# Assessment of Minerals, Bioactive Compounds, and Antioxidant Activity of Ten Moroccan Pomegranate Cultivars

Authors: Sarah Loukhmas; Ebrahim Kerak; Meriem Outaki; Majdouline Belaqziz; Hasnaâ Harrak
Journal: Journal of Food Quality
 (2020)

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## Abstract

The attractiveness of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is increasing worldwide among producers and consumers. Depending on its characteristics, the pomegranate may be intended for fresh consumption, for industrial processing, or for medical purposes. This study aims to assess the variability in terms of mineral content and biochemical properties of ten selected pomegranate cultivars grown in the center of Morocco to better know their fruit potential. Mineral composition, organic acids, total polyphenols, anthocyanins content, individual phenolic compounds, and antioxidant activity were determined in pomegranate juices. Results showed significant differences between cultivars. The sour cultivar “Lhamdha” is rich in organic acids, gallagyl esters, and ellagitannins and showed high antioxidant activity. It could therefore be used as a source for nutraceutical substances. The cultivar “Sefri” of Lalla Takerkoust showed important content of mineral elements, especially iodine (I), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), and silver (Ag). The cultivars “Sefri” of Ouled Abdellah, “Sefri” of Beni Meskine, “Lahmer,” and “Marrakchia” are suitable for production of fresh pomegranate juice with high potential of health benefits. In fact, they are rich in anthocyanins, polyphenols, and oxalic and ascorbic acids and they presented high antioxidant activity. While the cultivars “Sefri” of Sour Laaz, “Sefri” of Tmassine, “Sefri” of Sidi Abdellah, and “Bzeq Tir” could be intended for fresh fruit consumption. Cluster analysis has revealed the divergence of cultivars with the same appellation “Sefri” confirming the problem of homonymy or synonymy in the pomegranate cultivars appellation. This study clearly demonstrates the nutritional and functional potential of the studied cultivars and the importance of their valorisation, especially for food and pharmaceutical industries.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

The pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is one of the ancient fruit trees of the Punicaceae family that has been cultivated for centuries and was highly appreciated for its delicious fruit flavour [1]. Pomegranate is consumed as fresh or in other processed forms such as juice, jam, and jelly [2, 3] or used as a source of nutraceutical substances [4]. Pomegranate consumption has gradually increased due to its nutritional value and bioactive compound content. This fruit is rich in polysaccharides, sugars, proteins, minerals, and organic acids [5] and comprises significant amount of vitamin C and phenolic compounds with high antioxidant activity [6]. Accordingly, its consumption has several medical benefits such as the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and colitis [7]. In Morocco, despite its internationally recognized benefits, the pomegranate remains under exploited compared to other producing countries. Exports are very low, not exceeding 0.5% of total production. The main products are locally marketed with low processing and valorisation. In addition, the great variability of the plant material generates heterogeneity of production, and the characteristics of the majority of cultivars are not known [8]. In this context, this study has focused on cultivars of pomegranates not yet characterized, identified by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water, and Forests as terroir products. These cultivars are belonging to the terroirs of Tmassine, Sidi Abdellah, Ain Lahjar and Sour Laaz [9], in addition to cultivars of Lalla Takerkoust and Beni Meskine regions known for their delicious fruits, and the cultivar “Sefri” of Ouled Abdellah, which is labeled as protected geographical indication [10]. The characterization analyses aim to assess the variability in terms of mineral content and biochemical properties of ten pomegranate cultivars so as to better know their fruit nutritional and functional potential. The information generated will be useful in selecting the best pomegranate cultivars and determining their suitability for fresh fruit consumption, processing, producing nutraceutical substances and possibly contributing in their labelling as quality linked to origin.


## 2. Materials and Methods

### 2.1. Plant Material

Ten pomegranate cultivars were harvested in six important production regions in Central Morocco, named “Sefri 1” for “Sefri” cultivated in Lalla Takerkoust (Amizmiz region), “Sefri 2” for “Sefri” cultivated in Sour Laaz (El Kelâa Des Sraghna region), “Sefri 3” for “Sefri” cultivated in Tmassine (Settat region), “Sefri 4” for “Sefri” cultivated in Sidi Abdellah (Skhour Rhamna region), “Sefri 5” for “Sefri” cultivated in Ouled Abdellah (Beni-Mellal region), “Sefri 6” for “Sefri” cultivated in Beni Meskine (Settat region), “Lahmar,” “Marrakchia,” and “Lhamdha” cultivated in Ain Lahjar (Essaouira region) and “Bzeq Tir” cultivated in Machraa Ben Abou (Settat region) (Table1). 32 fruits per cultivar and per year (2018 and 2019) were harvested (total of 64 fruits). In fact, for each year, 4 fruits were randomly collected from the middle of 8 sampled trees in the four geographical orientations. From the annual aggregate sample of 32 fruits per cultivar, 20 fruits were used for physical, physicochemical, and biochemical analyses. They were delicately cut in the equatorial and peeled and the arils were removed manually. The juice was obtained by pressing the arils with a manual press which keeps the seeds intact. The juice from 20 fruits was homogenized and immediately frozen at −20°C until analysis.Table 1
Geographic origins of pomegranate fruits of ten Moroccan cultivars.
CultivarGeographic originLatitude northLongitude westAltitude (m)Sefri 1Lalla Takerkoust, Amizmiz31° 21′ 26″ N8° 8′ 7″ W619Sefri 2Sour Laaz, El Kelâa des Sraghna31° 49′ 47″ N7° 1′ 52″ W674Sefri 3Tmassine, Settat32° 43′ 23″ N7° 41′ 30″ W357Sefri 4Sidi Abdellah, Skhour Rhamna32° 35′ 13″ N7° 49′ 7″ W286Sefri 5Ouled Abdellah, Beni Mellal32° 29′ 42″ N6° 26′ 57″ W463Sefri 6Beni Meskine, El Borouj, Settat32° 38′ 37″ N7° 23′ 18″ W543LahmerAin Lahjar, Essaouira31° 39′ 14″ N9° 35′ 32″ W98MarrakchiaAin Lahjar, Essaouira31° 39′ 14″ N9° 35′ 32″ W97LhamdhaAin Lahjar, Essaouira31° 39′ 14″ N9° 35′ 32″ W96Bzeq TirMachraa Ben Abou, Settat32° 38′ 47″ N7° 48′ 1″ W201


### 2.2. Ash and Minerals

Pomegranate juice was incinerated at 600°C for 7 hours (Thermolyne Type 1400 Oven) and ash content (g/100 g of fresh weight (FW)) was determined. For mineral determination, the ash was digested with nitric acid and diluted with ultrapure water. The determination of concentration of macro- and microelements was carried out using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (Thermo Scientific ICAP RQ, ICP-MS) calibrated with different concentration of multielement standards provided by TECHLAB. Ultrapure water and nitric acid (69%, analytic grade) were used as solvents and Q-tegra was the reading software. The measurements were realized in triplicate for each cultivar. Results were expressed in mg/100 g of fresh weight (FW).


### 2.3. Organic Acid Profile

Organic acids were quantified according to Alcaraz-Mármol et al. [11] by Dionex Ultimate 3000 ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) equipped with a diode array detector (PDA) and Xcalibur software for reading and processing results. A Vertex Plus C18 reversed phase column (250 × 4.6 mm, Eurospher II 100-5) was used. Merck (Darmstadt, Germany) provided solvents and standards. An isocratic mode of solvents was used with 95% of water acidified with orthophosphoric acid at 0.1% and 5% of acetonitrile. Results were expressed as g/100 mL of pomegranate juice. Data were obtained in triplicate.


### 2.4. Total Polyphenols Content (TP)

TP was determined by the Folin–Ciocalteu method, based on the condition optimized by Georgé et al. [12]. TP was expressed as mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/kg of pomegranate juice. Calibration curves at concentrations between 0 and 500 g GAE/L showing good linearity (the coefficient of determination R2 ≥ 0.997) were used to quantify TP.


### 2.5. Total Anthocyanins Content (TA)

TA was determined by pH differential method according to Hmid et al. [13] using two buffers systems: sodium acetate buffer pH 4.5 (0.4 M) and potassium chloride buffer pH 1.0 (0.025 M). TA was expressed as mg/L of pomegranate juice. The measurements were repeated three times for each cultivar.


### 2.6. Phenolic Monomers

Pomegranate juice was first diluted with a mixture of methanol/water (6 : 4) and centrifuged at 10000 rpm at 4°C for 10 min. Polyphenolic profile of pomegranate juice was determined for the ten cultivars by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry according to Puigventós et al. [14]. The UHPLC chain (Dionex Ultimate 3000) was equipped with a diode array detector coupled to a TSQ Endura tandem mass spectrometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific). A Vertex Plus C18 reversed phase column (250 × 4.6 mm, Eurospher II 100-5) was used. Merck (Darmstadt, Germany) provided solvents and standards. Xcalibur was the reading software. Detection was done within a mass range of 50–1100 m/z. The measurements were repeated three times for each genotype juice. Results were expressed in terms of the pick percentages over the two years.


### 2.7. Antioxidant Activity (AA)

AA was measured in terms of radical scavenging ability using the stable free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) according to the procedure described by Moktan et al. [15]. Calibration curves at concentrations between 0 and 500 g of ascorbic acid equivalent (AAE/L), which showed good linearity (the coefficient of determination R2 ≥ 0.999), were used to quantify antioxidant activity. The AA was expressed in mg AAE/kg of fresh juice.


