The pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a fruit-bearing, deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows to between 1.5–5 metres (5–16 ft) tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it originated in the region spanning the Caucasus and the Iranian plateau — including modern-day Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pomegranate was first domesticated by ancient Iranians in the Iranian plateau and nearby regions about 5,000 years ago. It is extensively cultivated for its fruit. Pomegranate was exported from the Iranian plateau to other parts of Asia including Iraq, Turkey, and India, as well as parts of Africa and Europe. It was also introduced into Spanish America in the late 16th century and into California by Spanish settlers in 1769. Although the pomegranate is indigenous to Iran and its nearby regions, it is also nowadays cultivated across West Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, north and Sub-Saharan Africa, the drier parts of Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean basin, United States and Chile. The fruit is typically in season in the Northern Hemisphere from September to February, and in the Southern Hemisphere from March to May. Pomegranate molasses is a key ingredient in traditional Persian cuisine, where it is used to add a rich sweet-sour flavour to dishes such as stews, sauces, and marinades, most notably in classic recipes like fesenjān, kabab torsh and zeytoon parvardeh. The pomegranate and its juice are variously used in baking, cooking, juice blends, garnishes, nonalcoholic drinks, and cocktails.
Etymology The name pomegranate derives from medieval Latin pōmum, apple and grānātum, seeded. Possibly stemming from the old French word for the fruit, pomme-grenade, the pomegranate was known in early English as "apple of Granada", a term that today survives only in heraldic blazons. Garnet derives from Old French grenat by metathesis, from Medieval Latin granatum as used in a different meaning "of a dark red colour". This derivation may have originated from pomum granatum, describing the colour of pomegranate pulp, or from granum, referring to red dye, cochineal. The modern French term for pomegranate, grenade, has given its name to the military grenade. Pomegranates were colloquially called wineapples or wine-apples in Ireland, although this term has fallen out of use. It still persists at the Moore Street open-air market in central Dublin.
Description The pomegranate is a shrub or small tree growing 1.5 to 5 m (5 to 16 ft) high, with multiple spiny branches. It is long-lived, with some specimens in France surviving for 200 years. The leaves are opposite or subopposite, glossy, narrow oblong, entire, 1.9–5 cm (0.7–2.0 in) long, and 0.8–1.5 cm (0.3–0.6 in) broad. The flowers are bright red or white, and 3 cm (1+1⁄4 in) or more in diameter, with three to seven petals. Some fruitless cultivars are grown for the flowers alone. The flower's anthers close around the stigma until maturity, and the ovaries are divided internally into compartments or locules of many suspended ovules covered by a septum. The pomegranate fruit husk is red-purple with an outer, hard pericarp, and an inner, spongy mesocarp (white "albedo"), which comprises the fruit's inner wall where seeds attach. Membranes of the mesocarp are organised as nonsymmetric chambers that contain seeds which are embedded without attachment to the mesocarp, also a result of fertilisation of the divided ovary. Pomegranate seeds are characterised by having sarcotesta, thick fleshy seed coats derived from the integuments or outer layers of the ovule's epidermal cells. The number of seeds in a pomegranate can vary from 200 to about 1,400. Botanically, the fruit is a berry with edible seeds and pulp produced from the ovary of a single flower. The fruit is variable in size, from 2–8 cm (1–3 in) in diameter in wild plants (to 12 cm (4.7 in) in some cultivars) with a rounded shape and thick, reddish husk. In mature fruit, the juice obtained by compressing the seeds yields a tart flavour due to low pH (4.4) and high contents of polyphenols, which may cause a red indelible stain on fabrics. The pigmentation of pomegranate juice primarily results from the presence of anthocyanins and ellagitannins.
Cultivation P. granatum is grown for its fruit crop, and as ornamental trees and shrubs in parks and gardens. Mature specimens can develop sculptural twisted bark, multiple trunks, and a distinctive overall form. 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 can be prone to root decay from fungal diseases. They can tolerate moderate frost, down to about −12 °C (10 °F). Insect pests of the pomegranate can include the butterflies Virachola isocrates, Iraota timoleon, and Deudorix epijarbas, and the leaf-footed bug Leptoglossus zonatus. Fruit flies and ants are attracted to unharvested ripe fruit.
Propagation P. granatum reproduces sexually in nature, but can be propagated asexually. Propagation methods include layering, hardwood cuttings, softwood cuttings, and tissue culture. Required conditions for rooting cuttings include warm temperatures within the 18–29 °C (65–85 °F) range and a semihumid environment. Rooting hormone increases rooting success rate, but is not required.
Varieties P. granatum var. nana is a dwarf variety of P. granatum popularly planted as an ornamental plant in gardens and larger containers, and used as a bonsai specimen tree. It could well be a wild form with a distinct origin. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. The only other species in the genus Punica is the Socotran pomegranate (P. protopunica), which is endemic to the Socotran archipelago of four islands in the Arabian Sea. The territory is part of Yemen. It differs in having pink (not red) flowers and smaller, less sweet fruit.
Cultivars
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