Growing Location Affects Physical Properties, Bioactive Compounds, and Antioxidant Activity of Pomegranate Fruit (Punica granatum L. var. Gabsi)

Figures & data

Figure 1. Climatic data of the three studied regions: (a) Temperature, (b) Rainfall, (c) Relative humidity (RH)

Table 1. Physical properties of pomegranate fruits var “Gabsi” from different regions

		Regions
Determinations	ANOVA^Ϯ	Zerkine (South)	Chott-Mariem (Center)	Testour (North)
Fruit weight (g)	NS	428.13 ± 20.88 ^a	479.69 ± 18.19 ^a	468.55 ± 8.25 ^a
Fruit height (mm)	NS	83.51 ± 1.41 ^a	88.34 ± 1.63 ^a	85.21 ± 0.87 ^a
Fruit diameter (mm)	NS	94.76 ± 1.62 ^a	97.33 ± 1.50 ^a	97.92 ± 1.75 ^a
Firmness (kg cm^−2)	**	4.45 ± 0.17 ^a	3.50 ± 0.12 ^b	4.29 ± 0.17 ^a
Skin weight (g)	**	230.1 ± 10.2 ^a	175.40 ± 6.2 ^b	220.5 ± 9.5 ^a
Skin thikness (mm)	**	4.7 ± 0.2 ^a	3.05 ± 0.17 ^c	3.88 ± 0.20 ^b
Aril yield (%)	**	45.02 ± 2.63 ^c	62.74 ± 2.17 ^a	52.65 ± 2.36 ^b
Juice yield (mL/100 g of arils)	**	74.05 ± 0.55 ^b	79.73 ± 0.41 ^a	74.27 ± 0.84 ^b

^ϮNS: not significant at p < 0.05; ** significant at p < 0.01. ^‡ Values (mean ± standard error of 20 replications) followed by the same uppercase letter, within the same determination, were not significantly different (p < 0.05), Duncan’s least significant difference test.

Table 2. Changes in visual and CIE L*a*b* color coordinates of pomegranate fruits according to region

		Regions
Determinations	ANOVA^Ϯ	Zerkine (South)	Chott-Mariem (Center)	Testour (North)
Visual fruit color	**	14.75 ± 0.42 ^a	13.09 ± 0.57 ^b	13.73 ± 0.67 ^a
Visual fruit color	**	Red	Light pink reddish	Pink reddish
L* fruit	**	46.23 ± 1.03 ^b	47.18 ± 1.88 ^b	54.88 ± 1.75 ^a
a* fruit	**	41.43 ± 0.97 ^a	37.49 ± 1.81 ^b	41.10 ± 1.76 ^a
b* fruit	**	37.02 ± 0.81 ^b	42.36 ± 1.90 ^a	37.41 ± 0.65 ^b
C fruit	NS	55.81 ± 0.71 ^a	57.17 ± 1.78 ^a	56.19 ± 0.90 ^a
H fruit	**	41.89 ± 1.13 ^b	48.52 ± 2.02 ^a	42.98 ± 1.81 ^b

^ϮNS: not significant at p < 0.05; ** significant at p < 0.01. ^‡ Values (mean ± standard error of 20 replications) followed by the same uppercase letter, within the same determination, were not significantly different (p < 0.05), Duncan’s least significant difference test.

Figure 2. Variation of total phenolic (mg GAE 100 mL⁻¹), flavonoid (mg catechin 100 mL⁻¹) and anthocyanin (mg cyanidin-3-glucoside L⁻¹) contents according to region. Different letters, for each determination, indicate significant differences among regions at P < .05 level

Figure 3. Variation of total antioxidant activity (ABTS, FRAP, and DPPH) in pomegranate juice var ‘Gabsi’ according to region. Different letters, for each method, indicate significant differences among regions at P < .05

Table 3. Variation of mineral content in pomegranate juice var ‘Gabsi’ according to region

		Regions
Element	ANOVA^Ϯ	Zerkine (South)	Chott-Mariem (Center)	Testour (North)
K (mg L^−1)	NS	2089 ± 71 ^a‡	2175 ± 19 ^a	2129 ± 17^a
Mg (mg L^−1)	**	81.25 ± 1.98 ^a	82.50 ± 0.54 ^a	73.32 ± 1.52 ^b
Ca (mg L^−1)	**	3.28 ± 0.60 ^a	2.13 ± 0.03 ^b	2.43 ± 0.11 ^b
Na (mg L^−1)	**	65.01 ± 2.56 ^a	64.78 ± 1.82 ^a	48.79 ± 3.75 ^b
Zn (mg L^−1)	**	0.39 ± 0.01 ^b	0.72 ± 0.02 ^a	0.71 ± 0.03 ^a
Mn (mg L^−1)	**	0.39 ± 0.01 ^c	0.49 ± 0.01 ^a	0.42 ± 0.00 ^b
Cu (mg L^−1)	**	0.39 ± 0.01 ^b	0.72 ± 0.02 ^a	0.71 ± 0.03 ^a

^ϮNS: not significant at p < 0.05; ** significant at p < 0.01. ^‡ Values (mean ± standard error of 20 replications) followed by the same uppercase letter, were not significantly different (p < 0.05), Duncan’s least significant difference test.

Figure 4. Plot of the first and second principal components resulting from a PCA based on physical and nutritional properties of pomegranate fruits var ‘Gabsi’ from different regions

Table 4. Relationship between climatic parameters (temperature, rainfall, relative humidity), physical and nutritional properties

Temp	1
Rainfall	−.938	1
RH	−.987	.981	1
TAC	−.884	.668	.799	1
TPC	−.995	.898	.966	.927	1
Mg	.935	−.754	−.866	−.993	−.966	1
Na	.975	−.837	−.927	−.966	−.992	.990	1
FRAP	−.958	.998*	.992	.715	.925	−.794	−.870	1
DPPH	−.867	.986	.935	.534	.812	−.633	−.734	.973	1
	Temp	Rainfall	RH	TAC	TPC	Mg	Na	FRAP	DPPH

Temp: Temperature. RH: Relative humidity; TAC: Total anthocyanin content; TPC: Total phenolic content; Mg: Magnesium; Na: Sodium.