Composition of Pomegranate Juice

A database of 793 commercial pomegranate juices was analyzed to produce a profile for authentication of pure pomegranate juice. The database consisted of data from a mix of authentic and adulterated samples. Statistical tools were used to reduce the database to a stable sample set of 477 presumably authentic samples. The profile obtained (mean, SD at 16 Brix) are as follows: fructose (g/100 g) 6.83, 0.50; glucose (g/100 g) 6.66, 0.44; sucrose (g/100 g) 0.00, 0.00; sorbitol (g/100 g) 0.00, 0.01; acidity (g/100 g as citric acid) 1.25, 0.32; citric acid (g/100 g) 1.19, 0.30; malic acid (g/100 g) 0.065, 0.034; tartaric acid (g/100 g) 0.00, 0.00; isocitric acid (mg/kg) 63, 21; potassium (mg/kg) 2320, 400; proline (mg/kg) 7, 5; formal value [milliequivalents/100 g] 1.00, 0.24; 13C/12C ratio [o/oo Pee Dee belemnite]-26.4, 0.8. The profile samples had a consistent anthocyanin pattern consisting of four major peaks corresponding to delphinidin-3,5-diglucoside, delphinidin-3-glucoside, cyanidin-3,5-diglucoside, and cyanidin-3-glucoside. Minor peaks corresponding to pelargonidin-3,5-diglucoside and pelargonidin-3-glucoside were also generally present. No maltose, D-malic acid, or tartaric acid were detected in any of the samples. The profile obtained corresponds closely with previously published data.