Enhancing postharvest quality of pomegranate fruits during cold storage: Effects of peracetic acid-hydrogen peroxide mixture on processing (cv. Kingdom) and fresh consumption (cv. Sefri Ouled Abdellah) varieties

• PAA-H₂O₂ treatment was evaluated for preserving two pomegranate cultivars during cold storage. • The treatment effectively preserved phenolic compounds, flavonoids, tannins, and antioxidant activity. • PAA-H₂O₂ maintained anthocyanins and total sugars, despite increasing fruit weight loss. • ‘Kingdom’ exhibited greater biochemical and nutritional stability than ‘Sefri Ouled Abdellah’. • Varietal differences emphasize the need for optimized, cultivar-specific postharvest strategies. Pomegranate is a highly nutritious and bioactive-rich fruit with exceptional versatility, that can follow various postharvest pathways, either for processing or for direct fresh consumption. Cold storage is an essential and effective method for preserving fruit, while there are negative effects that may alter its quality during storage. Therefore, selecting an appropriate treatment to mitigate these degradative processes is crucial for extending shelf life. This study evaluates the effects of a peracetic acid–hydrogen peroxide (PAA-H₂O₂) mixture on the quality and shelf life of two pomegranate varieties, ' Kingdom ' and ' Sefri Ouled Abdellah ', during 120 days of cold storage at 4°C. Morphological (weight loss, color attributes), physicochemical (pH, total soluble solids, titratable acidity), biochemical and nutritional quality (phenolic compounds, tannins, flavonoids, anthocyanins, antioxidant activity, and total sugar content) were analyzed. Untreated fruits exhibited significant quality degradation over storage. PAA-H₂O₂ treatment increased weight loss (20.01% and 18.49%) compared to control fruits (12.8% and 13.57%) for ' Kingdom ' and ' Sefri Ouled Abdellah ', respectively, during storage. The PAA-H₂O₂ treatment had no significant effect on color. The treatment effectively maintained total phenolic content in both cultivars and delayed the loss of tannins and flavonoids, particularly in ' Kingdom '. PAA-H₂O₂ treatment effectively preserves the biochemical quality of pomegranates during cold storage, with notable benefits for ' Kingdom ' intended for processing. However, varietal differences highlight the need for further optimization of treatment conditions to enhance preservation strategies for different pomegranate varieties.