### 2.8. Statistical Analysis

The data obtained were statistically analysed using SPSS 22.0 statistical database for Windows. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the comparison of means was performed after a basic descriptive statistical analysis. The significance level was taken atα = 0.01. Tukey’s HSD test was used to perform multiple comparisons among means. Correlation coefficients (r) were determined using the Pearson correlation matrix method to reveal possible relationships between traits. The XLSTAT AddinsoftTM software (XLSTAT, 2016) was used to perform the principal component analysis (PCA) and the cluster analysis (CA).


## 2.1. Plant Material

Ten pomegranate cultivars were harvested in six important production regions in Central Morocco, named “Sefri 1” for “Sefri” cultivated in Lalla Takerkoust (Amizmiz region), “Sefri 2” for “Sefri” cultivated in Sour Laaz (El Kelâa Des Sraghna region), “Sefri 3” for “Sefri” cultivated in Tmassine (Settat region), “Sefri 4” for “Sefri” cultivated in Sidi Abdellah (Skhour Rhamna region), “Sefri 5” for “Sefri” cultivated in Ouled Abdellah (Beni-Mellal region), “Sefri 6” for “Sefri” cultivated in Beni Meskine (Settat region), “Lahmar,” “Marrakchia,” and “Lhamdha” cultivated in Ain Lahjar (Essaouira region) and “Bzeq Tir” cultivated in Machraa Ben Abou (Settat region) (Table1). 32 fruits per cultivar and per year (2018 and 2019) were harvested (total of 64 fruits). In fact, for each year, 4 fruits were randomly collected from the middle of 8 sampled trees in the four geographical orientations. From the annual aggregate sample of 32 fruits per cultivar, 20 fruits were used for physical, physicochemical, and biochemical analyses. They were delicately cut in the equatorial and peeled and the arils were removed manually. The juice was obtained by pressing the arils with a manual press which keeps the seeds intact. The juice from 20 fruits was homogenized and immediately frozen at −20°C until analysis.Table 1
Geographic origins of pomegranate fruits of ten Moroccan cultivars.
CultivarGeographic originLatitude northLongitude westAltitude (m)Sefri 1Lalla Takerkoust, Amizmiz31° 21′ 26″ N8° 8′ 7″ W619Sefri 2Sour Laaz, El Kelâa des Sraghna31° 49′ 47″ N7° 1′ 52″ W674Sefri 3Tmassine, Settat32° 43′ 23″ N7° 41′ 30″ W357Sefri 4Sidi Abdellah, Skhour Rhamna32° 35′ 13″ N7° 49′ 7″ W286Sefri 5Ouled Abdellah, Beni Mellal32° 29′ 42″ N6° 26′ 57″ W463Sefri 6Beni Meskine, El Borouj, Settat32° 38′ 37″ N7° 23′ 18″ W543LahmerAin Lahjar, Essaouira31° 39′ 14″ N9° 35′ 32″ W98MarrakchiaAin Lahjar, Essaouira31° 39′ 14″ N9° 35′ 32″ W97LhamdhaAin Lahjar, Essaouira31° 39′ 14″ N9° 35′ 32″ W96Bzeq TirMachraa Ben Abou, Settat32° 38′ 47″ N7° 48′ 1″ W201


## 2.2. Ash and Minerals

Pomegranate juice was incinerated at 600°C for 7 hours (Thermolyne Type 1400 Oven) and ash content (g/100 g of fresh weight (FW)) was determined. For mineral determination, the ash was digested with nitric acid and diluted with ultrapure water. The determination of concentration of macro- and microelements was carried out using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (Thermo Scientific ICAP RQ, ICP-MS) calibrated with different concentration of multielement standards provided by TECHLAB. Ultrapure water and nitric acid (69%, analytic grade) were used as solvents and Q-tegra was the reading software. The measurements were realized in triplicate for each cultivar. Results were expressed in mg/100 g of fresh weight (FW).


## 2.3. Organic Acid Profile

Organic acids were quantified according to Alcaraz-Mármol et al. [11] by Dionex Ultimate 3000 ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) equipped with a diode array detector (PDA) and Xcalibur software for reading and processing results. A Vertex Plus C18 reversed phase column (250 × 4.6 mm, Eurospher II 100-5) was used. Merck (Darmstadt, Germany) provided solvents and standards. An isocratic mode of solvents was used with 95% of water acidified with orthophosphoric acid at 0.1% and 5% of acetonitrile. Results were expressed as g/100 mL of pomegranate juice. Data were obtained in triplicate.


## 2.4. Total Polyphenols Content (TP)

TP was determined by the Folin–Ciocalteu method, based on the condition optimized by Georgé et al. [12]. TP was expressed as mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/kg of pomegranate juice. Calibration curves at concentrations between 0 and 500 g GAE/L showing good linearity (the coefficient of determination R2 ≥ 0.997) were used to quantify TP.


## 2.5. Total Anthocyanins Content (TA)

TA was determined by pH differential method according to Hmid et al. [13] using two buffers systems: sodium acetate buffer pH 4.5 (0.4 M) and potassium chloride buffer pH 1.0 (0.025 M). TA was expressed as mg/L of pomegranate juice. The measurements were repeated three times for each cultivar.


## 2.6. Phenolic Monomers

Pomegranate juice was first diluted with a mixture of methanol/water (6 : 4) and centrifuged at 10000 rpm at 4°C for 10 min. Polyphenolic profile of pomegranate juice was determined for the ten cultivars by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry according to Puigventós et al. [14]. The UHPLC chain (Dionex Ultimate 3000) was equipped with a diode array detector coupled to a TSQ Endura tandem mass spectrometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific). A Vertex Plus C18 reversed phase column (250 × 4.6 mm, Eurospher II 100-5) was used. Merck (Darmstadt, Germany) provided solvents and standards. Xcalibur was the reading software. Detection was done within a mass range of 50–1100 m/z. The measurements were repeated three times for each genotype juice. Results were expressed in terms of the pick percentages over the two years.


## 2.7. Antioxidant Activity (AA)

AA was measured in terms of radical scavenging ability using the stable free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) according to the procedure described by Moktan et al. [15]. Calibration curves at concentrations between 0 and 500 g of ascorbic acid equivalent (AAE/L), which showed good linearity (the coefficient of determination R2 ≥ 0.999), were used to quantify antioxidant activity. The AA was expressed in mg AAE/kg of fresh juice.


## 2.8. Statistical Analysis

The data obtained were statistically analysed using SPSS 22.0 statistical database for Windows. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the comparison of means was performed after a basic descriptive statistical analysis. The significance level was taken atα = 0.01. Tukey’s HSD test was used to perform multiple comparisons among means. Correlation coefficients (r) were determined using the Pearson correlation matrix method to reveal possible relationships between traits. The XLSTAT AddinsoftTM software (XLSTAT, 2016) was used to perform the principal component analysis (PCA) and the cluster analysis (CA).


