Development and characterization of SSR markers for pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) using an enriched library

In the present work, we report the development of 11 microstallite markers (SSR) for Punica granatum. Evaluated on a set of 27 pomegranate accessions sampled in Tunisia, they displayed 25 alleles, with number of alleles per locus ranging between 1 and 4, and an observed heterozygosity from 0.037 and 0.592. This set of SSR markers can be very useful for studies dealing with genetic diversity assessment of germplasm, with cultivars/varieties fingerprinting and pedigree analysis of this economically important fruit species

Organic Acids, Sugars, and Anthocyanins Contents in Juices of Tunisian Pomegranate Fruits

peer reviewedJuices made from fruits of 30 Tunisian accessions of pomegranate were studied for their organic acids, sugars, and anthocyanin contents, using high performance liquid chromatography. Among the detected organic acids, malic acid was the major one (>50%) followed by citric acid (>22%), while among sugars, fructose and glucose were most present in pomegranate juice contributing 53.9 and 43.4% of the total sugar content, respectively. The total anthocyanin content ranged from 9-115 mg per litre of juice with the following ranges of the six compounds found: cyanidin-3,5-diglucoside (3.1-74.4 mg/L), delphinidin-3-glucoside (0.7-22.0 mg/L), cyanidin-3-glucoside (0.8-21.0 mg/L), pelargonidin-3-glucoside (0.5-16.1 mg/L), pelargonidin-3,5-diglucoside (0.0-11.8 mg/L), and delphinidin-3,5-diglucoside (0.0-5.4 mg/L). Based on the analyzed parameters, cluster analysis allowed grouping cultivars into two main clusters. One was made of sour cultivars and the second of the sweet ones. Principle component and cluster analyses suggested that the composition of the pomegranate fruits is determined by cultivar rather than cultivation location