PomegranatePosted 1825 years ago under Food, Health, History, Nutrition

The pomegranate /ˈpɒmɨɡrænɨt/, botanical name Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between 5–8 meters (16–26 ft) tall. In the Northern Hemisphere, the fruit is typically in season from September to February,[1] and in the Southern Hemisphere from March to May. Pomegranates are used in cooking, baking, juices, smoothies and alcoholic beverages, such as martinis and wine.

The pomegranate is considered to have originated in the region of Iran to northern India and has been cultivated since ancient times.[2,3,4,5] It is mentioned in many ancient texts, notably in Babylonian texts and the Book of Exodus.[6] It was introduced into Latin America and California by Spanish settlers in 1769.[2]

Today, it is widely cultivated throughout the Mediterranean region of southern Europe, the Middle East and Caucasus region, northern Africa and tropical Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and the drier parts of southeast Asia.[2] It is also cultivated in parts of California and Arizona.[7] In recent years, it has become more common in the commercial markets of Europe and the Western Hemisphere.[2,7]

Description

An attractive shrub or small tree growing 5 to 8 meters high, the pomegranate has multiple spiny branches, and is extremely long-lived, with some specimens in France surviving for 200 years.[2] Punica granatum 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 three to seven petals.[2] 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 shape and thick reddish skin.[2] The number of seeds in a pomegranate can vary from 200 to about 1400 seeds.[8] Each seed has a surrounding water-laden pulp — the edible sarcotesta that forms from the seed coat — ranging in color from white to deep red or purple. The seeds are “exarillate”, i.e., unlike some other species in the order, Myrtales, there is no aril. The sarcotesta of pomegranate seeds consists of epidermis cells derived from the integument.[9] The seeds are embedded in a white, spongy, astringent membrane.[2]

Cultivation

Punica granatum is grown as a fruit crop plant, and as ornamental trees and shrubs in parks and gardens. Mature specimens can develop sculptural twisted bark multi-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 be tolerant of moderate frost, down to about −12 °C (10 °F).[10]

Insects that are known to plague the pomegranate include the pomegranate butterfly, Virachola isocrates, and the leaf-footed bug Leptoglossus zonatus. Pomegranates grow easily from seeds but are commonly propagated from 25–50 cm hardwood cuttings to avoid the genetic variation of seedlings. Air layering is also an option for propagation, but grafting fails.[2]

Varieties

Punica 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.[11] 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.[12]

Cultivars

Punica granatum has more than 500 named cultivars, but the pomegranate evidently has considerable synonymy in which the same genotype is named differently across regions of the world.[13]

Several characteristics between pomegranate genotypes vary for identification, consumer preference, preferred use, and marketing, the most important of which are fruit size, exocarp color (ranging from yellow to purple, with pink and red most common), seed-coat color (ranging from white to red), hardness of seed, maturity, juice content and its acidity, sweetness, and astringency.[13] Scientists at the Indian Institute of Horticulture Research are developing varieties tolerant to Bacterial Blight disease using Sub-Himalayan accessions.

Etymology and terms for pomegranate in other languages

The name pomegranate derives from medieval Latin pōmum “apple” and grānātum “seeded”.[14] This has influenced the common name for pomegranate in many languages (e.g. granada in Spanish, Granatapfel or Grenadine in German, grenade in French, granatäpple in Swedish, pomogranà in Venetian). Mālum grānātus, using the classical Latin word for apple, gives rise to the Italian name melograno, or less commonly melagrana.[15]

Perhaps stemming from the old French word for the fruit, pomme-grenade, the pomegranate was known in early English as “apple of Grenada”—a term which today survives only in heraldic blazons. This is a folk etymology, confusing Latin granatus with the name of the Spanish city of Granada, which derives from Arabic.[16]

The genus name Punica refers to the Phoenicians, who were active in broadening its cultivation, partly for religious reasons.

Garnet comes from Old French grenat by metathesis, from Medieval Latin granatum, here used in a different meaning: “of a dark red color”. This meaning perhaps originated from pomum granatum because of the color of pomegranate pulp, or from granum in the sense of “red dye, cochineal”[.17]

The French term grenade for pomegranate has given its name to the military grenade.[18] Soldiers commented on the similar shape of early grenades and the name entered common usage.