## 3. Results and Discussion

### 3.1. Ash and Minerals

Ash content and mineral composition of pomegranate juice of ten Moroccan cultivars are presented in Table2. Ash content varied from 0.19% for “Sefri 6” to 0.39% for “Lhamdha.” These results agreed with Al-Maiman and Ahmad [5] who found an ash content of 0.32% for full ripe pomegranate juice from Saudi Arabia. The results of mineral composition showed clearly that iodine (I) was the most abundant macroelement in pomegranate juice, followed by phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S). These results were not in agreement with Ekşi and Özhamamc [16] and Alcaraz-Mármol et al. [11] who found that potassium (K) was the main macroelement in pomegranate fruits for Turkish and Spanish cultivars, respectively. Iron (Fe) and aluminium (Al) were the main microelements which agreed with the results found by Fawole and Opara [17] for South African cultivars and Alcaraz-Mármol et al. [11] for Spanish cultivars. The studied cultivars had higher concentrations of minerals compared to cultivars from Saudi Arabia [5], Spain [11], Turkey [16], and South Africa [17] mainly of iron, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, sulphur, calcium, and aluminium. The variation of the concentration of pomegranate minerals could be indorsed to differences in cultivar type, plant nutrition, climate, and soil conditions [11, 17].Table 2
Ash content (g/100 g FW) and mineral composition (mg/100 g FW) of pomegranate juice of ten Moroccan cultivars∗.
Sefri 1Sefri 2Sefri 3Sefri 4Sefri 5Sefri 6LahmerMarrakchiaLhamdhaBzeq TirAsh0.22 ± 0.01ab0.24 ± 0.02ab0.27 ± 0.01b0.21 ± 0.01ab0.25 ± 0.03ab0.19 ± 0.02a0.21 ± 0.01ab0.25 ± 0.01ab0.36 ± 0.04c0.22 ± 0.02abMacroelementsIodine (I)846.32 ± 26.27j776.00 ± 4.25i708.18 ± 38.80g673.02 ± 23.28e562.51 ± 12.62a582.61 ± 19.07b713.20 ± 11.31h679.30 ± 20.85f644.14 ± 39.92c668.00 ± 14.86dPhosphorus (P)211.80 ± 12.04d211.80 ± 15.82d254.16 ± 0.90h194.86 ± 5.99c237.22 ± 2.30g160.97 ± 3.94b144.02 ± 15.94a228.75 ± 11.98f228.75 ± 19.78f220.27 ± 9.58eSulphur (S)208.22 ± 3.20a218.97 ± 0.10d220.24 ± 6.16d213.80 ± 2.46c215.02 ± 1.27c214.88 ± 6.55c213.88 ± 6.88c220.71 ± 0.43d220.56 ± 5.87d211.48 ± 6.50bCalcium (Ca)160.13 ± 4.02f134.51 ± 6.32b138.77 ± 2.67c141.99 ± 5.55d146.31 ± 9.90e135.84 ± 6.21b148.08 ± 9.00e143.04 ± 5.84d126.18 ± 9.31a166.20 ± 9.47gPotassium (K)92.24 ± 0.62bc93.37 ± 1.32bc90.00 ± 4.45ab92.19 ± 0.85bc91.92 ± 0.11bc94.26 ± 3.63c92.47 ± 1.31bc92.47 ± 0.18bc88.20 ± 3.25a90.77 ± 1.52abcSodium (Na)65.63 ± 0.71d64.33 ± 0.28bcd64.62 ± 0.82bcd63.87 ± 0.46abcd62.86 ± 0.27ab65.45 ± 0.42d63.35 ± 0.29abc61.96 ± 0.32a63.16 ± 2.10abc65.20 ± 1.32cdMagnesium (Mg)43.42 ± 1.52de40.4 ± 0.43bc38.66 ± 2.68ab38.08 ± 3.21a39.12 ± 1.01ab38.89 ± 3.12ab42.39 ± 3.23cd39.91 ± 2.19ab40.56 ± 3.08bc44.76 ± 0.54eMicroelementsIron (Fe)164.92 ± 9.60f145.34 ± 1.62c144.89 ± 3.09c152.65 ± 1.02e143.75 ± 1.91bc149.92 ± 1.72d142.71 ± 2.01b145.70 ± 0.87c154.26 ± 3.35e137.11 ± 5.96aAluminium (Al)154.63 ± 10.22g141.21 ± 5.20d154.30 ± 6.64g143.56 ± 3.80e138.53 ± 1.42c136.52 ± 9.01bc151.28 ± 2.37f164.36 ± 0.00h135.51 ± 3.79b130.81 ± 8.54aZinc (Zn)9.75 ± 0.33bcd7.83 ± 0.72ab8.07 ± 0.30ab9.36 ± 0.57bcd10.82 ± 0.94d10.25 ± 0.51cd8.68 ± 0.77abc8.21 ± 0.73abc8.86 ± 0.74abcd6.96 ± 0.26aCopper (Cu)3.34 ± 0.12a3.54 ± 0.23a3.46 ± 0.10a3.91 ± 0.07a4.25 ± 0.17a3.64 ± 0.13a3.37 ± 0.10a4.44 ± 0.17a3.56 ± 0.17a3.54 ± 0.11aManganese (Mn)1.24 ± 0.11a1.24 ± 0.04a1.06 ± 0.06a1.12 ± 0.03a1.06 ± 0.06a1.16 ± 0.07a1.14 ± 0.04a1.18 ± 0.04a1.20 ± 0.05a1.06 ± 0.03aBoron (B)1.55 ± 0.10a1.72 ± 0.12a1.58 ± 0.06a1.53 ± 0.06a1.48 ± 0.11a1.75 ± 0.10a1.60 ± 0.11a1.38 ± 0.14a1.44 ± 0.01a1.70 ± 0.09aChromium (Cr)1.06 ± 0.02a0.92 ± 0.01a0.92 ± 0.07a1.10 ± 0.02a1.07 ± 0.02a0.99 ± 0.05a1.04 ± 0.05a1.10 ± 0.09a1.04 ± 0.04a1.04 ± 0.02aSilver (Ag)44.94 ± 1.32f23.33 ± 0.82a23.84 ± 0.26ab23.92 ± 0.87ab23.75 ± 0.33ab25.80 ± 1.79bc32.54 ± 0.08e28.19 ± 0.77d26.87 ± 0.82cd23.48 ± 0.42aNickel (Ni)2.88 ± 0.03a2.29 ± 0.09a2.74 ± 0.13a2.58 ± 0.05a2.57 ± 0.04a2.61 ± 0.08a2.76 ± 0.09a2.74 ± 0.17a2.52 ± 0.11a2.52 ± 0.06aVanadium (V)0.32 ± 0.02b0.27 ± 0.01a0.32 ± 0.02b0.37 ± 0.04c0.27 ± 0.02a0.32 ± 0.00b0.43 ± 0.00d0.33 ± 0.02b0.28 ± 0.03a0.34 ± 0.03bTitanium (Ti)0.89 ± 0.08a1.20 ± 0.09h1.09 ± 0.12g0.93 ± 0.07b1.01 ± 0.10d10.96 ± 0.10c1.05 ± 0.06e1.06 ± 0.12ef1.09 ± 0.07g1.07 ± 0.10fgMolybdenum (Mo)0.66 ± 0.07b6.00 ± 0.44h1.52 ± 0.05f2.43 ± 0.19g1.02 ± 0.07e0.78 ± 0.01c0.55 ± 0.02a0.77 ± 0.05c0.55 ± 0.03a0.96 ± 0.04d∗Values followed by the same letter show no statistically significant differences (P<0.01, n = 6). FW: fresh weight.


### 3.2. Organic Acid Profile

The organic acid profile contributes to potential health benefits and defines the sensory qualities of pomegranate juice [18]. The UHPLC results of organic acid contents showed significant differences (P<0.01) among the ten studied cultivars (Table 3). The most dominant organic acid was citric acid with concentrations ranging from 0.11 g/100 mL for the cultivar “Bzeq Tir” to 2.92 g/100 mL for the sour cultivar “Lhamdha” (which means acidic). These concentrations were consistent with those found by Legua et al. [19] for other Moroccan cultivars. Oxalic and malic acids were found in lower concentrations, respectively, from 0.04 g/100 mL for the cultivar “Lhamdha” to 0.10 g/100 mL for “Sefri 4” and from 0.09 g/100 mL for “Sefri 3” to 0.17 g/100 mL for “Sefri 6” and “Lhamdha.” The concentrations of malic acid agreed with the results found by Garima and Akoh [20] and Nuncio-Jáuregui et al. [21] for American and Spanish cultivars, respectively. Oxalic acid was mostly detected in sweet cultivars, especially “Bzeq Tir,” “Sefri 2,” and “Sefri 4” and the results found were in agreement with Legua et al. [19]. Succinic, ascorbic, and fumaric acids were detected in very low concentrations (from 0.01 to 0.07, 0.01 to 0.02, and 0.00 to 0.01 g/100 mL, respectively). Pomegranate juices showed a great diversity of organic acid concentrations [1] that could be endorsed to the cultivar factor and agroclimatic conditions [22].Table 3
Organic acid content (g/100 mL) of pomegranate juice of ten Moroccan cultivars∗.
CultivarsOxalic acidMalic acidAscorbic acidCitric acidSuccinic acidFumaric acidSefri 10.05 ± 0.01ab0.12 ± 0.00abc0.00 ± 0.00a0.15 ± 0.01a0.02 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00aSefri 20.09 ± 0.01bcd0.16 ± 0.02abc0.01 ± 0.00a0.17 ± 0.01a0.03 ± 0.01a0.00 ± 0.00aSefri 30.07 ± 0.01abcd0.09 ± 0.00a0.01 ± 0.00a0.12 ± 0.03a0.02 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00aSefri 40.10 ± 0.02d0.11 ± 0.02abc0.01 ± 0.00a0.17 ± 0.02a0.02 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00aSefri 50.08 ± 0.01bcd0.18 ± 0.01c0.02 ± 0.00a0.17 ± 0.02a0.02 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00aSefri 60.08 ± 0.02bcd0.17 ± 0.02bc0.01 ± 0.00a0.15 ± 0.02a0.02 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00aLahmer0.06 ± 0.00abc0.11 ± 0.00ab0.01 ± 0.00a0.13 ± 0.00a0.01 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00aMarrakchia0.07 ± 0.00bcd0.10 ± 0.00ab0.02 ± 0.00a0.12 ± 0.02a0.01 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00abLhamdha0.04 ± 0.00a0.17 ± 0.01c0.01 ± 0.00a2.93 ± 0.04b0.07 ± 0.02b0.01 ± 0.00bBzeq Tir0.09 ± 0.01cd0.10 ± 0.03ab0.01 ± 0.00a0.11 ± 0.02a0.02 ± 0.01a0.00 ± 0.00a∗Values followed by the same letter show no statistically significant differences (P<0.01, n = 6).


