The pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a
fruit-bearing
deciduous shrub or small
tree growing to between five and eight meters tall. The pomegranate is native to
Southwest Asia and has been cultivated in the
Caucasus since ancient times. It is widely cultivated throughout
Georgia,
Afghanistan,
Algeria,
Armenia,
Azerbaijan,
Iran,
Iraq,
India,
Israel,
Lebanon,
Morocco,
Pakistan,
Syria,
Turkey, the drier parts of
southeast Asia,
Peninsular Malaysia, the
East Indies, and
tropical Africa. Introduced into
Latin America and
California by
Spanish settlers in 1769, pomegranate is now cultivated in parts of California and
Arizona for juice production. In the Northern Hemisphere, the fruit is typically in season from September to February. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is in season from March to May.
About 760 different local varieties of pomegranate have been recognized in Iran. These varieties have been collected in Agricultural Research Institute, Yazd, Iran. The most famous varieties are Soveh, Sioh, Rabob, Aghaei, Ardestony, Shisheh cap, Shirin Shahvor, Bajestony, Malas e Daneh Siah, Touq Gardan, Khazar, Shecar e Ashraf (Behshahr), Alak, Arous, Farouq, Rahab, Khafar e Shiraz, Ferdous e Khorasan, Bi daneh Sangan.
Foliage and fruitPomegranate flowers and leaves
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 four to five petals (often more on cultivated plants). Some fruitless varieties are grown for the flowers alone. The edible
fruit is a
berry and is between a
lemon and a
grapefruit in size, 5–12 cm in diameter with a rounded hexagonal shape, and has thick reddish skin and around 600
seeds. The seeds and surrounding pulp, ranging in color from white to deep red, are called
arils. There are some
cultivars which have been introduced that have a range of pulp colors such as
purple.
Punica granatum nana is a dwarf variety of P. granatum popularly used as
Bonsai trees and as a patio plant. The only other species in the genus
Punica is the
Socotran pomegranate (Punica protopunica), which is
endemic to 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 (14
°F).[
citation needed]
EtymologyThe 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). In early English, the Pomegranate was known as "apple of Grenada" -- a term which today survives only in
heraldic blazons. This was probably a folk etymology, confusing Latin granatus with the Spanish city of
Granada. The genus name Punica is named for the
Phoenicians, who were active in broadening its cultivation, partly for religious reasons. In classical Latin, where "malum" was broadly applied to many apple-like fruits, the pomegranate's name was malum punicum or malum granatum, the latter giving rise to the
Italian name melograno, or less commonly melagrana.
A widespread root for "pomegranate" comes from the Ancient
Egyptian rmn, from which derive the
Hebrew rimmôn, and
Arabic rummân. This root was given by Arabs to other languages, including
Portuguese (romã),
Kabyle rrumman and
Maltese "rummien". The pomegranate ('rimmôn') is mentioned in the Bible as one of the seven fruits/plants that Israel was blessed with, and in Hebrew, 'rimmôn' is also the name of the weapon now called the
grenade. According to Webster's New Spanish-English Dictionary, "granada," the
Spanish word for "pomegranate," could also mean "grenade." According to the
OED, the word "grenade" originated about 1532 from the French name for the pomegranate, la grenade. La grenade also gives us the word
grenadine, the name of a kind of fruit
syrup, originally made from pomegranates, which is widely used as a
cordial and in
cocktails.
Origin, cultivation and usesThe pomegranate is native to the region of Persia and has been cultivated in
Iran,
Armenia,
Azerbaijan,
Georgia, and the
Mediterranean region for several millennia.
In Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, there are wild pomegranate groves outside of ancient abandoned settlements. The cultivation of the pomegranate has a long history in
Transcaucasia where decayed remains of pomegranates dating back to 1000 BC have been found. The Kur-Araz lowland is the largest area in this region where pomegranate is cultivated. Carbonized
exocarp of the fruit has been identified in
Early Bronze Age levels of
Jericho, as well as
Late Bronze Age levels of
Hala Sultan Tekke on
Cyprus and
Tiryns[
citation needed]. A large, dry pomegranate was found in the tomb of
Djehuty, the butler of Queen
Hatshepsut;
Mesopotamian cuneiform records mention pomegranates from the mid-
Third millennium BC onwards. It is also extensively grown in
South China and in
Southeast Asia, whether originally spread along the route of the
Silk Road or brought by sea traders.