While most European languages have cognate names for the fruit, stemming from Latin granatum, exceptions are the Armenian term nur, Albanian term shega, Bulgarian nar and the Portuguese term romã which is derived from Arabic ruman (رمان), and has cognates in other Semitic languages (e.g. Hebrew rimmon) and Ancient Egyptian rmn. It is known as anaar (انار) in Persian and Urdu in Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Cultural history

The pomegranate is native to Persia (modern day Iran).[19] Pomegranates also thrive in the drier climates of California and Arizona and have been cultivated throughout the Middle East, Southern Asia and Mediterranean region for several millennia.[20,21]

Carbonized exocarp of the fruit has been identified in Early Bronze Age levels of Jericho in the West Bank, as well as Late Bronze Age levels of Hala Sultan Tekke on Cyprus and Tiryns. A large, dry pomegranate was found in the tomb of Djehuty, the butler of Queen Hatshepsut in Egypt; Mesopotamian cuneiform records mention pomegranates from the mid-Third millennium BC onwards.[22]

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. Kandahar is famous in Afghanistan for its high-quality pomegranates.

Although not native to Korea or Japan, the pomegranate is widely grown there and many cultivars have been developed. It is widely used for bonsai because of its flowers and for the unusual twisted bark that older specimens can attain.[23] The term “balaustine” (Latin: balaustinus) is also used for a pomegranate-red color.[24]

Pomegranate cultivation in Italy is diffused throughout the south, especially in Olevano sul Tusciano and the rest of Campania’s area.

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.”[25]

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. John Bartram partook of “delitious” pomegranates with Noble Jones at Wormsloe Plantation, near Savannah, Georgia, in September 1765. Thomas Jefferson planted pomegranates at Monticello in 1771: he had them from George Wythe of Williamsburg.[26]

Culinary use

After the pomegranate is opened by scoring it with a knife and breaking it open, the seeds are separated from the peel and internal white pulp membranes. Separating the seeds is easier in a bowl of water because the seeds sink and the inedible pulp floats. Freezing the entire fruit also makes it easier to separate. Another very effective way of quickly harvesting the seeds is to cut the pomegranate in half, score each half of the exterior rind four to six times, hold the pomegranate half over a bowl and smack the rind with a large spoon. The seeds should eject from the pomegranate directly into the bowl, leaving only a dozen or more deeply embedded seeds to remove.[27]

The entire seed is consumed raw, though the watery, tasty sarcotesta is the desired part. The taste differs depending on the subspecies of pomegranate and its ripeness.

Green salad with roast beef, pomegranate vinaigrette, and lemon juice
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 juice. Pomegranate juice has long been a popular drink in Armenian, Persian and Indian cuisine, and began to be widely distributed in the United States and Canada in 2002.[28]

Grenadine syrup long ago consisted of thickened and sweetened pomegranate juice, but nowadays it is usually a sales name for a syrup based on various berries, citric acid, and food coloring, mainly used in cocktail mixing. In Europe, Bols still manufactures grenadine syrup with pomegranate.[29] Before tomatoes (a New World fruit) arrived in the Middle East, pomegranate juice, molasses, and vinegar were widely used in many Iranian foods, and are still found in traditional recipes such as fesenjān, 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).[30,31]

Wild pomegranate seeds are used as a spice known as anardana (from Persian: anar + dana, pomegranate + seed), most notably in Indian and Pakistani cuisine, but also as a substitute for pomegranate syrup in Persian cuisine. Dried whole seeds can often be obtained in ethnic Indian subcontinent markets. These seeds are separated from the flesh, dried for 10–15 days and used as an acidic agent for chutney and curry preparation. Ground anardana is also used, which results in a deeper flavoring in dishes and prevents the seeds from getting stuck in teeth. Seeds of the wild pomegranate variety known as daru from the Himalayas are regarded as quality sources for this spice.

Dried pomegranate seed, found in some natural specialty food markets, still contain some residual water, maintaining a naturally sweet and tart flavor. Dried seeds can be used in several culinary applications, such as trail mix, granola bars, or as a topping for salad, yogurt, or ice cream. Chocolate covered seeds may be added to desserts and baked items.

