Genetic, Biochemical, Nutritional and Antimicrobial Characteristics of Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Grown in Istria

Abstract

This study characterises the genetic variability of local pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) germplasm from the Slovenian and Croatian areas of Istria. The bioactive components and antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of ethanol and water extracts of different parts of pomegranate fruit were also determined, along with their preliminary nutritional characterisation. Twenty-six different genotypes identified with microsatellite analysis indicate the great diversity of pomegranate in Istria. The pomegranate fruit ethanol extracts represent rich sources of phenolic compounds (mean value of the mass fraction in exocarp and mesocarp expressed as gallic acid is 23 and 16 mg/g, respectively). The ethanol extracts of pomegranate exocarp and mesocarp showed the greatest antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Exophiala dermatitidis and Staphylococcus aureus, and the same water extracts against S. aureus and Escherichia coli. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first report of the characterisation of pomegranate genetic resources from Istria at different levels, including the molecular, chemical, antimicrobial and nutritional properties.

Keywords: Punica granatum L.; antimicrobial and antifungal activity; bioactive components; genetic characteristics.

Fig. 1

Dendrogram constructed according to the unweighted pair-group method on the basis of the microsatellite data and the calculated Jaccard’s similarity coefficients among the 35 pomegranate genotypes, *genotypes included in the chemical and microbiological analyses

Fig. 2

Total content of: a and b) phenolic compounds, and c and d) antioxidant potential of: a and c) ethanol, and b and d) water extracts of the eight pomegranate samples (Table 1) from Istria. A, B, C, D, E, F=different genotypes (Fig. 1)