Approach to assessing the quality and identifying the naturality of pomegranate juices

The unique chemical composition and exceptional organoleptic properties cause not only the growing demand for pomegranate juice, but also its cost, and, consequently, vulnerability to falsifi cation, especially of high quality. Therefore, the identifi cation of the authenticity of pomegranate juice has remained an important area of scientifi c research. In this case, the most reliable algorithm should be considered the one that combines the study of several indicators: anthocyanins and polyphenolic substances, the concentration of sugars, organic acids, etc. The purpose of the work is a comprehensive study of the chemical composition of pomegranate juices purchased from trade organizations in order to identify juice authenticity. The experiment determined the organoleptic and physicochemical parameters of pomegranate juice samples, including chromatic characteristics. It has been established that, in terms of dry matter content, only sample No. 1 meets the requirements of TR CU 023/2011; it has been shown that in samples No. 2 and 3, there are no natural anthocyanin dyes, while the presence of synthetic dyes in these samples has been established. Pomegranate juice sample No. 1 has been proven to contain all of the organic acids normally found in authentic samples of this product. Meanwhile, samples No. 2 and 3 do not contain tartaric and quinic acids, and sample No. 2 does not contain malic acid either. The conducted studies are aimed at forming a unifi ed methodological approach to assessing the quality and identifying the authenticity of pomegranate juice, which will be developed and tested in further studies.