HPLC–PDA–MS fingerprinting to assess the authenticity of pomegranate beverages

HPLC with fluorescence, PDA and mass spectrometric detection were used to analyse the (poly)phenol content of a Bordeaux red wine, POM Wonderful pomegranate juice and three other beverages advertised as being made from 100% pomegranate juice. The red wine and POM Wonderful juice contained characteristic anthocyanin profiles with the latter also being characterised by the presence of ellagitannins and the former by flavan-3-ols monomers and procyanidin dimers and trimers. The three other pomegranate products all contained the expected ellagitannins but their anthocyanin profiles were a mixture of red wine and pomegranate anthocyanins. They also contained flavan-3-ol monomers and procyanidin dimers and trimers, components not usually detected in 100% pomegranate beverages. The HPLC-based procedures, therefore, provide a straight-forward means of accessing the authenticity of pomegranate-based products with the ready detection of constituents derived from red grapes.