In the Caucasus, pomegranate is used mainly for juice.[32] In Azerbaijan, a sauce from pomegranate juice (narsharab) is usually served with fish[33] 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.[34] Pomegranate syrup or molasses is used in muhammara, a roasted red pepper, walnut, and garlic spread popular in Syria and Turkey.[35]

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 as a popular fruit confectionery used as ice cream topping, mixed with yogurt, or spread as jam on toast. In Cyprus and Greece, and among the Greek Orthodox Diaspora, ρόδι (Greek for pomegranate) is used to make koliva, a mixture of wheat, pomegranate seeds, sugar, almonds and other seeds served at memorial services.

In Mexico, they are commonly used to adorn the traditional dish chiles en nogada, representing the red of the Mexican flag in the dish which evokes the green (poblano pepper), white (nogada sauce) and red (pomegranate seeds) tricolor.

In medicine

In the Indian subcontinent’s ancient Ayurveda system of medicine, the pomegranate has extensively been used as a source of traditional remedies.[36]

The rind of the fruit and the bark of the pomegranate tree is used as a traditional remedy for diarrhea, dysentery and intestinal parasites.[36] The seeds and juice are considered a tonic for the heart and throat and classified as having bitter astringent taste plus a range of taste from sweet to sour, depending on ripeness. Thus Pomegranate is considered a healthful counterbalance to a diet high in sweet-fatty (kapha or earth) components.[37]

Especially when sweet, pomegranate fruit is nourishing for (pitta or fire) systems and is known as a blood builder. The astringent qualities of the flower juice, rind and tree bark are considered valuable for a variety of purposes, such as stopping nose bleeds and gum bleeds, toning skin, (after blending with mustard oil) firming-up sagging breasts, and treating hemorrhoids.[38] Pomegranate juice (of specific fruit strains) is also used as an eyedrop, as it is believed to slow the development of cataracts.[39]

Ayurveda differentiates between pomegranate varieties and employs them for different remedies.[40]

Pomegranate has been used as a contraceptive and abortifacient by means of consuming the seeds, or rind, as well as by using the rind as a vaginal suppository. This practice is recorded in ancient Indian literature, in medieval sources, and in modern folk medicine.[41]

Pomegranate extracts (alkaloids) are used to treat intestinal parasite infestations in some nations.[42]

Research

Nutrients and phytochemicals

A 100 g serving of pomegranate seeds provide 12% of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin C and 16% DV for vitamin K and contain polyphenols, such as ellagitannins and flavonoids (section below).

Pomegranate seeds are excellent sources of dietary fiber which is entirely contained in the edible seeds. People who choose to discard the seeds forfeit nutritional benefits conveyed by the seed fiber and micronutrients.[43,44]

Pomegranate seed oil contains punicic acid (65.3%), palmitic acid (4.8%), stearic acid (2.3%), oleic acid (6.3%) and linoleic acid (6.6%).[45] Juice, seeds, and peel apparently contain steroid hormones, including estrone,[46,47] although this is debated between Korean teams.[48]

Phenolic content

In juice

The most abundant polyphenols in pomegranate juice are the hydrolyzable tannins called ellagitannins formed when ellagic acid binds with a carbohydrate. The different pomegranate ellagitannins (also known as punicalagins) are granatin A and B, punicacortein A, B, C, and D, 5-O-galloylpunicacortein D, punicafolin, punigluconin, punicalagin, 1-alpha-O-galloylpunicalagin, punicalin, and 2-O-galloyl-punicalin.