### 3.3. Total Polyphenols Content (TP)

Polyphenols are the most abundant compounds found in all parts of the pomegranate fruits [23]. The antioxidant activity of pomegranate is mainly linked to the concentration of these compounds [7, 24]. The results of total polyphenol concentrations showed significant differences among the ten studied cultivars (Table 4). The sour cultivar “Lhamdha” presented the highest TP concentration with 1168.29 mg GAE/kg while the cultivar “Sefri 1” presented the lowest one with 632.84 mg GAE/kg. The TP data were in agreement with the results obtained for other Moroccan cultivars (410.1–834.3 mg/kg) [1], Iranian cultivars (220–1266.8 mg/L), [25] and Indian cultivars (876.2–1536.2 mg/kg) [26]. The broad interval range of TP concentrations is related to genetic variability, agricultural practices, geographical and climate effects, growing seasons, and determination assays [27, 28].Table 4
Total polyphenols and anthocyanins contents, antioxidant activity, and individual phenolic compound content (%) of pomegranate juices of ten Moroccan cultivars∗.
Sefri 1Sefri 2Sefri 3Sefri 4Sefri 5Sefri 6LahmerMarrakchiaLhamdhaBzeq TirTP (mg GAE/kg)632.8 ± 20.1a814.6 ± 33.8a659.5 ± 97.9a738.3 ± 65.7a827.9 ± 75.8a932.6 ± 26.1ab896.8 ± 53.0ab871.7 ± 61.3ab1168.3 ± 135.8b801.5 ± 58.5aTA (mg/L)51.4 ± 4.6a146.3 ± 14.9cd59.9 ± 6.9a102.0 ± 10.4b115.3 ± 13.4bc173.6 ± 15.1de204.1 ± 10.3ef212.8 ± 6.4f111.8 ± 12.4b84.9 ± 3.1abAA (mg AAE/kg)597.9 ± 73.7a842.3 ± 38.6bc755.0 ± 98.9ab729.2 ± 20.0ab941.3 ± 45.8cde1059.9 ± 14.9ef878.80 ± 53.6bcd1022.7 ± 86.6def1112.4 ± 6.0f936.9 ± 70.8cdeMonogalloyl-hexoside5.73 ± 0.50bcd4.76 ± 0.20abcd4.64 ± 0.12abc4.77 ± 0.52abcd4.29 ± 0.51ab4.03 ± 0.39a6.18 ± 0.64d6.11 ± 1.03cd5.27 ± 0.10abcd4.63 ± 0.41abDigalloyl-hexoside3.67 ± 0.27c3.24 ± 0.33bc3.21 ± 0.53bc3.23 ± 0.55bc3.48 ± 0.37bc3.52 ± 0.32bc2.35 ± 0.41ab2.28 ± 0.40ab1.44 ± 0.22a3.40 ± 0.51bcGranatin8.37 ± 1.90b7.70 ± 1.68ab6.50 ± 1.50ab6.77 ± 0.82ab7.20 ± 1.48ab4.80 ± 0.83ab4.83 ± 1.17ab4.23 ± 1.11and6.10 ± 0.53abPedunculagin II8.14 ± 0.56ab8.96 ± 0.16b7.65 ± 0.77ab7.41 ± 0.56ab7.45 ± 0.91ab6.98 ± 1.00ab6.02 ± 0.39a6.32 ± 0.34a14.80 ± 1.16c7.45 ± 1.19abPedunculagin I16.22 ± 1.63a21.57 ± 2.68a22.35 ± 2.73a22.49 ± 0.57a22.82 ± 3.47a24.11 ± 3.88a32.71 ± 4.72b34.98 ± 3.83b33.32 ± 2.03b19.52 ± 1.30aGalloyl-HHDP-hexoside0.70 ± 0.08a1.27 ± 0.34b0.71 ± 0.12a0.79 ± 0.11a0.83 ± 0.17ab0.89 ± 0.17ab0.91 ± 0.17ab0.69 ± 0.09a0.60 ± 0.06a0.68 ± 0.08aEllagic acid-deoxyhexoside3.66 ± 0.73cde3.15 ± 0.70bcd4.72 ± 0.39e2.88 ± 0.34bc3.58 ± 0.23cde4.42 ± 0.80de1.33 ± 0.06a0.74 ± 0.11a1.82 ± 0.20ab4.12 ± 0.3cdeEllagic acid-hexoside1.62 ± 0.36ab1.38 ± 0.33ab1.53 ± 0.18ab1.72 ± 0.21b1.71 ± 0.38b1.38 ± 0.33ab1.00 ± 0.09ab1.01 ± 0.19ab0.87 ± 0.16a1.76 ± 0.15bEllagitannin1.60 ± 0.30d0.94 ± 0.06abc0.61 ± 0.10a0.72 ± 0.03ab0.98 ± 0.05abc0.78 ± 0.07ab1.03 ± 0.18bc1.27 ± 0.07cd0.84 ± 0.15ab0.81 ± 0.07abGallagyl-hexoside3.19 ± 0.27a3.17 ± 0.41a3.62 ± 0.44a3.55 ± 0.51a3.42 ± 0.52a3.32 ± 0.14a3.31 ± 0.30a3.42 ± 0.27a4.72 ± 0.61a4.30 ± 0.64aHHDP-gallagyl-hexoside3.26 ± 0.59a6.05 ± 0.54bc6.21 ± 0.86bc6.35 ± 0.54bc4.52 ± 0.46ab7.50 ± 0.79c7.12 ± 0.83c7.20 ± 0.86c15.93 ± 1.24d6.67 ± 0.70bcVanillic acid-dihexoside1.28 ± 0.02bcd1.18 ± 0.23bc1.72 ± 0.11cd1.41 ± 0.12cd1.29 ± 0.28bcd1.91 ± 0.25d0.74 ± 0.05ab0.35 ± 0.06a0.38 ± 0.07a1.80 ± 0.28cdCoumaric acid-hexoside5.17 ± 0.32c3.30 ± 0.52ab4.22 ± 0.40bc4.81 ± 0.20c5.00 ± 0.51c4.29 ± 0.43bc4.20 ± 0.60bc4.17 ± 0.61bc2.23 ± 0.09a4.53 ± 0.46bcDelphinidin-3,5-diglycoside2.12 ± 0.08bc1.92 ± 0.08ab2.08 ± 0.08bc2.97 ± 0.23d2.51 ± 0.11cd2.99 ± 0.07d1.77 ± 0.38ab1.46 ± 0.26a1.89 ± 0.15ab2.19 ± 0.29bcDelphinidin-3-glucoside2.03 ± 0.13bcd1.91 ± 0.35bcd1.73 ± 0.11abcd1.25 ± 0.18abcd2.57 ± 0.47d5.35 ± 0.64e0.94 ± 0.13abc0.92 ± 0.11ab0.37 ± 0.12a2.38 ± 0.42cdCyanidin-3-O-glucoside1.47 ± 0.06bcd1.16 ± 0.17bcd1.50 ± 0.13cde1.24 ± 0.13bcd1.59 ± 0.17de2.10 ± 0.28f0.99 ± 0.11b1.04 ± 0.12bc0.39 ± 0.01a1.99 ± 0.21efSyringetin hexoside3.99 ± 0.61d3.63 ± 0.36cd2.96 ± 0.48bcd3.31 ± 0.09bcd3.19 ± 0.49bcd2.01 ± 0.19ab2.70 ± 0.42abcd2.25 ± 0.37abc1.48 ± 0.20a2.84 ± 0.47abcd∗TP: total polyphenols (mg of gallic acid equivalent/kg); TA: total anthocyanins; AA: antioxidant activity (mg of ascorbic acid equivalent/kg); nd: not detected. Values followed by the same letter show no statistically significant differences (P<0.01, n = 6).


### 3.4. Total Anthocyanins Content (TA)

The attractive red colour of pomegranate arils is accredited to the biosynthesis and accumulation of red anthocyanins in the fruit [29]. This appealing red colour is an important index for juice quality and is highly requested by pomegranate juice makers, as long as the heat treatment during the production process reduces significantly the colour of the juice [3]. TA contents of the ten studied pomegranate cultivars are presented in Table 4. A significant diversity (P<0.01) was revealed among these cultivars. The highest TA content was observed for cultivars “Lahmer” (which means red) and “Marrakchia” with, respectively, 204.09 and 212.76 mg/L, while the lowest concentrations were shown for cultivars “Sefri 1” with 51.38 mg/L and “Sefri 3” with 59.85 mg/L. These contents are higher than those reported by Hmid et al. [30] for other Moroccan cultivars and by Li et al. [7] for Chinese cultivars. Although, these total anthocyanins contents are lower than those reported by Tehranifar et al. [28] for Iranian cultivars (ranging between 5.56 and 30.11 mg/100 g). The differences in pomegranate anthocyanin content around the world are endorsed to the differences in cultivars, agroclimatic conditions, and ripening stages. The cultivars “Sefri 6,” “Lahmer,” and “Marrakchia” showed the highest anthocyanin content and could then be of interest for production of fresh pomegranate juice with a high potential of health benefit.


