Phenotypic and pomological characterization of a pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) germplasm collection and identification of the promising selections

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is one of the oldest known edible fruits and has gained importance mainly because of its antioxidant properties. The present research was carried out on 100 pomegranate genotypes from Saveh part in Markazi province from Iran, to select the promising genotypes based on the morphological and pomological traits. A large variability was found among the pomegranate genotypes studied. The fruit ripening time in most of the studied genotypes was late. Fruit weight varied widely between 106.60 g and 496.91 g with an average of 272.78 g. Furthermore, 100 arils fresh weight ranged from 24.49 g to 51.32 g. Seven genotypes were determined as real soft-seed and are suitable in this important trait to be used for cultivation and/or in breeding programs for decreasing seed hardness in the commercial pomegranates. Fruit weight was positively correlated with fruit length, fruit width, fruit crown length, fruit crown diameter, fruit peel thickness, 100 arils fresh weight, and aril juice. Referring to the characters related to fruit quality, the genotypes 'Saveh-69', 'Saveh-39', 'Saveh-36', 'Saveh-21', 'Saveh-41', 'Saveh-4', 'Saveh-83', 'Saveh-29', 'Saveh-2', 'Saveh-40', 'Saveh-35', 'Saveh-68', 'Saveh-15', 'Saveh-16', 'Saveh-71', 'Saveh-51', 'Saveh-50', and 'Saveh-58' seem to be the most promising for fresh consumption since they are characterized by high fruit quality including soft seed with low acidity and high TSS contents.