Physicochemical and antioxidant characteristics in fruits of soft-seeded pomegranate cultivars

Seed softness in pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is an important factor affecting fruit marketability. In order to promote the breeding and utilisation of soft-seeded pomegranate resources, it is necessary to characterize soft-seeded pomegranates which allows to identify cultivars that possess high qualities and could be used in the breeding programs and market acceptability. The aim of this study was to evaluate physical parameters (fruit characteristics: weight, size, pericarp thickness; aril and seed properties: one-hundred aril weight, size, aril yield, juice yield, seed hardness), chemical composition (TSS, dry mass, carbohydrates, acidity, bioactive compounds), and in vitro antioxidant activity (determined by DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, ·OH and O₂^·− scavenging activity) in eight soft-seeded pomegranate cultivars. Results showed that eight cultivars bear medium-size fruits. Both aril weight and aril yield were poorly correlated with fruit weight determined by ANOVA followed by Duncan test. Juice yield varied from 80.87 to 88.29%, with no significant differences among cultivars. TSS content of fruits was more than 14% while titratable acidity content was less than 1%. Antioxidative compounds including vitamin C, anthocyanins, flavonoids, and polyphenols were varied significantly among cultivars. Physicochemical data similarity assessed by ANOSIM indicated significant differences in data distribution between pomegranate cultivars. ‘Parfianka’, ‘Sharp Velvet’, and ‘Sweet’ were elite soft-seeded cultivars evaluated by Entropy-based TOPSIS method. ‘Parfianka’ was notably characterised by a high content of vitamin C, and ‘Sharp Velvet’ and ‘Sweet’ were distinguished by their high content of flavonoids and polyphenols. It was total polyphenol content rather than vitamin C, total anthocyanins, and total flavonoids content contributed to DPPH and ABTS scavenging activities.