In the ancient world the succulent pomegranate was a highly-prized fruit. Over many centuries, artists, poets and authors have proclaimed the pomegranate's attributes, its links to romance, longevity, fertility and sex appeal.

The Jewel of Winter

The pomegranate (Punica granutum) is fondly known as Jewel of Winter because the fruit is usually in season from September to November in the Northern Hemisphere, and between March and May in the Southern Hemisphere. Pomegranate plants prefer a sunny location and deep soil with sufficient drainage. Propagation can be by seed, cuttings or layering.

The garnet red (sometimes white or orange/red) flowers of the pomegranate shrub (or small tree) are called balaustine, and a double-flowered variety of pomegranate is grown for decoration. The foliage is dark green, shiny and narrow; and the stems are thorny, making pomegranate shrubs useful for hedging.

The size of the fruit is similar to an orange, and its skin¹ is leathery and inedible. The inner flesh is a juicy, edible pulp which encloses many small seeds separated by bitter-tasting, creamy-coloured membranes.

History

One of my earliest memories is when I was at primary school, the teacher brought in some pomegranates which she sliced up and gave each of us a slice to eat. This was part of a Religious Education lesson, and was given as an example of a fruit that's grown in the Holy Land. I guess pomegranates must have still been quite an exotic fruit in my childhood for the teacher to consider it worthwhile to bring one in.

- An h2g2 Researcher.

The pomegranate is a native fruit of Southern Asia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bengal and Northern India, where it is dried and traditionally used as a spice named anardana. The fruit appears quite prominently in ancient Chinese architecture and paintings.

Ancient Egyptians were buried with many things for their journey to the afterlife, including pomegranates. Paintings of pomegranates also adorned the walls of tombs, which depicted the life of the deceased.

Aristotelian philosopher Theophrastus (c372 - 287 BC), a founder of the science of Botany, provided a description of the pomegranate fruit around 300 BC.

Gaius Plinius Secundus (23 - 79 AD), better known as Pliny the Elder, knew the pomegranate as Malum punicum (apple of Carthage) and wrote about it in his Naturalis Historia.

The pomegranate fruit was the emblem in the coat-of-arms of Catherine of Aragon (1485 - 1536). Maybe you'll recall that she was the widow of Arthur, Prince of Wales and, even more memorably, King Henry VIII's first wife. However when Queen Catherine didn't produce a male heir, never mind a 'spare', His Majesty cast a furtive glance around the court for younger and more promising breeding stock, finally settling on Anne Boleyn. With a new queen ensconced in the Palace, her first decree was a new coat-of-arms, showing a white dove pecking at a pomegranate.

Spanish settlers introduced the pomegranate bush to California in 1769. The 'royal' fruit (so-called because its prominent calyx looks like a crown) was relished in western culture until around the late 19th Century, but since then its popularity has waned somewhat.

The pomegranate grows, thrives, and bears most admirably.

- Thomas Affleck - Plantation and Garden Calendar for 1860.

Due to its round shape and calyx, the pomegranate has a dubious connection to a weapon. The word pomegranate comes from the French name 'pomme grenate' (seedy apple). 'Grenade' is taken from the grenate part - and the hand grenade got its name.

Religion and Culture

The Qur'an describes a heavenly paradise of four gardens with shade, springs and fruits, of which the pomegranate is one. Each fruit contains one seed that has descended from paradise, according to Islamic legend. The prophet Mohammed decreed that followers should eat pomegranates to purge the body of longing, a sort of anti-aphrodisiac, or a pre-bromide substitute for monks, perhaps.

In Judaism, the seeds are supposed to number 613 - one for each of the commandments. Pomegranates adorned the pillars of King Solomon's Temple, and decorated the robes of Jewish kings and priests.

Pomegranates feature in paintings and on statues of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus, and they are also mentioned in The Bible (Numbers 20:5, just in case you wanted to know). According to some legends the pomegranate was the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' in the Garden of Eden.

In Buddhism it is one of the three blessed fruits (the others being the citrus and the peach). The pomegranate in Buddhist art represents the essence of favourable influences; according to Buddhist legend the demoness Hariti, who ate children, was given a pomegranate to eat by Buddha and she was cured of the dreadful urge.