### 3.5. Phenolic Monomers

The phenolic compounds identified in the ten studied pomegranate cultivars are presented in Table5. Seventeen polyphenolic compounds were recognized from the 30 major peaks based on the combined information from PDA (280 nm), MS, and literature data. These phenolic compounds belonged to four classes: hydrolysable tannins (gallotannins, ellagitannins, and gallagyl esters), anthocyanins, phenolic acids, and flavonoids. The percentage of the identified phenolic compounds and phenolic classes in pomegranate juices are reported in Table 4 and Figure 1. The hydrolysable tannins presented the major class of phenolic compounds with values ranging from 56.24% for “Sefri 1” to 79.61% for the sour cultivar “Lhamdha.” Ellagitannin was the most important class of hydrolysable tannins (40.39% for “Sefri 1”—52.25% for “Lhamdha”) represented essentially by the pedunculagin I and pedunculagin II, followed by the gallagyl esters (6.45% for “Sefri 1”—20.65% for “Lhamdha”), whose HHDP-gallagyl-hexoside represented the most important compound, and then the gallotannins (6.71% for “Lhamdha”—9.40% for “Sefri 1”). The second important class of phenolic compounds was anthocyanins with peak area percentages ranging from 2.65% for “Lhamdha” to 10.44% for “Sefri 6.” Phenolic acids came in the third place, represented mainly by vanillic acid, dihexoside, and coumaric acid hexoside, with percentages ranging from 2.61% for “Lhamdha” to 6.46% for “Sefri 1.” Lastly comes the group of flavonoids represented by syringetin hexoside. The results obtained differed from those reported by the previous studies [31, 32, 35] who stated the richness of pomegranate juice with anthocyanin compounds. Russo et al. [32] reported an anthocyanin percentage around 40% of the total percentages of identified phenolic compounds in pomegranate juice. The divergences in phenolic profile could be attributed to the differences in extracting methods [31].Table 5
Identification of phenolic compounds of pomegranate juices of ten Moroccan cultivars by HPLC-MS in negative mode.
N°Identified compoundRetention time (min)[M-H]-(m/z)ReferencesHydrolyzable tanninsGallotannins1Monogalloyl-hexoside5.22331.16[31]2Digalloyl-hexoside5.44483.31[31]Digalloyl-hexoside10.93483.31[32]Ellagitannins3Ellagitannin3.63643.60[33]4Bis-HHDP-hexoside (pedunculagin I)5.75783.32[31]Bis-HHDP-hexoside (pedunculagin I)5.97783.56[33]Bis-HHDP-hexoside (pedunculagin I)6.37783.56[33]Bis-HHDP-hexoside (pedunculagin I)7.83783.45[33]5Granatin A10.19784.28[32]6Digalloyl-HHDP-hexoside (pedunculagin II)10.46785.54[31]7Galloyl-HHDP-hexoside12.74633.32[33]8Ellagic acid-deoxyhexoside13.14447.30[31]Ellagic acid-deoxyhexoside12.27447.42[34]9Ellagic acid-hexoside18.94463.21[31]Gallagyl esters10Gallagyl-hexoside (punicalin)5.65781.43[31]Gallagyl-hexoside (punicalgin)6.56781.47[33]11HHDP-gallagyl-heoside (punicalagin)6.141083.44[33]HHDP-gallagyl-hexoside (punicalagin)7.201083.50[33]Phenolic acids12Vanillic acid-dihexoside13.71491.19[33]13Coumaric acid-hexoside11.78325.20[33]Anthocyanins14Delphinidin-3,5-diglycoside9.62627.44[35]Delphinidin-3,5-diglycoside8.67627.44[35]15Delphinidin-3-glycoside12.96465.27[31]16Cyanidin-3-glycoside14.24449.26[31]Flavonoids 17Syringetin hexoside16.46507.38[34]Figure 1
Percentages of phenolic compound classes in pomegranate juices of ten Moroccan cultivars.


### 3.6. Antioxidant Activity (AA)

Table4 shows the results of AA of the ten studied pomegranate cultivars. The differences in AA among these cultivars were statistically significant. The sour cultivar “Lhamdha” and the sweet cultivar “Sefri 6” presented the highest antioxidant activity with 1112.39 and 1059.85 mg AAE/kg, respectively, while the cultivar “Sefri 1” presented the lowest AA with 597.83 mg AAE/kg. The results found for the AA agreed with those of Li et al. [7] for Chinese cultivars. These results indicated that sour pomegranate had no automatically higher antioxidant activity compared with sweet pomegranates. Higher antioxidant potential was although attributed to higher total polyphenols content present in pomegranate and other fruits [7, 27].


### 3.7. Correlation Analysis

Pearson correlation was used to examine the dependence among the studied variables atP<0.01. Significant positive correlation was found between antioxidant activity and total phenol contents (r = 0.792). This result confirmed that the quantity of total phenols were the main contributors to the high antioxidant activity of pomegranate juice [36, 37], especially gallagyl esters (r = 0.619), total anthocyanin (r = 0.445), and ellagitannins (r = 0.406). Antioxidant activity was although negatively correlated with gallotannins (r = −0.453), flavonoids (r = −0.664), and phenolic acids (r = −0.482). On the other hand, citric acid was highly correlated with total phenols, antioxidant activity, and ash with r = 0.745, r = 0.536, and r = 0.835, respectively. Succinic and fumaric acids also showed the same positive correlation.


### 3.8. Principal Component Analysis (PCA)

PCA was applied to the results to achieve better understanding of the relationships and trends between variables for the different pomegranate cultivars. The first two principal components explained 68.34% of the total variation (Figure2). The proportion of variation for the first and the second components was 48.74% and 19.60%, respectively. The first component F1 representing 48.74% of the total variation was positively linked to total polyphenols contents, antioxidant activity, ash, fumaric, malic, citric, and succinic acids, sulphur (S), ellagitannins, and gallagyl esters while negatively linked to potassium (K), sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), gallotannins, phenolic acids, and flavonoids. The second component F2 accounted for 19.60% of the variance and was positively correlated with anthocyanin, oxalic, and ascorbic acids, whereas negatively correlated with iron (Fe) and iodine (I) minerals.Figure 2
Principal component analysis (PCA) of the first two components (F1 and F2): segregation of ten Moroccan pomegranate cultivars based on their juice minerals, bioactive compounds, and antioxidant activity characteristics.Based on the plot of the principal component scores, the cultivar “Lhamdha” showed high positive score on F1. This cultivar presented a rich source in organic acids (fumaric, succinic, and citric acids), gallagyl esters, and ellagitannins and showed high antioxidant activity, total polyphenol, and ash contents. This sour cultivar can be used as a functional source in medical or cosmetic industry as it showed high content of beneficial compounds. On the other hand, the cultivar “Sefri 1” presented large negative score on F1 and F2 showing high content of minerals (I, Na, Ca, and Fe), gallotannins, flavonoids, and phenolic acids. The cultivars “Sefri 2,” “Sefri 3,” “Sefri 4,” and “Bzeq Tir” were relatively close to each other along thex-axis and presented a low negative score on F1 and F2. They were characterized also by the same characteristics as the cultivar “Sefri 1.” Lastly, “Lahmer,” “Marrakchia,” “Sefri 5,” and “Sefri 6” were close to each other along the y-axis and showed a positive score on F1. They had red juices rich in anthocyanins and oxalic and ascorbic acids with high antioxidant activity and total polyphenols contents and then could be used for production of fresh pomegranate juice with high health benefits.


### 3.9. Cluster Analysis

Figure3 shows the results obtained from cluster analysis for the ten studied Moroccan pomegranate cultivars. Four main groups were clustered based on the mineral and biochemical parameters. The first and second groups were composed by one cultivar: “Lhamdha” and “Sefri 1,” respectively. The third group consisted of the cultivars “Bzeq Tir,” “Sefri 2,” “Sefri 3,” and “Sefri 4,” while the last group included “Sefri 5,” “Sefri 6,” “Lahmer,” and “Marrakchia.” This cluster analysis revealed the divergence of cultivars with the same appellation “Sefri” confirming the problem of homonymy or synonymy exposed by Ajal et al. [38] in the pomegranate cultivars appellation. PCA and cluster analysis indicated that there were great differences among cultivars in terms of physicochemical and biochemical attributes.Figure 3
Dendrogram of ten Moroccan pomegranate cultivars based on their juice minerals, bioactive compounds, and antioxidant activity characteristics.


