Polyphenolic compounds, anthocyanins and antioxidant activity of nineteen pomegranate fruits: A rich source of bioactive compounds

• The pomegranate cultivar type has an effect on the chemical and antioxidant characterization.
• HIZ and WOND cultivars have the highest values in a*, anthocyanins, and antioxidant activity (H-AA).
• The sour cultivars have the highest values in phenolic composition and antioxidant activity.
• Pomegranate fruits, especially sour cultivar, are a potential source of bioactive compounds.

The chemical composition of 19 pomegranate cultivars was analysed to demonstrate the wide diversity among pomegranate juices. The individual phenolic compounds and anthocyanins were measured by HPLC-DAD-MS/MS-ESI. The antioxidant activity, total phenolics, organic acid, sugar profile and colour were also measured. Ten phenolic compounds (mainly hydrolysable tannins and ellagic acid derivatives) and six anthocyanins (especially cyanidin 3-O-diglucoside and cyanidin 3,5-O-diglucoside) were identified and quantified. Cultivars HIZ and WOND had the highest a* (6.50 and 6.52, respectively) value which corresponded to the highest total concentration of anthocyanins (259 and 217 µM of cyanidin 3-O-glucoside, respectively) and antioxidant activity in the hydrophilic fraction (172 and 149 mg eq Trolox/100 mL, respectively). Total phenolic content ranged from 90 to 145 mg GAE/100 mL. The WOND cultivar presented the highest values in total organic acids (3.09 g/100 mL) and ME13 cultivar in sugars (15.3 g/100 mL).