The physico-chemical characteristics of Morrocan pomegranate and evaluation of the antioxidant activity for their juices

The characteristics of pomegranate cultivars is important not only to put in evidence the diversity of varieties, but also to meet current market demand for quality fruits. The study was performed on a pomegranate collection from the National Institute for Agricultural Research experimental station, in a semi-arid climate. The aim of the current work was to study the morphological and biochemical characteristics and antioxidant capacity of eighteen pomegranate cultivars grown in Morocco. The results of fruit weight, aril percentage, seed percentage, and skin percentage were between 206.6-506.67 g, 56.45-69.41%, 9.36-18.56%, 22.09-42.60% respectively. This study showed that there were significant variations among the investigated cultivars for all measured parameters except aril length and seed weight. However, the results displayed that the values of total phenolic content varied from 1384.85 to 9476.32 mg GAE/L for local cultivars and from 1284.42 to 8295 mg GAE/L for foreign cultivars. These cultivars showed a high antioxidant capacity as high as 4577.12 ± 29.73 mg L−1 juice and correlated with high phenol content. The result of morphological characteristics and chemical properties implies the great potential of pomegranate grown in Morocco for both fresh consumption and fruit processing. Additionally, the 'Grenade jaune', 'Chioukh' and 'Gordo de Jativa' cultivars are suitable for the production of juices because of its high phenolic compositions.