Today, due to the awareness about the relationship between health and food, more than ever, customers tend to consume new food with beneficial properties. One of the functional food is products containing prebiotic substances, which in recent years have received more attention. Pomegranate juice has many functional features such as antimicrobial, anti-clogging and anti-inflammatory properties and its antioxidant capacity is three times more than the antioxidant properties of red grape juice and green tea, because of the high amount of polyphenolic compounds and phytochemicals. Gundelia tournefortii (kangar) extract contains very useful nutrients such as inulin, which is a valuable prebiotic compound. The aim of the present study was to formulate a new functional pomegranate juice fortified with different percentages of kangar extract as a prebiotic source. In this works physicochemical properties like pH, acidity, turbidity, brix, hue, chroma, plyphenols, and anthocyanin contents were evaluated during a month of storage. The results showed that with the addition of kangar extract, most characteristics of pomegranate juice were affected compared to the control sample. However, the pH and acidity of the juice were slightly affected by the addition of kangar extract. The pomegranate juice brix was decreased by increasing the level of kangar extract. Interstingly, the turbidity of pomegranate juice was decreased when higher amount of the prebiotic extract was applied. Color analysis of pomegranate juice after one week showed a positive effect of 1.5% kangar extract on the hue, while adding more percentage led to a decrease in color. Morever, the content of polyphenols and anthocyanins was reduced by adding prebiotic extract to the pomegranate juice. Finally, the acceptable sensoray evaluation scores was reported by the panel tests for all treatments even for once storged in 28 days.
