Physico-chemical characteristics of main pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cultivars grown in Dalmatia region of Croatia

Consumers are increasingly expecting the fruits to be tasty and attractive while being safe and healthful. We determined the external and internal fruit quality properties of main pomegranate cultivars widely grown in Croatia. Of the three cultivars, 'Pastun' produced the biggest fruits (460 g) followed by 'Konjski zub' as 309 g and 'Ciparski' as 341 g. Cultivars exhibited a range of flavor (from sour to sweet) and acidity (0.9 to 4.3% in juice). Aril colour of 'Ciparski' and 'Pastun' were red while 'Konjski zub' had light pink aril colour. 'Pastun' had the highest soluble solids and acidity in both fruit juice and peel. 'Ciparski' was in high for total anthocyanins content (12.8 mg of cyanidin-3,5-diglucoside equivalents per 100 g of fresh mass) while 'Pastun' is high for total phenolics content (144.7 mg gallic acid equivalent per 100 g fresh mass) in juice. Our results indicated that there were important quality differences among pomegranate cultivars grown in Croatia.