Treatments influencing quality attributes and separation time of pomegranate arils

摘要

Aim. The dehydrated seeds of pomegranate fruits (Anardana) are used as acidulent in culinary preparations and in making various medicines. But the removal of arils for preparation of anardana is a difficult process, since the arils of pomegranate are tightly adhered to each other and removal of seeds manually results in staining of hands and dress of the workers. This study evaluated the effect of different treatments on separation time and quality attributes of pomegranate arils. Methods. For easy separation of arils, fruits were subjected to hot oven, hot water dipping and soaking in cold water. Among different treatments hot water dip (2 min) saved time required for separation of arils from fruits without any significant adverse effect on arils quality in comparison with control treatment. The acidity and ascorbic acid content of the arils separated by this treatment was also high. Results and conclusion. Hot oven treatment reduced the time required for separation in comparison with control sample too, but due to the high temperature during hot oven, quality of arils was inferior when compared to other treatments.