**4. Conclusions**

In practice, pomegranate fruit is stored for batch processing. During this time, quality attributes degrade, and hence, the quality of dried pomegranate arils. This study has established the effect of long-term storage of whole fruit on the quality of the final products using hot-air and freeze-drying methods. Prolonged cold storage of raw material considerably affected the total soluble solids and titratable acidity of hot-air and freeze-dried pomegranate arils. The TSS of fresh arils increased while TA decreased with storage period. Freeze-dried aril had a significantly higher total colour difference (TCD) than hot-air dried arils after the 12-week storage period. Hot-air dried arils presented the highest TSS and TA compared to freeze-drying after the storage period. A steady increase in the total phenolic content (TPC) and total anthocyanin content (TAC) of both fresh and dried arils was also observed. Cold storage negatively affected the antioxidant activity (RSA and FRAP) in both fresh and dried arils. At the end of the storage period, freeze-drying presented higher stability of antioxidant capacity (RSA) than hot-air drying.

In contrast, hot-air drying showed higher stability of antioxidant capacity (FRAP) with the highest half lifetime, suggesting that the preservation of antioxidant capacity in dried arils is dependent on the type of assay and choice of drying method. Due to the significantly broad total colour difference (TCD) in fresh fruit after the 12-week storage period, as well as the decline in antioxidant capacity in both the raw material and dried arils in the same period, this study suggests processing fresh pomegranate fruit between harvest and eight-week storage duration. Additionally, based on the importance of colour in marketability and consumer preference, the freeze-drying method is recommended.

**Author Contributions:** The following authors contributed to the work: conceptualisation, O.A.F. and U.L.O.; methodology, A.O.A. and O.A.F.; software, A.O.A.; formal analysis, A.O.A.; investigation, A.O.A.; resources, O.A.F. and U.L.O.; writing—original draft preparation, A.O.A.; writing—review and editing, O.A.F. and U.L.O.; supervision, O.A.F. and U.L.O.; project administration, O.A.F.; funding acquisition, O.A.F. and U.L.O. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This work is based on the research supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa (IUD: 64813 and (IUD: 105722). The financial support of the World Academy of Science and National Research Foundation of South Africa through the award of doctoral scholarship to Mr Adetoro is gratefully acknowledged (IUD: 105483). The opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) alone, and the NRF accepts no liability whatsoever in this regard.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
