Fruit quality attributes of a new Spanish pomegranate cultivar at harvest and during cold storage

Abstract

A new hybrid pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cultivar, named provisionally as ‘H628’, was obtained in the Elche Agricultural Experiment Station (Alicante, Spain) by crossbreeding ‘Mollar de Elche’ and ‘Wonderful’ cultivars. Physico-chemical, sensory and nutritional quality of these three cultivars were evaluated at harvest and after two storage periods of 8 and 16 weeks at 5°C followed by 1 week at 20°C simulating shelf life. Weight loss increased with storage time and no differences were observed among cultivars. At harvest, the values of soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA) and maturity index of the new hybrid were between those of ’Mollar de Elche’ and ‘Wonderful’. However, no differences were observed between the new hybrid and ‘Mollar de Elche’ during storage. Sensory quality evaluation by trained panelists showed no significant differences between the new cultivar and ’Mollar de Elche’, which was better evaluated than ‘Wonderful’. On the other hand, rind color of ‘H628’ pomegranates was similar to that of ‘Wonderful’, with higher a* (red) and lower b* (yellow) values than those of ‘Mollar de Elche’. Values of L*, a* and b* of the juice of ‘H628’ pomegranates were in a range between those of the other two cultivars. Similarly, anthocyanin content, total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were higher in ‘Wonderful’ than in ‘H628’ pomegranates, although total anthocyanin and phenolic contents were five and two times higher, respectively, in the latter than in ‘Mollar de Elche’ pomegranates. For all cultivars, the most abundant anthocyanin at harvest and during cold storage was cyanidin 3,5-diglucoside. In general, irrespective of the cultivar, a slight decrease was observed at the end of the storage period for total anthocyanin content and antioxidant activity, but not for total phenolic content. Overall, the new hybrid cultivar ‘H628’ showed excellent sensory characteristics with intense peel red coloration and high nutritional quality.