BACKGROUND The persistent water shortage, typical of the Mediterranean agricultural systems, has driven the production methods towards the use of regulated deficit irrigation (DI) strategies which may allow important water savings. To evaluate the extent to which pomegranate (cv. 'Wonderful') attributes may differ depending on the irrigation application rates, we investigated the effect of four different irrigation regimes (100, 75, 50, and 25% of maximum crop evapotranspiration - ETC -) on their morpho-pomological, physico-chemical properties, and bioactive compounds. RESULTS The weight and the size of whole fruits, aril number and weight per fruit decreased significantly with the restriction of ETC water volumes applied to the crop. Minor differences were observed in soluble solids, pH, color of fruit skins, arils, and juices, although total acidity, maturity index, vitamin C, glucose, and fructose were not affected. However, total phenol content and antioxidant activity in juices were higher in the samples subjected to the DI treatments than in those submitted to full irrigation, showing the highest value in 50% ETC . A similar trend was found for anthocyanins delphinidin-3,5-diglucoside and delphinidin-3-glucoside, reaching the highest concentration in 50% ETC . Among non-anthocyanin compounds, punicalagins and pedunculagin, were more concentrated in the 75% ETc samples. CONCLUSION The results of the present study indicate that DI strategy throughout all growing season is likely to have important implication on the pomegranate physical, chemical, and phytochemical properties whose knowledge is useful in view of their processing and nutritional properties. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

中文翻译：

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受亏缺灌溉影响的“美妙”石榴果实和果汁的生物活性化合物和质量评价

背景技术地中海农业系统中典型的持续缺水促使生产方法转向使用调节亏缺灌溉（DI）策略，这可以实现重要的节水。为了评估石榴（cv. 'Wonderful'）属性可能因灌溉施用率而异的程度，我们研究了四种不同灌溉制度（100%、75%、50% 和 25% 的最大作物蒸散量 - ETC - ) 关于它们的形态学、物理化学特性和生物活性化合物。结果受ETC水量限制，整果重、粒重、假种皮数和单果重显着下降。在可溶性固体、pH 值、果皮、假种皮和果汁的颜色方面观察到微小差异，虽然总酸度、成熟度指数、维生素 C、葡萄糖和果糖没有受到影响。然而，在进行 DI 处理的样品中，果汁中的总酚含量和抗氧化活性高于完全灌溉的样品，在 50% ETC 中显示出最高值。花青素 delphinidin-3,5-diglucoside 和 delphinidin-3-glucoside 也有类似的趋势，在 50% ETC 中达到最高浓度。在非花青素化合物中，安石榴苷和花梗苷在 75% ETc 样品中更集中。结论 本研究的结果表明，贯穿整个生长季节的 DI 策略可能对石榴的物理、化学和植物化学特性具有重要意义，这些知识对石榴的加工和营养特性很有用。本文受版权保护。版权所有。