## 3.1. Ash and Minerals

Ash content and mineral composition of pomegranate juice of ten Moroccan cultivars are presented in Table2. Ash content varied from 0.19% for “Sefri 6” to 0.39% for “Lhamdha.” These results agreed with Al-Maiman and Ahmad [5] who found an ash content of 0.32% for full ripe pomegranate juice from Saudi Arabia. The results of mineral composition showed clearly that iodine (I) was the most abundant macroelement in pomegranate juice, followed by phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S). These results were not in agreement with Ekşi and Özhamamc [16] and Alcaraz-Mármol et al. [11] who found that potassium (K) was the main macroelement in pomegranate fruits for Turkish and Spanish cultivars, respectively. Iron (Fe) and aluminium (Al) were the main microelements which agreed with the results found by Fawole and Opara [17] for South African cultivars and Alcaraz-Mármol et al. [11] for Spanish cultivars. The studied cultivars had higher concentrations of minerals compared to cultivars from Saudi Arabia [5], Spain [11], Turkey [16], and South Africa [17] mainly of iron, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, sulphur, calcium, and aluminium. The variation of the concentration of pomegranate minerals could be indorsed to differences in cultivar type, plant nutrition, climate, and soil conditions [11, 17].Table 2
Ash content (g/100 g FW) and mineral composition (mg/100 g FW) of pomegranate juice of ten Moroccan cultivars∗.
Sefri 1Sefri 2Sefri 3Sefri 4Sefri 5Sefri 6LahmerMarrakchiaLhamdhaBzeq TirAsh0.22 ± 0.01ab0.24 ± 0.02ab0.27 ± 0.01b0.21 ± 0.01ab0.25 ± 0.03ab0.19 ± 0.02a0.21 ± 0.01ab0.25 ± 0.01ab0.36 ± 0.04c0.22 ± 0.02abMacroelementsIodine (I)846.32 ± 26.27j776.00 ± 4.25i708.18 ± 38.80g673.02 ± 23.28e562.51 ± 12.62a582.61 ± 19.07b713.20 ± 11.31h679.30 ± 20.85f644.14 ± 39.92c668.00 ± 14.86dPhosphorus (P)211.80 ± 12.04d211.80 ± 15.82d254.16 ± 0.90h194.86 ± 5.99c237.22 ± 2.30g160.97 ± 3.94b144.02 ± 15.94a228.75 ± 11.98f228.75 ± 19.78f220.27 ± 9.58eSulphur (S)208.22 ± 3.20a218.97 ± 0.10d220.24 ± 6.16d213.80 ± 2.46c215.02 ± 1.27c214.88 ± 6.55c213.88 ± 6.88c220.71 ± 0.43d220.56 ± 5.87d211.48 ± 6.50bCalcium (Ca)160.13 ± 4.02f134.51 ± 6.32b138.77 ± 2.67c141.99 ± 5.55d146.31 ± 9.90e135.84 ± 6.21b148.08 ± 9.00e143.04 ± 5.84d126.18 ± 9.31a166.20 ± 9.47gPotassium (K)92.24 ± 0.62bc93.37 ± 1.32bc90.00 ± 4.45ab92.19 ± 0.85bc91.92 ± 0.11bc94.26 ± 3.63c92.47 ± 1.31bc92.47 ± 0.18bc88.20 ± 3.25a90.77 ± 1.52abcSodium (Na)65.63 ± 0.71d64.33 ± 0.28bcd64.62 ± 0.82bcd63.87 ± 0.46abcd62.86 ± 0.27ab65.45 ± 0.42d63.35 ± 0.29abc61.96 ± 0.32a63.16 ± 2.10abc65.20 ± 1.32cdMagnesium (Mg)43.42 ± 1.52de40.4 ± 0.43bc38.66 ± 2.68ab38.08 ± 3.21a39.12 ± 1.01ab38.89 ± 3.12ab42.39 ± 3.23cd39.91 ± 2.19ab40.56 ± 3.08bc44.76 ± 0.54eMicroelementsIron (Fe)164.92 ± 9.60f145.34 ± 1.62c144.89 ± 3.09c152.65 ± 1.02e143.75 ± 1.91bc149.92 ± 1.72d142.71 ± 2.01b145.70 ± 0.87c154.26 ± 3.35e137.11 ± 5.96aAluminium (Al)154.63 ± 10.22g141.21 ± 5.20d154.30 ± 6.64g143.56 ± 3.80e138.53 ± 1.42c136.52 ± 9.01bc151.28 ± 2.37f164.36 ± 0.00h135.51 ± 3.79b130.81 ± 8.54aZinc (Zn)9.75 ± 0.33bcd7.83 ± 0.72ab8.07 ± 0.30ab9.36 ± 0.57bcd10.82 ± 0.94d10.25 ± 0.51cd8.68 ± 0.77abc8.21 ± 0.73abc8.86 ± 0.74abcd6.96 ± 0.26aCopper (Cu)3.34 ± 0.12a3.54 ± 0.23a3.46 ± 0.10a3.91 ± 0.07a4.25 ± 0.17a3.64 ± 0.13a3.37 ± 0.10a4.44 ± 0.17a3.56 ± 0.17a3.54 ± 0.11aManganese (Mn)1.24 ± 0.11a1.24 ± 0.04a1.06 ± 0.06a1.12 ± 0.03a1.06 ± 0.06a1.16 ± 0.07a1.14 ± 0.04a1.18 ± 0.04a1.20 ± 0.05a1.06 ± 0.03aBoron (B)1.55 ± 0.10a1.72 ± 0.12a1.58 ± 0.06a1.53 ± 0.06a1.48 ± 0.11a1.75 ± 0.10a1.60 ± 0.11a1.38 ± 0.14a1.44 ± 0.01a1.70 ± 0.09aChromium (Cr)1.06 ± 0.02a0.92 ± 0.01a0.92 ± 0.07a1.10 ± 0.02a1.07 ± 0.02a0.99 ± 0.05a1.04 ± 0.05a1.10 ± 0.09a1.04 ± 0.04a1.04 ± 0.02aSilver (Ag)44.94 ± 1.32f23.33 ± 0.82a23.84 ± 0.26ab23.92 ± 0.87ab23.75 ± 0.33ab25.80 ± 1.79bc32.54 ± 0.08e28.19 ± 0.77d26.87 ± 0.82cd23.48 ± 0.42aNickel (Ni)2.88 ± 0.03a2.29 ± 0.09a2.74 ± 0.13a2.58 ± 0.05a2.57 ± 0.04a2.61 ± 0.08a2.76 ± 0.09a2.74 ± 0.17a2.52 ± 0.11a2.52 ± 0.06aVanadium (V)0.32 ± 0.02b0.27 ± 0.01a0.32 ± 0.02b0.37 ± 0.04c0.27 ± 0.02a0.32 ± 0.00b0.43 ± 0.00d0.33 ± 0.02b0.28 ± 0.03a0.34 ± 0.03bTitanium (Ti)0.89 ± 0.08a1.20 ± 0.09h1.09 ± 0.12g0.93 ± 0.07b1.01 ± 0.10d10.96 ± 0.10c1.05 ± 0.06e1.06 ± 0.12ef1.09 ± 0.07g1.07 ± 0.10fgMolybdenum (Mo)0.66 ± 0.07b6.00 ± 0.44h1.52 ± 0.05f2.43 ± 0.19g1.02 ± 0.07e0.78 ± 0.01c0.55 ± 0.02a0.77 ± 0.05c0.55 ± 0.03a0.96 ± 0.04d∗Values followed by the same letter show no statistically significant differences (P<0.01, n = 6). FW: fresh weight.


## 3.2. Organic Acid Profile

The organic acid profile contributes to potential health benefits and defines the sensory qualities of pomegranate juice [18]. The UHPLC results of organic acid contents showed significant differences (P<0.01) among the ten studied cultivars (Table 3). The most dominant organic acid was citric acid with concentrations ranging from 0.11 g/100 mL for the cultivar “Bzeq Tir” to 2.92 g/100 mL for the sour cultivar “Lhamdha” (which means acidic). These concentrations were consistent with those found by Legua et al. [19] for other Moroccan cultivars. Oxalic and malic acids were found in lower concentrations, respectively, from 0.04 g/100 mL for the cultivar “Lhamdha” to 0.10 g/100 mL for “Sefri 4” and from 0.09 g/100 mL for “Sefri 3” to 0.17 g/100 mL for “Sefri 6” and “Lhamdha.” The concentrations of malic acid agreed with the results found by Garima and Akoh [20] and Nuncio-Jáuregui et al. [21] for American and Spanish cultivars, respectively. Oxalic acid was mostly detected in sweet cultivars, especially “Bzeq Tir,” “Sefri 2,” and “Sefri 4” and the results found were in agreement with Legua et al. [19]. Succinic, ascorbic, and fumaric acids were detected in very low concentrations (from 0.01 to 0.07, 0.01 to 0.02, and 0.00 to 0.01 g/100 mL, respectively). Pomegranate juices showed a great diversity of organic acid concentrations [1] that could be endorsed to the cultivar factor and agroclimatic conditions [22].Table 3
Organic acid content (g/100 mL) of pomegranate juice of ten Moroccan cultivars∗.
CultivarsOxalic acidMalic acidAscorbic acidCitric acidSuccinic acidFumaric acidSefri 10.05 ± 0.01ab0.12 ± 0.00abc0.00 ± 0.00a0.15 ± 0.01a0.02 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00aSefri 20.09 ± 0.01bcd0.16 ± 0.02abc0.01 ± 0.00a0.17 ± 0.01a0.03 ± 0.01a0.00 ± 0.00aSefri 30.07 ± 0.01abcd0.09 ± 0.00a0.01 ± 0.00a0.12 ± 0.03a0.02 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00aSefri 40.10 ± 0.02d0.11 ± 0.02abc0.01 ± 0.00a0.17 ± 0.02a0.02 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00aSefri 50.08 ± 0.01bcd0.18 ± 0.01c0.02 ± 0.00a0.17 ± 0.02a0.02 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00aSefri 60.08 ± 0.02bcd0.17 ± 0.02bc0.01 ± 0.00a0.15 ± 0.02a0.02 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00aLahmer0.06 ± 0.00abc0.11 ± 0.00ab0.01 ± 0.00a0.13 ± 0.00a0.01 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00aMarrakchia0.07 ± 0.00bcd0.10 ± 0.00ab0.02 ± 0.00a0.12 ± 0.02a0.01 ± 0.00a0.00 ± 0.00abLhamdha0.04 ± 0.00a0.17 ± 0.01c0.01 ± 0.00a2.93 ± 0.04b0.07 ± 0.02b0.01 ± 0.00bBzeq Tir0.09 ± 0.01cd0.10 ± 0.03ab0.01 ± 0.00a0.11 ± 0.02a0.02 ± 0.01a0.00 ± 0.00a∗Values followed by the same letter show no statistically significant differences (P<0.01, n = 6).


