Morphological and physicochemical characteristics of three pomegranate cultivars (Punica granatumL.) grown in northern Algeria

Abstract

Introduction. In northern Algeria, various pomegranate cultivars (Punica granatum L.) are produced in the region of Mitidja. However, to date, no study has been published on the characteristics of the locally grown cultivars. The objective of the present study was to investigate the morphological and physicochemical characteristics of the fruit of three local pomegranate cultivars. Materials and methods. Our study focused on a comparison of the cultivars 'Doux de Koléa', 'Doux de Messaad' and 'Bordj Mira 11', obtained at harvest maturity from the Experimental Station of the ITAFV in the village of Boufarik in the southwest of Algiers, October 2013. A morphological characterization of the fruit, peel and arils was carried out. Some physicochemical characteristics of the juice, including the total soluble solids, pH, acidity, maturity index, total sugar and juice yield, were assessed. Results and discussion. Fruit weight ranged from 194 to 297 g and aril weight from 270 to 280 mg. Similarly, the peel thickness of the fruit ranged between 2.50 and 3.00 mm, while the pH recorded was 3.84−4.60. Total soluble solids ranged from 12.87 to 18.64 • Brix and titratable acidity ranged between 0.31 g 100 mL −1 and 0.50 g 100 mL −1 in pomegranate juices. Vitamin C and total soluble sugar contents were in the range of 9.08−15.74 and 11.33−16.33 g 100 mL −1 , respectively. The comparison of our results with other studies reveals that Algerian pomegranate fruit has juice and peel physicochemical characteristics that could play a valuable role in people's diet and health. Conclusion. This work provides original data about the composition of pomegranate fruit from Algeria (vitamin C, protein, total sugar content, etc.). It demonstrates that indigenous cultivars can be a good source of different nutrients for the local population. Keywords: Algeria / pomegranate / Punica granatum / indigenous cultivars / morphological characteristics / physicochemical characteristics / fruit juice Résumé-Caractéristiques morphologiques et physico-chimiques de trois cultivars de grenade (Punica granatum L.) du nord de l'Algérie. Introduction. Plusieurs cultivars de grenade (Punica granatum L.) sont utilisés en production au nord de l'Algérie et en particulier dans la région de Mitidja. Cependant à ce jour aucune étude n'a été publiée sur les caractéristiques de ces cultivars. L'objectif de cette étude est d'étudier les caractéristiques morphologiques et physico-chimiques des fruits de trois de ces cultivars de grenade cultivés localement. Matériel et méthodes. Notre étude a porté sur la comparaison des fruits des cvs 'Doux de Koléa', 'Doux de Messaad' et 'Bordj Mira 11' récoltés au stade de maturité dans la station expérimentale de l'ITAFV, dans le village de Boufarik au sud-ouest d'Alger, en octobre 2013. La caractérisation morphologique des fruits, écorces et arilles, a été réalisée. Les caractéristiques physico-chimiques du jus de ces fruits ont été évaluées : les solides solubles totaux, le pH, l'acidité, l'indice de maturité, les sucres totaux, ...

Investigation on the chemical properties of some pomegranate cultivars (Punica granatum L.) grown in the Messaad Algerian arid region under drip irrigation

“…The TA content, which varies between 0.30 (KH1) and 0.53 (HM1) g citric acid/L, is similar to values reported with Spanish varieties such as PTO4 (0.30), Indian cultivars such as Ganesh (0.39), Bhagwa (0.36) and various ones from South Africa, Croatia, Tunisia, Algeria, Greece and China (subtropical monsoon climate) (Drogoudi et al, 2005;Radunić et al, 2011;Chandra et al, 2012;Mir et al, 2012;Hernández et al, 2014;Meziane et al, 2016;Liu et al, 2023). However, previous studies have shown that the TA of some local Moroccan varieties, ranging from 2.14 to 4.71 g/L, is higher than those reported in this study (Legua et al, 2011;Martínez et al, 2012).…”

“…As shown in Table 2, The pH value obtained for KH1 and HM1 is higher than some reported for Spanish, South African, Omani, Moroccan, Tunisian, Indian, Turkian, Iranian, Egyptian, Pakistani, Georgian pomegranate cultivars (Tehranifar et al, 2010;Ozlekci et al, 2011;Gadže et al, 2012;Caliskan & Bayazit, 2013;Ismail et al, 2014;Zaouay et al, 2014;Fernandes et al, 2017;Hota & Dahiya, 2017;Boussaa et al, 2018;Hmid et al, 2018;Usman et al, 2018;Díaz-Perez et al, 2019;Sassi et al, 2020;Meena et al, 2021;El Moujahed et al, 2022), while the pH value obtained for SL1 is closer to the values recorded on some Moroccan varieties such as "Jaune Marrakech" (Legua et al, 2011;Martínez et al, 2012), on Algerian cultivar "Doux de Koléa" (Meziane et al, 2016), on some Indian varieties such as Ganesh and Bhagwa (Hota & Dahiya, 2017) and on some pomegranate cultivars grown in Georgia (Díaz-Perez et al, 2019). Alcaraz-Mármol et al (2017) registered a higher pH than the reported values in the range of 6.02 to 6.78 for cultivars grown in Spain such as Mollar de Elche, Mollar de Orihuela and Valenciana de Albatera.…”

Morphometric Characterization and Identification of Some Varieties of Pomegranate (Punica granatum) in the Wilaya of Tlemcen

“…As for its width it varied from 0.101cm in the region of Remchi to 0.118cm in the region of Fellaoucene. The weight of the fruit varied from 203.2g in the region of Ghazaouet to 357g in the region of Remchi, which is slightly bigger than the average according to Martinez et al 2006, and bigger than previous similar studies (Zoubida Kaci Meziane et al 2016). Overall, there is a difference in the morphological characteristics between the individuals of the pomegranate at the level of the regions studied.…”