Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Besides the use of juice, pomegranate contributes a
unique flavor to many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern
cuisines such as the Iranian
fessenjan
(Stover and Mercure,
2007).
juice is about 1.03-1.13%, showing a diminutive range (Al-
Maiman and Ahmad, 2002; Kulkarni and Aradhya, 2005),
indicating that pomegranate fruit contains a very low level
of protein compared to other fruits. The amount of total
sugars is 11.43-20.50 mg/100 mg (Melgarejo et al., 2000;
Dafny-Yalin et al., 2010), with fructose and glucose be-
ing the most prevalent sugars, followed by trace amounts
of maltose, sucrose, mannitol (Table 27.2), and arabinose
(Hulme, 1970).
By-product utilization
A chemical extraction of phytochemical compounds used
for nutritional and pharmacological fields is possible from
pomegranate. The rind contains about 30% tannin, usable in
medicinal and dye industries (Pekmezci and Erkan, 2010).
Ellagitanins may be used in dietetic formulation as antiox-
idants; enzymes and pectins derived from pomegranates
may be utilized for different applications in the food indus-
try (Borgese and Massini, 2007). Pomegranate seeds as a
by-product of juice processing can be used for oil extraction
and for animal food.
Organic acids
The total organic acid content in pomegranate juice shows
a very large variation with a range of 212 to 3959 mg/100 g
(Aarabi et al., 2008). The individual organic acids found
in pomegranate are as follows (Table 27.3): ascorbic acid,
acetic acid, citric acid, fumaric acid, maleic acid, malic
acid, oxalic acid, pyruvic acid, shikimik, succinic acid, tar-
taric acid, and (
)- Quinic acid (Poyrazoglu et al., 2002;
Miguel et al., 2006; Aarabi et al., 2008). Citric acid is the
predominant organic acid, followed by malic, tartaric, suc-
cinic acid, and the others. Individual organic acid composi-
tion is strongly variety dependent; moreover, some organic
acids are undetectable in some varieties.
−
NUTRITIONAL PROFILE AND HEALTH
BENEFITS
Nutrient composition
Nutritional composition of pomegranates somewhat varies
depending on the cultivars, soil, climate, and region. The
juice from the arils (75% juice plus 22% seed) com-
prises approximately 85% water (Table 27.2), a consid-
erable amount of SSC, total sugars, reducing sugars, antho-
cyanins, phenolics, ascorbic acid and proteins, and antiox-
idants (Kulkarni and Aradhya, 2005).
The SSC of ripe pomegranate fruit juice is in the range
of 8.3 to 20.50
◦
Brix, and TA is between 0.13 and 4.98% at
harvest (Kupper, 1995) (Table 27.2). TA is less than 1% in
sweet cultivars, 1-2% in sweet-sour cultivars, and over 2%
in sour cultivars (Onur and Kaska, 1985). Protein content of
Antioxidant activity, vitamin C, and anthocyanins
Antioxidant activity of pomegranate juice measured as
trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), ferric re-
ducing ability of plasma (FRAP), vitamin C equivalent, or
percentage inhibition shows significant differences among
varieties, and so do the total and individual anthocyanin
levels (Artes et al., 1998, 2000; Drogoudi et al., 2005;
Kulkarni and Aradhya, 2005; Ozgen et al., 2008; D'Aquino
et al., 2010; Weerakkody et al., 2010) (Table 27.4). The
Table 27.2.
Physicochemical composition of pomegranate juice.
Parameters (unit)
Value
Reference
Moisture (%)
83.65
Al-Maiman and Ahmad (2002)
pH
2.98-4.50
Poyrazoglu et al. (2002); Ozgen et al. (2008)
SSC (%)
8.30-20.50
Kupper (1995)
TA (%)
0.13-4.98
Kupper (1995)
Protein (g/100 g)
1.03-1.13
Al-Maiman and Ahmad (2002); Kulkarni and Aradhya (2005)
Total sugars (g/100 g)
11.43-20.50
Melgarejo et al. (2000); Dafny-Yalin et al. (2010)
Glucose (g/100 g)
4.80-7.72
Al-Maiman and Ahmad (2002); Dafny-Yalin et al. (2010)
Fructose (g/100 g)
4.80-8.60
Mirdehghan et al. (2006); Dafny-Yalin et al. (2010)
Maltose (g/100 g)
0.02-0.17
Melgarajo et al. (2000); Dafny-Yalin et al. (2010)
Sucrose (g/100 g)
0.01-0.04
Melgarejo et al. (2000); Ozgen et al. (2008)
Mannitol (g/100 g)
0.05-0.32
Dafny-Yalin et al. (2010)
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