predominant anthocyanidins recovered belonged to the cyanidin group in all cultivars.
• 3-Hexenol and 1-hexanol dominated the aroma profiles of these pomegranates.
• Pomegranate cultivars can be characterized by their aldehyde and terpene contents.

Colorful antioxidant-rich fruits often convey astringency and sourness that juice consumers may not appreciate. We assessed properties in juices from a collection of California-grown pomegranate from the National Clonal Germplasm Repository. The goal was to evaluate overall differences in germplasm with quality traits classified as sweet, sweet–sour and sour. Previous relationships noted in sweet and sour cultivar attributes were observed. Wonderful generally clustered with sweet–sour and sour cultivars. Sweet low acid cultivars occasionally clustered closely with Wonderful which is hard to rationalize. The dominant compounds were 3-hexenol and 1-hexanol which allowed separation of Kara Gul, Haku-botan and Wonderful. Aldehyde and terpene content can be used to characterize cultivars. The study represents the first data on variation in juice qualities in different sweet, sweet–sour and sour cultivars, grown in California, compared with Wonderful. Data may help the juice industry better select raw juice materials in order to ultimately satisfy consumers.