Pomegranate Fruit Powder

Pomegranate fruit powder is the dried, milled edible fruit of Punica granatum L. (Lythraceae) — the arils with their juice and internal membrane. Thovek sources from the Bhagwa cultivar, which is reported to account for over 86% of India's planted pomegranate area and is concentrated in Maharashtra, where Solapur district alone carries the largest area under the crop and holds a registered geographical indication. Fruit is washed, opened and the arils separated, then either tray or vacuum dried and milled carrier-free, or juiced and spray dried onto maize maltodextrin. This is a fruit powder, not a standardised extract: punicalagin- and ellagic-acid-standardised materials, and peel-derived extracts, are different articles on different specifications and are quoted separately. The fruit's characteristic polyphenols carry through the powder without being concentrated. Present naturally are the ellagitannins punicalagin A and B and punicalin, their hydrolysis product ellagic acid, and the anthocyanins responsible for the colour — delphinidin, cyanidin and pelargonidin as their 3-glucosides and 3,5-diglucosides — alongside fruit sugars and organic acids, chiefly citric. Published figures for pomegranate juice put punicalagins in the region of 1500–1900 mg/L, total anthocyanins around 390 mg/L and ellagic acid near 120 mg/L, with wide variation by cultivar and by how much peel and membrane the pressing picks up. Powder values follow the concentration factor and the drying route, so Thovek reports total polyphenols as gallic acid equivalents on every batch and adds punicalagin and ellagic acid by HPLC where the buyer's specification calls for them. Measured in-vitro antioxidant capacity (ORAC or FRAP) is offered strictly as analytical characterisation of the material. In the plant, the two grades behave differently and should be specified deliberately. The spray-dried juice powder dissolves cleanly and suits beverages, shots and effervescent formats; the carrier-free fruit powder disperses with a fine insoluble fraction and suits capsules, bars, tablets and blends where fruit solids are wanted. Both are hygroscopic, and the colour is anthocyanin-based, so it drifts from pink toward reddish-brown under heat, light and higher pH. On allergens and origin: the material is vegan and vegetarian, of plant origin only, with no milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, tree-nut or gluten input, and the maize maltodextrin used in the spray-dried grade is gluten-free. Pomegranate is not listed in Annex II of EU Regulation 1169/2011 nor among the US major food allergens, so no allergen emphasis is required for the fruit itself.