Pomegranate Cultivation in Mediterranean Climate: Plant Adaptation and Fruit Quality of ‘Mollar de Elche’ and ‘Wonderful’ Cultivars

Abstract

Two pomegranate cultivars, Mollar de Elche, native to Spain, and Wonderful, the most widely cultivated pomegranate variety in the world, were studied in a commercial orchard in Sicily, and their phenological behavior was compared. During the development of the fruit, their dimensional growth was monitored, and after harvest, physicochemical and sensory analyses were carried out to highlight the differences between fruit of the two cultivars. Results showed that Mollar de Elche fruit require less time from flowering to fruit maturity, resulting in an earlier harvest, which was due also to a higher relative growth rate of the fruit’s diameters. On the other hand, physicochemical analyses confirmed that Wonderful is the variety that is most appealing for fresh produce consumers due to its intense coloring. However, Mollar de Elche showed economically desirable characteristics such as a good softness of the seed. Moreover, sensory analysis showed that fruit of the cv. Mollar de Elche was found to have a sweeter taste of both arils and juice.

Effects of Argon-Based and Nitrogen-Based Modified Atmosphere Packaging Technology on the Quality of Pomegranate (Punica granatum L. cv. Wonderful) Arils

“…Pomegranate fruit (Punica granatum L.) cv. Wonderful was ripening stage when they were found to belong to category B2, color analysis, in the classification of Holland and Bar-Ya'akov farm located in Naro (37°17′14.0″ N 13°47′30.1″ E), province of A tivar was chosen, as the most widely cultivated in Sicily and one Europe, for the characteristics of its arils, which fit minimally p [38][39][40][41]. After harvest, the fruit was transferred to the post-har cessed within 24 h. Fruit that did not present visible physical def ilized water, and arils were extracted manually with a curved k rinated water and 3% citric acid for 2 min.…”

Relationship among Sugars, Organic Acids, Mineral Composition, and Chilling Injury Sensitivity on Six Pomegranate Cultivars Stored at 2 °C

“…‘Wonderful’, for instance, is known for its intense red color in peel and arils and it is particularly popular among pomegranate consumers. On the other hand, ‘Mollar de Elche’ has high quality desirable traits, including soft seeds and sweet aril taste, although the skin and aril colors are pale red [ 4 ].…”

Impact Assessment of Pomegranate Cultivation Using Reclaimed Wastewater

“…The intraspecific variability is very high: more than 500 subspecies of pomegranate have been counted in the world. Nevertheless, the main cultivars now widespread in the world thanks to their agronomic and organoleptic characteristics of the fruit are the 'Wonderful' of American origin, and "Mollar de Elche", native of Spain (Tinebra et al, 2021). From a commercial point of view, the pomegranate fruits are divided into three types mainly based on the taste, such as: sweet, bitter-sweet and acidic.…”