The red color of juice can be attributed to anthocyanins, such as delphinidin, cyanidin and pelargonidin glycosides (delphinidin 3-glucoside and 3,5-diglucoside, cyanidin 3-glucoside and 3,5-diglucoside and pelargonidin 3-glucoside and 3,5-diglucoside). Generally, there is an increase in juice pigmentation during fruit ripening.[49]

The phenolic content of pomegranate juice is adversely affected by the processing and pasteurization techniques.[50]

In other parts of the fruit

As compared to the pulp, the ellagitannin content in the peel is prominently less than a number of total polyphenols. This leads to the conclusion about the presence of condensed tannins.[51] These other phenolics include catechins, gallocatechins, and prodelphinidins (gallocatechin-(4→8)-catechin, gallocatechin-(4→8)-gallocatechin and catechin-(4→8)-gallocatechin).[52]

The higher phenolic content of the peel is exploited in the form of extracts with an antioxidant potential, in health supplements, bio-preservatives in food applications and nutraceuticals.[53,54,55,56]

Potential health benefits

Pomegranate ellagitannins, also called punicalagins, are tannins with free-radical scavenging properties in laboratory experiments[57] and with potential human effects.[58] Punicalagins are absorbed into the human body and may have dietary value as antioxidants, but conclusive proof of efficacy in humans has not been shown.[59,60] During intestinal metabolism by bacteria, ellagitannins and punicalagins are converted to urolithins, which have unknown biological activity in vivo.[61,62]

In preliminary laboratory research and clinical trials, juice of the pomegranate may be effective in reducing heart disease risk factors, including LDL oxidation, macrophage oxidative status, and foam cell formation.[63,64,65] In mice, “oxidation of LDL by peritoneal macrophages was reduced by up to 90% after pomegranate juice consumption…”.[66]

In a limited study of hypertensive patients, consumption of pomegranate juice for two weeks was shown to reduce systolic blood pressure by inhibiting serum angiotensin-converting enzyme.[67] Juice consumption may also inhibit viral infections[68] while pomegranate extracts have antibacterial effects against dental plaque.[69]

Despite limited research data, manufacturers and marketers of pomegranate juice have liberally used evolving research results for product promotion, especially for putative antioxidant health benefits. In February 2010, the FDA issued a Warning Letter to one such manufacturer, POM Wonderful, for using published literature to make illegal claims of unproven antioxidant and anti-disease benefits.[70,71,72]

Many food and dietary supplement makers use pomegranate phenolic extracts as ingredients in their products instead of the juice. One of these extracts is ellagic acid, which may become bioavailable only after parent molecule punicalagins are metabolized. However, ingested ellagic acid from pomegranate juice does not accumulate in the blood in significant quantities and is rapidly excreted.[73] Accordingly, ellagic acid from pomegranate juice does not appear to be biologically important in vivo

Clinical trial rationale and activity

Metabolites of pomegranate juice ellagitannins (urolithins) localize specifically in the prostate gland, colon, and intestinal tissues of mice,[74] leading to clinical studies of pomegranate juice or fruit extracts for efficacy against several diseases.

In 2013, 44 clinical trials were registered with the National Institutes of Health to examine effects of pomegranate extracts or juice consumption on a variety of human disorders, including:[75]

Prostate cancer
Prostatic hyperplasia
Diabetes
Lymphoma
Rhinovirus infection
Common cold
Oxidative stress in diabetic hemodialysis
Atherosclerosis
Coronary artery disease
Infant brain injury
Hemodialysis for kidney disease
Male infertility
Aging
Memory
Pregnancy complications
Osteoporosis
Erectile dysfunction

One pilot study in adult subjects found that daily consumption of pomegranate juice over two weeks increased salivary testosterone levels by 24% and had other effects on blood pressure, mood, anxiety or emotions.[76]

Symbolism

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptians regarded the pomegranate as a symbol of prosperity and ambition. According to the Ebers Papyrus, one of the oldest medical writings from around 1500 BC, Egyptians used the pomegranate for the treatment of tapeworm and other infections.[77]

Ancient Greece

Although the pomegranate was mentioned in the Ancient Greek history prior to the founding of Ancient Rome, the Greeks were familiar with the fruit far before it was introduced to Ancient Rome via Carthage.[78] In the Ancient Greek mythology, the pomegranate was also known as the “fruit of the dead,” and to have sprung from the blood of Adonis.[77,79]

The wild pomegranate did not occur in the Aegean area in Neolithic times. It originated in eastern Iran and came to the Aegean world along the same cultural pathways that brought the goddess whom the Anatolians worshiped as Cybele and the Mesopotamians as Ishtar.

