Effect of extraction process and storage time on the quality attributes of pomegranate juice of two local pomegranate varieties

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of two extraction processes (squeezing the whole fruit and centrifuging the seeds) of pomegranate juice and storage on sweet and sour pomegranate quality attributes. The pH, acidity, and levels of organic acids, sugars and anthocyanin differed in both varieties and changed during the storage period. Fructose and glucose were the primary sugars, and citric acid was the dominant organic acid in the juice of both cultivars. A high level of established anthocyanin content was 15.40, 18.53, 18.03, 16.92, 16,68 and 15.47 mg/L when the storage period was 0, 5, 15, 32, 48 and 72 h, respectively, in the juice of sweet fruits obtained by squeezing the whole fruit. The juice prepared from the sweet fruits by squeezing method outscored, in all sensory quality attributes, the juice prepared by centrifuging process.