Physicochemical and descriptive sensory characterization of Spanish pomegranates: aptitudes for processing and fresh consumption

Pomegranate fruit and its products are being widely promoted to consumers as healthy alternatives for their daily diet. The aim was to study the main sensory differences among twenty pomegranate cultivars, determining which cultivars have particular flavour or texture notes that could make them more appropriate for fresh consumption or processing. Four clusters grouped all samples, two of them included sour cultivars and two of them included sweet and sweet-sour cultivars. Cluster 1 (sour) was characterized by having floral, apple, and grape flavour notes and also producing a tongue numbing sensation. Cluster 2 (sour), which included the Wonderful cultivar, had samples with wine-like attributes. Clusters 3 and 4 (sweet and sour-sweet) were characterized by having overall sweet, pear and grape notes for cluster 3, and beet, fruity-dark, fermented, musty and woody flavour for cluster 4.