## 3.3. Total Polyphenols Content (TP)

Polyphenols are the most abundant compounds found in all parts of the pomegranate fruits [23]. The antioxidant activity of pomegranate is mainly linked to the concentration of these compounds [7, 24]. The results of total polyphenol concentrations showed significant differences among the ten studied cultivars (Table 4). The sour cultivar “Lhamdha” presented the highest TP concentration with 1168.29 mg GAE/kg while the cultivar “Sefri 1” presented the lowest one with 632.84 mg GAE/kg. The TP data were in agreement with the results obtained for other Moroccan cultivars (410.1–834.3 mg/kg) [1], Iranian cultivars (220–1266.8 mg/L), [25] and Indian cultivars (876.2–1536.2 mg/kg) [26]. The broad interval range of TP concentrations is related to genetic variability, agricultural practices, geographical and climate effects, growing seasons, and determination assays [27, 28].Table 4
Total polyphenols and anthocyanins contents, antioxidant activity, and individual phenolic compound content (%) of pomegranate juices of ten Moroccan cultivars∗.
Sefri 1Sefri 2Sefri 3Sefri 4Sefri 5Sefri 6LahmerMarrakchiaLhamdhaBzeq TirTP (mg GAE/kg)632.8 ± 20.1a814.6 ± 33.8a659.5 ± 97.9a738.3 ± 65.7a827.9 ± 75.8a932.6 ± 26.1ab896.8 ± 53.0ab871.7 ± 61.3ab1168.3 ± 135.8b801.5 ± 58.5aTA (mg/L)51.4 ± 4.6a146.3 ± 14.9cd59.9 ± 6.9a102.0 ± 10.4b115.3 ± 13.4bc173.6 ± 15.1de204.1 ± 10.3ef212.8 ± 6.4f111.8 ± 12.4b84.9 ± 3.1abAA (mg AAE/kg)597.9 ± 73.7a842.3 ± 38.6bc755.0 ± 98.9ab729.2 ± 20.0ab941.3 ± 45.8cde1059.9 ± 14.9ef878.80 ± 53.6bcd1022.7 ± 86.6def1112.4 ± 6.0f936.9 ± 70.8cdeMonogalloyl-hexoside5.73 ± 0.50bcd4.76 ± 0.20abcd4.64 ± 0.12abc4.77 ± 0.52abcd4.29 ± 0.51ab4.03 ± 0.39a6.18 ± 0.64d6.11 ± 1.03cd5.27 ± 0.10abcd4.63 ± 0.41abDigalloyl-hexoside3.67 ± 0.27c3.24 ± 0.33bc3.21 ± 0.53bc3.23 ± 0.55bc3.48 ± 0.37bc3.52 ± 0.32bc2.35 ± 0.41ab2.28 ± 0.40ab1.44 ± 0.22a3.40 ± 0.51bcGranatin8.37 ± 1.90b7.70 ± 1.68ab6.50 ± 1.50ab6.77 ± 0.82ab7.20 ± 1.48ab4.80 ± 0.83ab4.83 ± 1.17ab4.23 ± 1.11and6.10 ± 0.53abPedunculagin II8.14 ± 0.56ab8.96 ± 0.16b7.65 ± 0.77ab7.41 ± 0.56ab7.45 ± 0.91ab6.98 ± 1.00ab6.02 ± 0.39a6.32 ± 0.34a14.80 ± 1.16c7.45 ± 1.19abPedunculagin I16.22 ± 1.63a21.57 ± 2.68a22.35 ± 2.73a22.49 ± 0.57a22.82 ± 3.47a24.11 ± 3.88a32.71 ± 4.72b34.98 ± 3.83b33.32 ± 2.03b19.52 ± 1.30aGalloyl-HHDP-hexoside0.70 ± 0.08a1.27 ± 0.34b0.71 ± 0.12a0.79 ± 0.11a0.83 ± 0.17ab0.89 ± 0.17ab0.91 ± 0.17ab0.69 ± 0.09a0.60 ± 0.06a0.68 ± 0.08aEllagic acid-deoxyhexoside3.66 ± 0.73cde3.15 ± 0.70bcd4.72 ± 0.39e2.88 ± 0.34bc3.58 ± 0.23cde4.42 ± 0.80de1.33 ± 0.06a0.74 ± 0.11a1.82 ± 0.20ab4.12 ± 0.3cdeEllagic acid-hexoside1.62 ± 0.36ab1.38 ± 0.33ab1.53 ± 0.18ab1.72 ± 0.21b1.71 ± 0.38b1.38 ± 0.33ab1.00 ± 0.09ab1.01 ± 0.19ab0.87 ± 0.16a1.76 ± 0.15bEllagitannin1.60 ± 0.30d0.94 ± 0.06abc0.61 ± 0.10a0.72 ± 0.03ab0.98 ± 0.05abc0.78 ± 0.07ab1.03 ± 0.18bc1.27 ± 0.07cd0.84 ± 0.15ab0.81 ± 0.07abGallagyl-hexoside3.19 ± 0.27a3.17 ± 0.41a3.62 ± 0.44a3.55 ± 0.51a3.42 ± 0.52a3.32 ± 0.14a3.31 ± 0.30a3.42 ± 0.27a4.72 ± 0.61a4.30 ± 0.64aHHDP-gallagyl-hexoside3.26 ± 0.59a6.05 ± 0.54bc6.21 ± 0.86bc6.35 ± 0.54bc4.52 ± 0.46ab7.50 ± 0.79c7.12 ± 0.83c7.20 ± 0.86c15.93 ± 1.24d6.67 ± 0.70bcVanillic acid-dihexoside1.28 ± 0.02bcd1.18 ± 0.23bc1.72 ± 0.11cd1.41 ± 0.12cd1.29 ± 0.28bcd1.91 ± 0.25d0.74 ± 0.05ab0.35 ± 0.06a0.38 ± 0.07a1.80 ± 0.28cdCoumaric acid-hexoside5.17 ± 0.32c3.30 ± 0.52ab4.22 ± 0.40bc4.81 ± 0.20c5.00 ± 0.51c4.29 ± 0.43bc4.20 ± 0.60bc4.17 ± 0.61bc2.23 ± 0.09a4.53 ± 0.46bcDelphinidin-3,5-diglycoside2.12 ± 0.08bc1.92 ± 0.08ab2.08 ± 0.08bc2.97 ± 0.23d2.51 ± 0.11cd2.99 ± 0.07d1.77 ± 0.38ab1.46 ± 0.26a1.89 ± 0.15ab2.19 ± 0.29bcDelphinidin-3-glucoside2.03 ± 0.13bcd1.91 ± 0.35bcd1.73 ± 0.11abcd1.25 ± 0.18abcd2.57 ± 0.47d5.35 ± 0.64e0.94 ± 0.13abc0.92 ± 0.11ab0.37 ± 0.12a2.38 ± 0.42cdCyanidin-3-O-glucoside1.47 ± 0.06bcd1.16 ± 0.17bcd1.50 ± 0.13cde1.24 ± 0.13bcd1.59 ± 0.17de2.10 ± 0.28f0.99 ± 0.11b1.04 ± 0.12bc0.39 ± 0.01a1.99 ± 0.21efSyringetin hexoside3.99 ± 0.61d3.63 ± 0.36cd2.96 ± 0.48bcd3.31 ± 0.09bcd3.19 ± 0.49bcd2.01 ± 0.19ab2.70 ± 0.42abcd2.25 ± 0.37abc1.48 ± 0.20a2.84 ± 0.47abcd∗TP: total polyphenols (mg of gallic acid equivalent/kg); TA: total anthocyanins; AA: antioxidant activity (mg of ascorbic acid equivalent/kg); nd: not detected. Values followed by the same letter show no statistically significant differences (P<0.01, n = 6).


## 3.4. Total Anthocyanins Content (TA)

The attractive red colour of pomegranate arils is accredited to the biosynthesis and accumulation of red anthocyanins in the fruit [29]. This appealing red colour is an important index for juice quality and is highly requested by pomegranate juice makers, as long as the heat treatment during the production process reduces significantly the colour of the juice [3]. TA contents of the ten studied pomegranate cultivars are presented in Table 4. A significant diversity (P<0.01) was revealed among these cultivars. The highest TA content was observed for cultivars “Lahmer” (which means red) and “Marrakchia” with, respectively, 204.09 and 212.76 mg/L, while the lowest concentrations were shown for cultivars “Sefri 1” with 51.38 mg/L and “Sefri 3” with 59.85 mg/L. These contents are higher than those reported by Hmid et al. [30] for other Moroccan cultivars and by Li et al. [7] for Chinese cultivars. Although, these total anthocyanins contents are lower than those reported by Tehranifar et al. [28] for Iranian cultivars (ranging between 5.56 and 30.11 mg/100 g). The differences in pomegranate anthocyanin content around the world are endorsed to the differences in cultivars, agroclimatic conditions, and ripening stages. The cultivars “Sefri 6,” “Lahmer,” and “Marrakchia” showed the highest anthocyanin content and could then be of interest for production of fresh pomegranate juice with a high potential of health benefit.


