The study will assess the properties, quality and consumer acceptance of the fruit juice with more antioxidants than any other on the market.
A Spanish pomegranate juice has been chosen by Kansas State University for a worldwide consumer study.
• The USA is one of the countries in which the cultivation and consumption of the pomegranate and its derivatives (juice, nectar, capsules, beauty products, etc.) has increased the most in recent years.
• The United States, Estonia and Spain, selected for growing the Mollar Elche variety, the most highly valued in the world due to its sweetness, colour and softness of its seeds, will all participate in the study.
• The Grantum plus (1) range of pomegranate juices will be presented on the 26th and 27th of October at the 1st Congress on the Pomegranate to be held in the European Union, organised by Miguel Hernández University, consisting of various conferences in which experts from CSIC (Spanish board for scientific investigations) will explain their latest discoveries regarding the beneficial effects the properties of this fruit can have on our health.
Madrid, 25th October 2010.- Researchers from Kansas State University have chosen Granatum Plus pomegranate juice, developed within the Granatum Europa project, from among juices from all over the world for a worldwide consumer study.
This comparative study will be carried out using three brands of juice produced in the United States, one from the European Union (Granatum Plus) and an Estonian brand. Among the American juices are those with the highest number of consumers, such as the brand Pom Wonderful (2), which has launched a surprising television advertising campaign in the United States this October, worth 10 million dollars and inspired upon the garden of Eden and Greek mythology.
Granatum Plus pomegranate juice has been chosen due to its quality and the fact that it is made exclusively using pomegranates of the Mollar Elche variety, grown in the Valencia and Murcia regions, the most valued type of pomegranate in the world thanks to its unique sweetness, colour and the softness of its seeds, making Mollar Elche the perfect variety for producing all kinds of derivatives that enable it to be consumed all year round.
Joining Kansas State University (3) in the study are Tallin University (Estonia) (4), and the Food Quality and Safety Group from Miguel Hernández University, Elche (5), led by Prof. Ángel Carbonell.
According to Prof. Carbonell, “The researchers from the Sensory Analysis Center at Kansas State University were captivated by the pomegranate’s potential during a visit they paid us in early 2009. Since then, they haven’t stopped investigating and investing their knowledge, time and money in this fruit and its derivative products, mainly juice. Their first task was to come up with specific vocabulary to be able to give a precise description of the sensory properties of pomegranate juice (colour, smell, flavour, aftertaste, etc). Now they are about to carry out a study with over 300 consumers, involving 5 juices that they have chosen from around the world. With the data from this study, they will be able to decide which properties or attributes of pomegranate juice are most highly valued by the European and/or American consumer. It is important to understand the characteristics of the appearance and flavour of pomegranate juice so that companies in that sector can use these attributes in the development of their products (with a high guarantee of success), improve their existing products and establish measures for quality control and the shelf-life of the product”.
The pomegranate is a great source of vitamins C and E and minerals and also contains a high amount of polyphenols, meaning that this fruit has a higher level of antioxidants than any other, containing three times more than green tea or red wine.
The Granatum Europa project, formed by Spanish and European food and agriculture companies and Miguel Hernández University, bases the development of its products on research carried out by Miguel Hernández University (Agriculture and Food Technology Department, Food Quality and Safety Group) and by other prestigious scientists from Spanish and European Universities. All of the raw materials used come from crops grown by farming cooperatives in the Valencia and Murcia regions, such as Albafruits and Coopelche. With an annual turnover of 40,000 tonnes, 95% of the pomegranates grown in the European Union are concentrated in these regions. The plant where the pomegranate juice is packaged is located in Archena (Murcia).
Although pomegranates and their derivatives are widely consumed and accepted by European consumers, 99% of the products available in Europe are made from pomegranates grown outside of the European Union. However, Granatum Plus only make products from pomegranates grown in Spain.
According to Eduardo Vidal, Granatum Europa Project Manager, “this study offers a unique opportunity for our project, as well as for Spanish agriculture. It is important for the consumer to be aware of the properties of the pomegranate and its derivatives and in this sense, Miguel Hernández University has made a great effort by organising the 1st National Pomegranate Conference (6) this coming 26th and 27th of October, where researchers from CSIC and CEBAS (Centre for edaphology and applied biology) in the Murcia region, one of the pioneers and leading centres in the world in advances in research into the properties of the pomegranate (7), and Dr. Gilberto Chéchile, head uroandrologist from the Institute for Prostate Diseases, at the Dexeus Institute in Barcelona (8), will hold several conferences in which they explain the pharmacological, neurological, therapeutical, urological and anti-inflammatory benefits, among others, of this 100% Spanish fruit. At the congress, there will be an official presentation of the Granatum plus product range, the first European brand to market juices, nectars, syrups, capsules, etc. made exclusively from pomegranates grown within the borders of the European Union.
