Pomegranate Information

The Pomegranate is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 5-8 m tall. The pomegranate is native from Iran to the Himalayas in northern India and has been cultivated and naturalized over the whole Mediterranean region including Armenia since ancient times. It is widely cultivated throughout Iran, India, the drier parts of southeast Asia, Malaya, the East Indies, and tropical Africa.

The leaves are opposite or sub-opposite, glossy, narrow oblong, entire, 3-7 cm long and 2 cm broad. The flowers are bright red, 3 cm in diameter, with five petals (often more on cultivated plants). The fruit is between an orange and a grapefruit in size, 7-12 cm in diameter with a rounded hexagonal shape, and has thick reddish skin and around 600 seeds. The edible parts are the seeds and the red seed pulp surrounding them; indeed, the fruit of the pomegranate is a berry. There are some cultivars which have been introduced that have a range of pulp colours like purple.

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The name "pomegranate" derives from Latin pomum ("apple") and granatus ("seeded"). This has influenced the common name for pomegranate in many languages (e.g. German Granatapfel, seeded apple). The genus name Punica is named for the Phoenicians, who were active in broadening its cultivation, partly for religious reasons; consequently in classical Latin the fruit's name was malum punicum or malum granatum, where "malum" was broadly applied to many apple-like fruits. A separate, widespread root for "pomegranate" is the Egyptian and Semitic rmn. Attested in Ancient Egyptian, in Hebrew rimmôn, and in Arabic rummân, this root was brought by Arabic to a number of languages, including Portuguese (romã)[2], and Kabyle rrumman and Maltese "rumen". According to the OED, the weapon grenade derived its name, attested in 1532, from the French name for the fruit, which is la grenade (from which also comes the name applied to a kind of syrup, originally pomegranate syrup, widely used in cocktails and grenadine). Even though this fruit does not originate from China, one common nickname is "Chinese apple"

The pomegranate originated from Persia (Iran).

After opening the pomegranate by scoring it with a knife and breaking it open, the arils (seed casings) are separated from the skin (peel) and internal white supporting structures (pith and carpellary membrane). Separating the red arils can be simplified by performing this task in a bowl of water, whereby the arils will sink and the white structures will float to the top. The entire seed is consumed raw, though the fleshy outer portion of the seed is the part that is desired. The taste differs depending on the variety of pomegranate and its state of ripeness. It can be very sweet or it can be very sour or tangy, but most fruits lie somewhere in between, which is the characteristic taste, laced with notes of its tannin. Pomegranate concentrate is used in Syrian cuisine. Wild pomegranate seeds are sometimes used as a spice, known as anardana (which literally means pomegranate (anar) seeds (dana) in Persian), most notably in Indian and Pakistani cuisine but also as a replacement for pomegranate syrup in Persian and Middle Eastern cuisine. As a result of this, the dried whole seeds can often be obtained in ethnic markets. The seeds are separated from the flesh, dried for 10-15 days and used as an acidic agent for chutney and curry production. The seeds may also be ground in order to avoid seeds becoming stuck in the teeth when eating dishes prepared with them. The seeds of the wild pomegranate daru from the Himalayas is considered the highest quality source for this spice.

The Pomegranate will provide 16% of an adult's daily vitamin C requirement per 100 ml serving, pomegranate juice is also a good source of the B vitamin, pantothenic acid, potassium and antioxidant polyphenols.



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