The ancient city of
Granada in
Spain was renamed after the fruit during the
Moorish period. Spanish colonists later introduced the fruit to the
Caribbean and
Latin America, but in the
English colonies it was less at home: "Don't use the pomegranate inhospitably, a stranger that has come so far to pay his respects to thee," the English
Quaker Peter Collinson wrote to the botanizing
John Bartram in
Philadelphia, 1762. "Plant it against the side of thy house, nail it close to the wall. In this manner it thrives wonderfully with us, and flowers beautifully, and bears fruit this hot year. I have twenty-four on one tree...
Doctor Fothergill says, of all trees this is most
salutiferous to mankind." The pomegranate had been introduced as an exotic to England the previous century, by
John Tradescant the elder, but the disappointment that it did not set fruit there led to its repeated introduction to the American colonies, even New England. It succeeded in the South: Bartram received a barrel of pomegranates and oranges from a correspondent in
Charleston, South Carolina, 1764.
Thomas Jefferson planted pomegranates at
Monticello in 1771: he had them from
George Wythe of
Williamsburg.
Insect pests of the pomegranate include the pomegranate butterfly
Virachola isocrates and the leaf-footed bug
Leptoglossus zonatus.
Culinary useAfter opening the pomegranate by scoring it with a knife and breaking it open, the
arils (seed casings) are separated from the
peel and internal white pulp membranes. Separating the red arils is simplified by performing this task in a bowl of water, wherein arils sink and pulp floats. It is also possible to freeze the whole fruit in the freezer, making the red arils easy to separate from the white pulp membranes. The entire seed is consumed raw, though the watery, tasty aril is the desired part. The taste differs depending on sub
species of pomegranate and its ripeness. The
pomegranate juice can be very
sweet or
sour, but most fruits are moderate in taste, with sour notes from the acidic
tannins contained in the aril juice.
Having begun wide distribution in the United States and Canada in 2002,
pomegranate juice has long been a popular drink in
Middle Eastern and
Indian cuisine, India.
Grenadine syrup is thickened and sweetened pomegranate juice used in
cocktail mixing. Before tomato arrived in the Middle East, grenadine was widely used in many Iranian foods and is still found in traditional recipes such as
fesenjan, a thick sauce made from pomegranate juice and ground walnuts, usually spooned over
duck or other
poultry and rice, and in
ash-e anar (pomegranate soup).
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 Middle Eastern cuisine. As a result of this, the dried whole seeds can often be obtained in ethnic Indian Sub-continent markets. The seeds are separated from the flesh, dried for 10–15 days and used as an acidic agent for
chutney and
curry production. Seeds may also be ground in order to avoid becoming stuck in teeth when eating dishes containing them. Seeds of the wild pomegranate daru from the
Himalayas are regarded as quality sources for this spice.
In the
Caucasus, pomegranate is used mainly as juice. In
Azerbaijan a sauce from pomegranate juice (narsharab) is usually served with fish or
tika kabab. In
Turkey, pomegranate sauce, (
Turkish: nar ekşisi) is used as a salad dressing, to marinate meat, or simply to drink straight. Pomegranate seeds are also used in salads and sometimes as garnish for desserts such as
güllaç. Pomegranate syrup or
molasses is used in
muhammara, a roasted
red pepper,
walnut, and
garlic spread popular in
Syria and Turkey. Pomegranate wine is produced in Israel and Armenia.
In
Greece, pomegranate (
Greek: ρόδι, rodi) is used in many recipes, including kollivozoumi, a creamy broth made from boiled wheat, pomegranates and
raisins,
legume salad with wheat and pomegranate, traditional Middle Eastern lamb
kebabs with pomegranate glaze, pomegranate
eggplant relish, and
avocado-pomegranate dip. Pomegranate is also made into a
liqueur and popular
fruit confectionery used as
ice cream topping or mixed with
yogurt or spread as
jam on toast. In
Cyprus as well as in
Greece and among the
Greek Orthodox Diaspora , ρόδι is used to make kolliva, a mixture of wheat, pomegranate seeds, sugar, almonds and other seeds served at
memorial services.
from wikipedia
