Physiochemical Characteristics and Antioxidant Activity of a Locally Manufactured Pomegranate Fruit Juice in North Cyprus

Phytochemical and antioxidant properties of pomegranate juice PJ produced from the Wonderful pomegranate cultivar (Punica granatum L.) grown locally in North Cyprus was undertaken. The objective of this research study was to determine the biologically active components present, antioxidant activity, total anthocyanin content etc. of PJ and compare it with the unprocessed Pomegranate fruit juice PF. Antioxidant activity of both samples was determined using the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay while pH differential method was used to determine the anthocyanin content. Results obtained from the qualitative phytochemical screening of locally manufactured PJ confirmed the presence of several phytochemicals such as; tannin, phenol, saponin, flavonoids, in our sample. The pH of the juice increased only slightly when compared to the unprocessed juice with both samples having similar results for titratable acid. Antioxidant activity of PJ was high (94.60%) though slightly lower than that of the PF (95.20%) which shows that PJ possess good antioxidant activity. Total anthocyanin content (10.12 mg cyanidin-3-glucoside / 100 g), flavonoid (58.52 mg quercetin/ 100 g) and calcium (27.81 mg/kg) content was found to be higher in the PJ than the fruit (2.46 mg cyanidin-3-glucoside/ 100 g; 53.44 mg quercetin/ 100 g and 12.46 mg/kg) while the Vitamin C (67.30 mg/kg), total sugar (148.46 g/kg) and potassium (250.04 mg/100g) content was higher in the fruit than the juice (18.70 mg/kg; 139.24 g/kg and 236.14 mg/100g). Keywords: antioxidant activity, pomegranate, phytochemical screening, colour, anthocyanins