Pomegranate

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P. protopunica Balf. Template:Taxobox end

The Pomegranate, Punica granatum, is a species of fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 5-8 m tall. The pomegranate is believed to have originated in the area from eastern Iran to northern India, but its true native range is not accurately known because of its extensive cultivation.

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 diameter, with five petals (often more on cultivated plants). The fruit is between an orange and a grapefruit in size, 7-12 cm diameter with a rounded hexagonal shape, has a thick reddish skin and many seeds. The edible part is the brilliant red seed pulp surrounding the seeds.

Although previously treated in its own family Punicaceae, recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group shows that it is a member of the family Lythraceae. The only other species in the genus, Socotra Pomegranate Punica protopunica, is endemic on the island of Socotra. It differs in having pink (not red) flowers and smaller, less sweet fruit.

Pomegranates are drought tolerant, and can be grown in dry areas with either a Mediterranean winter rainfall climate or in summer rainfall climates. In wetter areas, they are prone to root decay from fungal diseases. They are tolerant of moderate frost, down to about -10°C.

The fruit is typically in season from September to November.

Etymology

The genus name, Punica is named after the Phoenicians, who were active in spreading its cultivation, partly for religious reasons. Its species name granatum derives from the Latin adjective granatus, meaning 'grain' (because of the fruit's seeds/grana). However, in classical Latin the species name was malum punicum or malum granatum, where "malus" is an apple. This has influenced the common name for pomegranate in many languages (eg German Granatapfel, seeded apple). Even "pomegranate" itself has this meaning; pomus is Latin for apple.

Another 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) [1], and Kabyle rrumman.

Cultivation and uses

The Pomegranate has been cultivated around the Mediterranean region for several millennia. The ancient city of Granada in Spain was renamed after the fruit during the Moorish period. It is also extensively grown in South China and in Southeast Asia, and could have been brought by sea traders, assuming the pomegranate was not native to the Pacific coast. Missionaries from Spain are also said to be the source for the pomegranate's introduction into the Caribbean and Latin America during the 1700-1800's.

The arils (seed casings) of the pomegranate are consumed raw. The entire seed is eaten, 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.

Pomegranate juice is a popular drink in the Middle East, and is also used in Iranian and Indian cuisine; it began to be widely marketed in the US in 2004. Pomegranate concentrate is used in Syrian cuisine. Grenadine syrup is thickened and sweetened pomegranate juice; it is used in cocktail mixing. Before the tomato arrived to the Middle East, grenadine was widely used in many Persian foods; it can still be found in traditional recipes. The juice can also be used as an antiseptic when applied to cuts.

Pomegranate seeds are sometimes used as a spice, most notably in Indian and Pakistani cuisine, as a result of which the dried whole seeds can often be obtained in markets catering to such.

One pomegranate delivers 40% of an adult's daily vitamin C requirement. It is also a rich source of folic acid and of antioxidants.

Health Benefits

Pomegranates are high in polyphenols. The most abundant polyphenols in pomegranate are hydrolysable tannins, particularly punicalagins, which have been shown in many peer-reviewed research to be the superior antioxidant responsible for the free-radical scavenging ability of pomegranate juice.

Many food and dietary supplement makers have found the advantages of using pomegranate extracts instead of the juice (which has no sugar, calories, or additives) as healthy ingredients in their products. As far as pomegranate extracts go, however, it may be advisable to stick with ingredients standardized to native constituents, as these are absorbed into the body, and have benefits backed by clinical research.

Many pomegranate extracts are esentially ellagic acid, which is largely a by-product of the juice extraction process, and is not absorbed into the body. Other pomegranate extracts are described as 'punicosides', a new term invented by a clever marketing team and not found in any peer-reviewed journals. It may be advisable to look for finished products which have pomegranate ingredients that are backed by their own clinical science, standardized to punicalagins, and are of reputable quality.

