Introduction. India is the
largest producer of pomegranate in the world, with rich genetic
diversity. The wide range of utility of pomegranate in human health,
nutrition and livelihood security has triggered its heavy demand
in India and other countries. At present, more than 300 germplasm
accessions from indigenous and exotic sources are available in India,
but meagre information on the physico-chemical properties of their fruits
is available. In our study, the physico-chemical properties of varieties
grown under a semi-arid climate were investigated. Materials
and methods. Our study was carried out at the experimental
farm of the National Research Centre on Pomegranate, Solapur, India,
during the harvests of 2008–2009 and 2009–2010. Twenty pomegranate
varieties were studied with respect to the physico-chemical properties
of their fruits. Results and discussion. A considerable
variation (coefficient of variation: 3.37% to 101.13%) was observed
with respect to the 16 characters studied. The values ranged from 12.64 °Brix
to 15.39 °Brix for TSS; 0.38% to 3.40% for acidity; 16.67 g to 27.82 g
for 100-aril weight; 4.31-38.62 for the maturity index; 59.22% to 77.40%
for aril percentage; and 43.30% to 61.00% for juice percentage. Fruit
size, rind weight, total aril weight, 100-aril weight, juice weight and
aril width were found to have a strong positive correlation (P < 0.01) with
fruit weight. Based on the total index score obtained, the varieties ‘Bassein
Seedless’, ‘Dholka’, ‘Ganesh’, ‘Jyoti’, ‘Kandhari’, ‘KRS’, ‘Mridula’
and ‘P-13’ were found to be suitable for processing and table purposes.