The myth of Persephone, the 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. Zeus, the highest ranking of the Greek gods, could not allow 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. Persephone had no food, but 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.

It was the rule of the Fates that anyone who consumed food or drink in the Underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Persephone had no food, but 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.

It was the rule of the Fates that anyone who consumed food or drink in the Underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Persephone had no food, but 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.

This became an ancient Greek explanation for the seasons.[80] Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s painting Persephona depicts Persephone holding the fatal fruit. It should be noted that the number of seeds that Persephone ate varies, depending on which version of the story is told. The number of seeds she is said to have eaten ranges from three to seven, which accounts for just one barren season if it is just three or four seeds, or two barren seasons (half the year) if she ate six or seven seeds.

The pomegranate also evoked the presence of the Aegean Triple Goddess who evolved into the Olympian Hera, who is sometimes represented offering the pomegranate, as in the Polykleitos’ cult image of the Argive Heraion (see below). According to 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.[81]

On a Mycenaean seal illustrated in Joseph Campbell’s Occidental Mythology 1964, figure 19, the seated Goddess of the double-headed ax (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. 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 5th century BC, Polycleitus 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.[82] “About the pomegranate, I must say nothing,” whispered the traveler Pausanias in the 2nd century, “for its story is somewhat of a holy mystery.”[82] In the Orion story Hera cast pomegranate-Side (an ancient city in Antalya) 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 a calyx shaped like a crown. In Jewish tradition, it has been seen as the original “design” for the proper crown.[83] In some artistic depictions, the pomegranate is found in the hand of Mary, mother of Jesus.

A pomegranate is displayed on coins from the ancient city of Side, Pamphylia.[84]

Within the Heraion at the mouth of the Sele, near Paestum, Magna Graecia, is a chapel devoted to the Madonna del Granato, “Our Lady of the Pomegranate”, “who by virtue of her epithet and the attribute of a pomegranate must be the Christian successor of the ancient Greek goddess Hera”, observes the excavator of the Heraion of Samos, Helmut Kyrieleis.[85]

In modern times the pomegranate still holds strong symbolic meanings for the Greeks. On important days in the Greek Orthodox calendar, such as the Presentation of the Virgin Mary and on Christmas Day, it is traditional to have at the dinner table “polysporia,” 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.When one buys a new home, it is conventional 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 a symbol of abundance, fertility and good luck.

Pomegranates are also prominent at Greek weddings and funerals. When Greeks commemorate their dead, they make kollyva as offerings, which consist of boiled wheat, mixed with sugar and decorated with pomegranate. It is also traditional in Greece to break a pomegranate on the ground at weddings and on New Years. Pomegranate decorations for the home are very common in Greece and sold in most home goods stores.[86]

Judaism

Pomegranates were known in Ancient Israel as the fruits which the scouts brought to Moses to demonstrate the fertility of the “promised land”.[87] The Book of Exodus[88] describes the me’il (“robe of the ephod”) worn by the Hebrew High Priest as having pomegranates embroidered on the hem. According to the Books of Kings[89], the capitals of the two pillars (Jachin and Boaz) that stood in front of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem were engraved with pomegranates. It is said that Solomon designed his coronet based on the pomegranate’s “crown” (calyx).[83]

It is traditional to consume pomegranates on Rosh Hashana because the pomegranate, with its numerous seeds, symbolizes fruitfulness.[90] Also, it is said to have 613 seeds, which corresponds with the 613 mitzvot or commandments of the Torah.[91] This particular tradition is referred to in the opening pages of Ursula Dubosarsky’s novel Theodora’s Gift.[92]

The pomegranate appeared on the ancient coins of Judea. When not in use, the handles of Torah scrolls are sometimes covered with decorative silver globes similar in shape to “pomegranates” (rimmonim). Some Jewish scholars believe that the pomegranate was the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.[90] Pomegranates are one of the Seven Species (Hebrew: שבעת המינים, Shiv’at Ha-Minim) of fruits and grains enumerated in the Hebrew Bible (Deuteronomy 8:8) as being special products of the Land of Israel. The pomegranate is mentioned in the Bible many times, including this quote from the Songs of Solomon, “Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.” (Song of Solomon 4:3). Pomegranates also symbolize the mystical experience in the Jewish mystical tradition, or kabbalah, with the typical reference being to entering the “garden of pomegranates” or pardes rimonim; this is also the title of a book by the 16th-century mystic Moses ben Jacob Cordovero.

