Pomegranate - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 515

Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan has a very large collection of pomegranate in
Garygala in terms of size, variability, and geographical lo-
cation (Levin, 2006). The Turkmen varieties are classified
by size, flavor, skin color, aril color, seed softness, produc-
tivity, tendency to split and to diseases, postharvest perfor-
mance, sugar content, juice content, and time of ripening
(Levin, 2006; Holland et al., 2009). Recently, some of the
Turkmen cultivars have been exported to Israel and the
United States.

fruits are harvested between 135 and 150 days after fruit
set, depending on the varieties (Yilmaz, 2007).
Harvest season lasts almost a month, with an interval
of 6-7 days, equaling four times per harvest season. In
Israel, 'Wonderful' is harvested when soluble solids reach
15% (Morton 1987), while in California, titratable acidity
is less than 1.85% at harvest, and the color is darker than
established reference (Kader, 2006).
Care must be taken when harvesting and handling the
fruit since most new varieties have finer and delicate skin
that is susceptible to bruising if handled inappropriately.
Pomegranates should be harvested by clippers and placed
gently into picking bags, then transferred to harvest bins
destined for the packinghouse, where pomegranates are
separated according to the severity of physical or any other
type of defects (Kader, 2006). The mildly defected fruit
may be used for processing into juice, and those with very
slight or no defects are marketed fresh. For the fresh mar-
ket, pomegranates are washed, size-graded, and packed in
shipping containers after treatment with fungicide or wax
(Kader, 2006). A packing application that reduces or pre-
vents bruising and scuffing and allows rapid precooling
should be applied (Kader, 2006).

United States
A small number of cultivars are grown in the United States.
'Wonderful' is the major cultivar, which is widely culti-
vated in California, and possesses a large fruit with red arils,
sweet-sour taste, and semi-hard seed (Holland et al., 2009).
Other cultivars of much less commercial significance in-
clude 'Ambrosia,' 'Eversweet,' 'Granada,' 'Red Silk,' and
'Sweet Pomegranate' (CRFG, 1997).

Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Cyprus, Portugal,
Vietnam, and Australia
Very little information is available from these countries.
'Ahmar,' 'Aswad,' and 'Halwa' cultivars are produced in
Iraq (Morton, 1987); 'Malissi' and 'Ras el Baghl' in Pales-
tine (Morton, 1987); 'Mangulati' (Morton, 1987) and 'Taifi'
(Al-Maiaman and Ahmad, 2002) in Saudi Arabia; 'Red
Loufani,' 'Malisi,' and 'Ras el Baghl' in Syria (Yilmaz,
2007); Hicaznar,' 'Chocolate,' 'Sotirkatice,' and 'Ftanofli'
in Cyprus (Yilmaz, 2007); 'De Javita,' 'Mollar de Alca-
nar,' 'Asseria,' and 'Mollar de Elche' in Portugal (Yilmaz,
2007); ' Vietnamase' in Vietnam (Holland et al., 2009); and
Wonderful' in Australia (Weerakkody et al., 2010).

Standards of quality
Fruit quality depends mainly on sugar and acid ratio of
the juice along with size and skin color (Kader, 2006).
Additionally, a high-quality pomegranate fruit should carry
an attractive rind, small or soft seeds in the aril, and be
free from sunburn, cracks and splitting, cuts, bruises, and
decay. Rind color and smoothness are other external quality
criteria; sweet pomegranates have yellowish-green skin,
while sour or sour-sweet ones have reddish skin (Pekmezci
and Erkan, 2010). Aril color intensity and uniformity are
also important internal quality indices (Kader, 2006). Fruit
firmness for 'Mollar de Elche' should be around 14-16 N
at the time of harvest (Mirdehghan et al., 2007a, 2007b).
No US grades exist for pomegranate; fruit are mostly
graded according to weight and packed in a single layer
with the tops not usually covered by lids.
According to Turkish standards, pomegranates can be
categorized into four groups based on size: small (150-200
g, 65-74 mm diameter, 25-34 fruit/5-kg carton), medium
(201-300 g, 75-84 mm diameter, 17-25 fruit/5-kg carton),
large (301-400 g, 85-94 mm diameter, 13-17 fruit/5-kg
carton), and extra large (401-500 g, 94-104 mm diameter,
10-13 fruit/5-kg carton) (Pekmezci and Erkan, 2010).
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC, 2009)
describes standards entailing quality aspects related
to pomegranate fruit size, safety, and labeling. These

Harvest
Some pomegranate plants grown from seedlings may bear
flowers in their first year, and the plants bear fruit in their
second year (Holland et al., 2009). Fruits, however, are har-
vested in the third year, when a tree bears approximately
50-60 fruits, depending on the cultivar. In the fourth and
fifth year, the fruit number increases to about 80 to 100,
finally reaching up to 120-150 during the sixth year on-
ward (Anon, 2010). Since pomegranates are nonclimacteric
fruits, they should be harvested when fully ripe. The calyx
at the distal end of the fruit closes and the skin indents
slightly when the fruit is ripe (Anon, 2010). While fruit can
mature at different stages due to the extended bloom, most