Pomegranate

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Pomegranates

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 areas in eastern Iran, 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 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 many seeds. The edible parts are the seeds and the brilliant red seed pulp surrounding them .

The only other species in the genus Punica, 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 in the Northern Hemisphere, or March to May in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Iranian cities of Kashan, Saveh and Yazd are known to cultivate the best kinds of pomegranate in the world.

Etymology

The name Pomegranate derives from Latin pomum (apple) and granatus (grainy). The genus name Punica is named after the Phoenicians, who were active in broadening its cultivation, partly for religious reasons. In classical Latin its name was malum punicum or malum granatum, where "malum" is an apple. This has influenced the common name for pomegranate in many languages (eg German Granatapfel, seeded 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) ^*, and Kabyle rrumman.

The weapon grenade derived its name from this fruit.

Cultivation and uses

The pomegranate has been cultivated around the Mediterranean region for several millennia. In Georgia, to the east of the Black Sea, there are wild pomegranate groves outside of ancient abandoned settlements. 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.

Food

After opening the pomegranate by scoring it with a knife and breaking it open, the arils (seed casings) are separated from the skin and internal white supporting structures. (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. 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 in 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, 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 markets catering to such. 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 of the wild pomegranate daru from the Himalayas is considered the highest quality source for this spice.

In Turkey, pomegranate (Turkish: nar) is used in a variety of ways. The most famous one is pomegranate juice (Turkish: nar ekşisi), which is used as a salad dressing, to marinate meat, or simply to enjoy it straight. Pomegranate seeds are also used in salads, in Muhammara (Turkish Walnut Garlic Spread) and in Güllaç, a famous Turkish desert.

In Greece pomegranate, (Greek: ροδι, rodi), is used in many recipes; such as "kollivozoumi", a creamy broth made from boiled wheat, pomegranates and raisins; Legume salad with wheat and pomegranate; traditional Middle Eastern lamb kabobs with pomegranate glaze; pomegranate eggplant relish; avocado and pomegranate dip; are just some of the dishes it is used in culinary. Pomegranate is also made into a liqueur and popular fruit confectionery that can be used as ice cream topping, or mixed with yogurt, and even spread as jams over toast for breakfast.

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 publications 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 (which have no sugar, calories, or additives), instead of the juice, 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 essentially 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.

In several human clinical trials, the juice of the pomegranate has been found effective in reducing several heart risk factors, including LDL oxidation, macrophage oxidative status, and foam cell formation, all of which are steps in atherosclerosis and heart disease. Tannins have been identified as the primary components responsible for the reduction of oxidative states which lead to these risk factors.

Pomegranate juice has also been shown to be effective against certain cancers such as prostate cancer. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5132546.stm

Pomegranates and symbolism

Judaism and the Bible

Exodus chapter 28:33-34 directed that images of pomegranates be woven onto the borders of Hebrew priestly robes. 1 Kings chapter 7:13-22 describes pomegranates depicted in the temple King Solomon built in Jerusalem. Jewish tradition teaches that the pomegranate is a symbol for righteousness, because it is said to have 613 seeds which corresponds with the 613 mitzvot or commandments of the Torah. For this reason and others many Jews eat pomegranates on Rosh Hashanah.

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 one version of Greek mythology, Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and taken off to live in the underworld as his wife. Her mother, Demeter, (goddess of the Harvest), went into mourning for her lost daughter and thus all green things ceased to grow on the Earth. Zeus could not leave the Earth to die, so he commanded Hades to return Persephone. It was the rule of the Fates that anyone who consumed food or drink in the Underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Persphone had no food, however, Hades tricked her into eating six pomegranate seeds while she was still his prisoner and so, because of this, she was condemned to spend six months in the Underworld every year. During these six months, when Persephone is sitting on the throne of the Underworld next to her husband Hades, her mother Demeter mourns and no longer gives fertility to the earth. This became an ancient Greek explanation for the seasons.

The pomegranate also evoked the presence of the Aegean Triple Goddess who evolved into the Olympian Hera, who is sometimes 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. In some artistic depictions, the pomegranate is found in the hand of Mary, mother of Jesus.

In modern times the pomegranate still hold strong symbolic meanings to the Greeks. On imporant days in the Greek Orthodox faith, such as the Presentation of the Virgin Mary and on Christmas Day, it is tradition to have at the dinner table "polysporia", ("polisporia"), also known by their ancient name "panspermia" in some regions of Greece. In ancient times they were offered to Demeter and to the other gods for fertile land, for the spirits of the dead and in honor of compassionate Dionysus. In modern times they symbolic meaning is towards Jesus and his mother Mary. The presence of pomegranate is also very important in Greek weddings and funerals. When Greeks commemorate their dead, they make "kollyva" as offerings that consist of boiled wheat, mixed with sugar and decorated with pomegranate. It is also tradition in Greece to break a pomegranate on the ground at weddings, on New Years and when one buys a new home for a house guest to bring as a first gift a pomegranate which is placed under/near the ikonostasi, (home altar), of the house, as it is a symbol of abundance, fertility and good luck. Pomegranate decorations for the home are very common in Greece and sold in most homegood stores.^*

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. ^*
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 China and 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.
Grenada, an island nation off the coast of South America, was named after the Spanish and French word for 'pomegranate'.
The pomegranate also gave its name to the hand 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. In many languages (including Bulgarian, Spanish, French, and Hebrew) the words are exactly the same.
Balaustine, the red flowers of the pomegranate.
The pomegranate was the personal emblem of the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I.
With the rise in popularity, Starbucks introduced a new pomegranate frappucinno.

References and external links

Graham, S. A., J. Hall, K. Sytsma & S. Shi. 2005. Phylogenetic analysis of the Lythraceae based on four gene regions and morphology. Int. J. Pl. Sci. 166: 995–1017.
Pomegranate Cocktails
Pomegranate Fruit Facts
Pomegranate Recipes

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