## 3.5. Phenolic Monomers

The phenolic compounds identified in the ten studied pomegranate cultivars are presented in Table5. Seventeen polyphenolic compounds were recognized from the 30 major peaks based on the combined information from PDA (280 nm), MS, and literature data. These phenolic compounds belonged to four classes: hydrolysable tannins (gallotannins, ellagitannins, and gallagyl esters), anthocyanins, phenolic acids, and flavonoids. The percentage of the identified phenolic compounds and phenolic classes in pomegranate juices are reported in Table 4 and Figure 1. The hydrolysable tannins presented the major class of phenolic compounds with values ranging from 56.24% for “Sefri 1” to 79.61% for the sour cultivar “Lhamdha.” Ellagitannin was the most important class of hydrolysable tannins (40.39% for “Sefri 1”—52.25% for “Lhamdha”) represented essentially by the pedunculagin I and pedunculagin II, followed by the gallagyl esters (6.45% for “Sefri 1”—20.65% for “Lhamdha”), whose HHDP-gallagyl-hexoside represented the most important compound, and then the gallotannins (6.71% for “Lhamdha”—9.40% for “Sefri 1”). The second important class of phenolic compounds was anthocyanins with peak area percentages ranging from 2.65% for “Lhamdha” to 10.44% for “Sefri 6.” Phenolic acids came in the third place, represented mainly by vanillic acid, dihexoside, and coumaric acid hexoside, with percentages ranging from 2.61% for “Lhamdha” to 6.46% for “Sefri 1.” Lastly comes the group of flavonoids represented by syringetin hexoside. The results obtained differed from those reported by the previous studies [31, 32, 35] who stated the richness of pomegranate juice with anthocyanin compounds. Russo et al. [32] reported an anthocyanin percentage around 40% of the total percentages of identified phenolic compounds in pomegranate juice. The divergences in phenolic profile could be attributed to the differences in extracting methods [31].Table 5
Identification of phenolic compounds of pomegranate juices of ten Moroccan cultivars by HPLC-MS in negative mode.
N°Identified compoundRetention time (min)[M-H]-(m/z)ReferencesHydrolyzable tanninsGallotannins1Monogalloyl-hexoside5.22331.16[31]2Digalloyl-hexoside5.44483.31[31]Digalloyl-hexoside10.93483.31[32]Ellagitannins3Ellagitannin3.63643.60[33]4Bis-HHDP-hexoside (pedunculagin I)5.75783.32[31]Bis-HHDP-hexoside (pedunculagin I)5.97783.56[33]Bis-HHDP-hexoside (pedunculagin I)6.37783.56[33]Bis-HHDP-hexoside (pedunculagin I)7.83783.45[33]5Granatin A10.19784.28[32]6Digalloyl-HHDP-hexoside (pedunculagin II)10.46785.54[31]7Galloyl-HHDP-hexoside12.74633.32[33]8Ellagic acid-deoxyhexoside13.14447.30[31]Ellagic acid-deoxyhexoside12.27447.42[34]9Ellagic acid-hexoside18.94463.21[31]Gallagyl esters10Gallagyl-hexoside (punicalin)5.65781.43[31]Gallagyl-hexoside (punicalgin)6.56781.47[33]11HHDP-gallagyl-heoside (punicalagin)6.141083.44[33]HHDP-gallagyl-hexoside (punicalagin)7.201083.50[33]Phenolic acids12Vanillic acid-dihexoside13.71491.19[33]13Coumaric acid-hexoside11.78325.20[33]Anthocyanins14Delphinidin-3,5-diglycoside9.62627.44[35]Delphinidin-3,5-diglycoside8.67627.44[35]15Delphinidin-3-glycoside12.96465.27[31]16Cyanidin-3-glycoside14.24449.26[31]Flavonoids 17Syringetin hexoside16.46507.38[34]Figure 1
Percentages of phenolic compound classes in pomegranate juices of ten Moroccan cultivars.


## 3.6. Antioxidant Activity (AA)

Table4 shows the results of AA of the ten studied pomegranate cultivars. The differences in AA among these cultivars were statistically significant. The sour cultivar “Lhamdha” and the sweet cultivar “Sefri 6” presented the highest antioxidant activity with 1112.39 and 1059.85 mg AAE/kg, respectively, while the cultivar “Sefri 1” presented the lowest AA with 597.83 mg AAE/kg. The results found for the AA agreed with those of Li et al. [7] for Chinese cultivars. These results indicated that sour pomegranate had no automatically higher antioxidant activity compared with sweet pomegranates. Higher antioxidant potential was although attributed to higher total polyphenols content present in pomegranate and other fruits [7, 27].


## 3.7. Correlation Analysis

Pearson correlation was used to examine the dependence among the studied variables atP<0.01. Significant positive correlation was found between antioxidant activity and total phenol contents (r = 0.792). This result confirmed that the quantity of total phenols were the main contributors to the high antioxidant activity of pomegranate juice [36, 37], especially gallagyl esters (r = 0.619), total anthocyanin (r = 0.445), and ellagitannins (r = 0.406). Antioxidant activity was although negatively correlated with gallotannins (r = −0.453), flavonoids (r = −0.664), and phenolic acids (r = −0.482). On the other hand, citric acid was highly correlated with total phenols, antioxidant activity, and ash with r = 0.745, r = 0.536, and r = 0.835, respectively. Succinic and fumaric acids also showed the same positive correlation.


## 3.8. Principal Component Analysis (PCA)

PCA was applied to the results to achieve better understanding of the relationships and trends between variables for the different pomegranate cultivars. The first two principal components explained 68.34% of the total variation (Figure2). The proportion of variation for the first and the second components was 48.74% and 19.60%, respectively. The first component F1 representing 48.74% of the total variation was positively linked to total polyphenols contents, antioxidant activity, ash, fumaric, malic, citric, and succinic acids, sulphur (S), ellagitannins, and gallagyl esters while negatively linked to potassium (K), sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), gallotannins, phenolic acids, and flavonoids. The second component F2 accounted for 19.60% of the variance and was positively correlated with anthocyanin, oxalic, and ascorbic acids, whereas negatively correlated with iron (Fe) and iodine (I) minerals.Figure 2
Principal component analysis (PCA) of the first two components (F1 and F2): segregation of ten Moroccan pomegranate cultivars based on their juice minerals, bioactive compounds, and antioxidant activity characteristics.Based on the plot of the principal component scores, the cultivar “Lhamdha” showed high positive score on F1. This cultivar presented a rich source in organic acids (fumaric, succinic, and citric acids), gallagyl esters, and ellagitannins and showed high antioxidant activity, total polyphenol, and ash contents. This sour cultivar can be used as a functional source in medical or cosmetic industry as it showed high content of beneficial compounds. On the other hand, the cultivar “Sefri 1” presented large negative score on F1 and F2 showing high content of minerals (I, Na, Ca, and Fe), gallotannins, flavonoids, and phenolic acids. The cultivars “Sefri 2,” “Sefri 3,” “Sefri 4,” and “Bzeq Tir” were relatively close to each other along thex-axis and presented a low negative score on F1 and F2. They were characterized also by the same characteristics as the cultivar “Sefri 1.” Lastly, “Lahmer,” “Marrakchia,” “Sefri 5,” and “Sefri 6” were close to each other along the y-axis and showed a positive score on F1. They had red juices rich in anthocyanins and oxalic and ascorbic acids with high antioxidant activity and total polyphenols contents and then could be used for production of fresh pomegranate juice with high health benefits.


## 3.9. Cluster Analysis

Figure3 shows the results obtained from cluster analysis for the ten studied Moroccan pomegranate cultivars. Four main groups were clustered based on the mineral and biochemical parameters. The first and second groups were composed by one cultivar: “Lhamdha” and “Sefri 1,” respectively. The third group consisted of the cultivars “Bzeq Tir,” “Sefri 2,” “Sefri 3,” and “Sefri 4,” while the last group included “Sefri 5,” “Sefri 6,” “Lahmer,” and “Marrakchia.” This cluster analysis revealed the divergence of cultivars with the same appellation “Sefri” confirming the problem of homonymy or synonymy exposed by Ajal et al. [38] in the pomegranate cultivars appellation. PCA and cluster analysis indicated that there were great differences among cultivars in terms of physicochemical and biochemical attributes.Figure 3
Dendrogram of ten Moroccan pomegranate cultivars based on their juice minerals, bioactive compounds, and antioxidant activity characteristics.


## 4. Conclusions

Statistically significant differences were found between the ten studied pomegranate cultivars within the determined physicochemical and biochemical parameters. The sour cultivar “Lhamdha” showed promising characteristics and could be used as a source of nutraceutical substances while the cultivars “Sefri 1” or “Sefri” of Lalla Takerkoust, “Sefri 2” or “Sefri” of Sour Laaz, and “Sefri 3” or “Sefri” of Tmassine have showed interesting content of minerals. The cultivars “Sefri 5” or “Sefri” of Ouled Abdellah, “Sefri 6” or “Sefri” of Beni Meskine, “Lahmer,” and “Marrakchia” are suitable for the production of fresh pomegranate juice with high potential of health benefit, while the cultivars “Sefri” of Sour Laaz, “Sefri” of Tmassine, “Sefri 4” or “Sefri” of Sidi Abdellah, and “Bzeq Tir” could be intended for fresh fruit consumption or for commercialization of ready-to-eat arils. Cluster analysis revealed the divergence of cultivars with the same appellation “Sefri” confirming the problem of homonymy or synonymy in the pomegranate cultivars appellation. This study clearly demonstrates the potential of the studied pomegranate cultivars and the importance of their valorisation, especially for food and pharmaceutical industries.



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*Source: 8844538-2020-12-05.xml*