INFLUENCE OF CULTIVAR, MATURITY STAGE AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION ON THE JUICE PIGMENTATION OF TUNISIAN POMEGRANATES

The anthocyanin pigmentaion of the juices obtained from six Tunisian p omegranate cultivars harvested at commercial maturity was studied by H PLC. The anthocyanin content in the juice ranged between 6 mu g/ml and 120 mu g/ml. Six anthocyanins, namely the 3-O-glucosides and the 3,5- diglucosides of pelargonidin, cyanidin and delphinidin, were detected in all samples. Differences in the relative amounts of each anthocyani n were found for the different cultivars. The total amount of anthocya nin pigmentation of pomegranate juice was largely affected by the vari ety, the maturation stage and the geographical location of the fruit, but the anthocyanin profile remained quite stable under the different conditions. The anthocyanin profile constituted by the six pigments se ems to be identical to those reported previously for Californian, Span ish and Italian pomegranates, and only differences in the relative amo unts of the individual anthocyanins could be related to the variety an d other climatic and cultural variables. These data suggest that the H PLC anthocyanin profile of pomegranate juice could be used as an adjun ct in its analytical characterization, and in the differentiation with other anthocyanin-containing juices in food authenticity studies.