The juice of the pomegranate is being tested for its efficacy against prostate cancer http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-09/uow-cpp092205.php

Pomegranates and symbolism

Exodus chapter 28:33-34 directed that images of pomegranates were woven onto the borders Hebrew priestly robes. 1 Kings chapter 7:13-22 described pomegrantes depicted in the temple King Solomon built in Jerusalem. In a later tradition^{[citation needed]} the pomegranate's 613 seeds corresponded with the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. Some Jews traditionally eat pomegranates on Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot.

The pomegranate gave its name to the grenade from its shape and size (and the resemblance of a pomegranate's seeds to a grenade's fragments), and to the garnet from its colour.

Greek mythology

The wild pomegranate did not grow natively in the Aegean area in Neolithic times. It originated in the Iranian east and came to the Aegean world along the same cultural pathways that brought the goddess whom the Anatolians worshipped as Cybele and the Mesopotamias as Ishtar. The myth of Persephone, the dark goddess of the Underworld also prominently features the pomegranate.

In Greek mythology, Persephone was condemned to spend time in the Underworld every year because Hades tricked her into eating a pomegranate seed — or several — while she was his prisoner. The pomegranate evoked the presence of the Aegean Triple Goddess who evolved into Olympian Hera, who is represented offering the pomegranate. According to mythographers like Carl A.P. Ruck and Danny Staples, the chambered pomegranate is also a surrogate for the poppy's narcotic capsule, with its comparable shape and chambered interior. On a Mycenaean seal (illustrated in Joseph Campbell's Occidental Mythology 1964, figure 19) the seated Goddess of the double-headed axe (the labrys) offers three poppy pods in her right hand and supports her breast with her left. She embodies both aspects of the dual goddess, life-giving and death-dealing at once. Is that why Persephone found the pomegranate waiting, when she sojourned in the dark realm? The Titan Orion was represented as "marrying" Side, a name that in Boeotia means "pomegranate", thus consecrating the primal hunter to the Goddess. Other Greek dialects call the pomegranate rhoa; its possible connection with the name of the earth goddess Rhea, inexplicable in Greek, proved suggestive for the mythographer Karl Kerenyi, who suggested that the consonance might ultimately derive from a deeper, pre-Indo-European language layer.

In the sixth century BCE, Polykleitos took ivory and gold to sculpt the seated Argive Hera in her temple. She held a scepter in one hand and offered a pomegranate, like a royal orb, in the other. "About the pomegranate I must say nothing," whispered the traveller Pausanias in the second century A.D., "for its story is something of a mystery." Indeed, in the Orion story we hear that Hera cast pomegranate-Side into dim Erebus — "for daring to rival Hera's beauty", which forms the probable point of connection with the older Osiris/Isis story. Since the ancient Egyptians identified the Orion constellation in the sky as Sah the "soul of Osiris", the identification of this section of the myth seems relatively complete. Hera wears, not a wreath nor a tiara nor a diadem, but clearly the calyx of the pomegranate that has become her serrated crown. The pomegranate has outlived the Mother Goddess, to turn up in the hand of the Blessed Virgin Mother Mary.

Other

The Ancient Egyptians were buried with pomegranates. The Babylonians believed chewing the seeds before battle made them invincible.
The Qur'an mentions pomegranates three times (6:99, 6:141, 55:068) - twice as examples of the good things God creates, once as a fruit found in the Garden of Paradise.
Pomegranate has a calyx shaped like a crown. In Jewish tradition it has been seen as the original "design" for the proper crown. [2]
Pomegranate juice stains clothing permanently unless washed with bleach.
Pomegranate juice is used for natural dyeing of non synthetic fabrics.
Pomegranate juice is sold in the USA under several labels, and is available in health food stores and supermarkets across the country.
Although not native to Japan, the pomegranate is widely grown there and many cultivars have been developed. It is widely used for bonsai, because of its lovely flowers and for the unusual twisted bark that older specimens can attain.
Fun Fact: The word Hand grenade is derived from 'Pomegranate', as is Grenada, an island nation off the coast of South America.

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