A picture of a ripe, open pomegranate (showing the seeds) is a welcome wedding gift in China, as it represents fertility, abundance, and a blessed future. Pomegranate also features very prominently in Greek weddings and funerals.

Mythology

In the myth of Persephone the pomegranate stood for persistence of life, fertility, and regeneration. After being kidnapped by Hades, she nibbled four pomegranate seeds offered to her by her captor, not knowing that the pomegranate was the symbol of the indissolubility of marriage, thus binding herself to him forever. After Zeus intervened and settled the dispute by dividing up the year into seasons, Persephone's arrival back to her mother Demeter, the goddess of growth and abundance, signalled the start of Spring.

In Persian mythology Esfandiar ate a pomegranate and became invincible. Alternatively, in Greek mythology it is frequently represented as a symbol of fertility. Legend has it that in 814 BC the Phoenician queen, Dido², founded the city of Carthage. Aeneas, a young god on his way back from the Trojan Wars, visited Carthage and offered the queen a golden pomegranate which the two shared and they fell madly in love. Aeneas knew that his destiny lay in Italy, so grief-stricken Dido killed herself with Aeneas' sword. Whatever its romantic history, we do know that Carthage was burnt to the ground by the Romans in 146 BC.

How to eat a Pomegranate

Cut the fruit in half and scoop out the kernels with your fingers, a spoon or a cocktail stick. Open your mouth, taste the succulent, juicy fruit and savour the sensation as it slides down your throat. Yes, it's messy and sticky, it will stain your tablecloth and dribble on your clothes, but it's fun. They are also great as a snack for toddlers.

Medicinal Purposes

All sorts of pomegranates are of a pleasant taste and good for ye stomach . . . The juice of the kernells prest out, being sod and mixed with Hony, are good for the ulcers that are in ye mouth and in ye Genitalls and in ye seate, as also for the Pterygia in digitis and for the Nomae and ye excrescencies in ulcers, and for ye paines of ye eares, and for the griefs in ye nosthrills . . . The decoction of ye flowers is a collution of moist flagging gummes and of loose teeth . . . ye rinde having a binding faculty . . . but ye decoction of ye roots doth expell and kill the Latas tineas ventris.³

- The Greek herbal of Dioscorides.

The pomegranate is listed as a treatment for tapeworms and diarrhoea in Andrew Chevallier's Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants.

In western culture the pomegranate has been revered for its medicinal properties, prominently featuring on the heraldic crests of several medical institutions - it appears on the coats-of-arms of the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Physicians of London. The pomegranate was chosen as the logo for the Millennium Festival of Medicine.

Pomegranates are a source of vitamin C, folic acid, potassium, polyphenols and antioxidants which help to decrease the risk of heart disease and cancer. It has long been known that the juice has natural antiseptic properties - when applied to dirty scratches and cuts it helps guard against infection. Roman philosopher and author Pliny the Elder (see above) prescribed pomegranate juice for pregnant women suffering from 'morning' sickness, along with 25 other remedies. According to new research in 2005, pomegranate juice works against prostate cancer cells in laboratory tests.

Pomegranate Varieties

• Ahmar (red)
• Aswad (black)
• Early Foothill
• Early Wonderful
• Cloud
• Eve
• Granada
• Halwa (sweet)
• Papershell
• Russian
• Ruby Red
• Spanish Sweet
• Wonderful
• Nana Dwarf - This variety only grows to between one and two metres tall. With edible fruits and pretty orange-red flowers, this makes an excellent bonsai (ornamental) specimen.

Russian and Iranian pomegranate shrubs can withstand much colder climates than American varieties, and the fruit is much larger and a deeper red in skin and seed.

Pomegranate Recipes

Pomegranate juice can be purchased in the supermarket (or juice it yourself), and with bananas and a dash of orange juice makes a wonderfully tasty non-dairy smoothie. Grenadine syrup is sweetened, thickened pomegranate juice. The juice can also be used to make jelly and wine.

Pomegranate molasses is an ingredient in Middle Eastern dishes as varied as a marinade for meat dishes and as part of the dressing for tabbouleh, the national dish of Lebanon.

Hopefully now that people know they need to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day in their diet to maintain a healthy lifestyle, the pomegranate may experience a resurgence in desirability.