The pomegranate is mentioned in the Bible many times, including this quote from the Songs of Solomon, “Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.” (Song of Solomon 4:3). Pomegranates also symbolize the mystical experience in the Jewish mystical tradition, or kabbalah, with the typical reference being to entering the “garden of pomegranates” or pardes rimonim; this is also the title of a book by the 16th-century mystic Moses ben Jacob Cordovero.

Christianity

Detail from Madonna of the Pomegranate by Sandro Botticelli, ca. 1487 (Uffizi Gallery, Florence)
In the earliest incontrovertible appearance of Christ in a mosaic, a fourth-century floor mosaic from Hinton St Mary, Dorset, now in the British Museum, the bust of Christ and the chi rho are flanked by pomegranates.[93] Pomegranates continue to be a motif often found in Christian religious decoration. They are often woven into the fabric of vestments and liturgical hangings or wrought in metalwork. Pomegranates figure in many religious paintings by the likes of Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci, often in the hands of the Virgin Mary or the infant Jesus. The fruit, broken or bursting open, is a symbol of the fullness of Jesus’ suffering and resurrection.[90]

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, pomegranate seeds may be used in kolyva, a dish prepared for memorial services, as a symbol of the sweetness of the heavenly kingdom.

Islam

According to the Qur’an, pomegranates grow in the gardens of paradise (55:68)[.90] The Qur’an also mentions pomegranates three times (6:99,[94] 6:141,[95] 55:68[90]) as examples of good things God creates.

Armenia

The pomegranate is one of the main fruits in Armenian culture (the others being apricot and grapes). Its juice is famous with Armenians in food and heritage. The pomegranate is the symbol of Armenia and represents fertility, abundance, and marriage. For example, the fruit played an integral role in a wedding custom widely accepted in ancient Armenia: a bride was given a pomegranate fruit, which she threw against a wall, breaking it into pieces. Scattered pomegranate seeds ensured the bride future children. In Artsakh, it was accepted to put fruits next to the bridal couple during the first night of marriage.

The pomegranate was among those fruits and was said to ensure happiness. Along with that, it is believed the newlyweds enjoyed pomegranate wine. The symbol of the pomegranate is connected with insemination. It protected a woman from infertility and protected a man’s virile strength. Currently, pomegranate juice is popular with Armenians in food and heritage. The Color of Pomegranates (1968) is a movie directed by Sergei Parajanov. It is a biography of the Armenian ashug Sayat-Nova (King of Song) that attempts to reveal the poet’s life visually and poetically rather than literally.

Azerbaijan

Main article: Pomegranate Festival
Annually in October, a cultural festival is held in Goychay, Azerbaijan known as Pomegranate Festival. The festival features Azerbaijani fruit-cuisine mainly the pomegranates from Goychay. At the festival, a parade is held with traditional Azerbaijani dances and Azerbaijani music.[96]

Iran and ancient Persia

Pomegranate was the symbol of fertility in ancient Persian culture. In Persian mythology, Isfandiyar eats a pomegranate and becomes invincible. In the Greco-Persian Wars, Herodotus mentions golden pomegranates adorning the spears of warriors in the phalanx. Even in today’s Iran, pomegranate may imply love and fertility.

Iran produces pomegranates as a common crop. Its juice and paste have a role in some Iranian cuisines, e.g. chicken, ghormas and refreshment bars. Pomegranate skins may be used to stain wool and silk in the carpet industry.

Pomegranate Festival is an annual cultural and artistic festival held during October in Tehran to exhibit and sell pomegranates, food products, and handicrafts.

Pakistan

The pomegranate (known as “anār” in Urdu) is a popular fruit in Pakistan. It is grown in Pakistan and is also imported from Afghanistan.

Hinduism

In some Hindu traditions, the pomegranate (Hindi: Beejapuram, literally: replete with seeds) symbolizes prosperity and fertility and is associated with both Bhoomidevi (the earth goddess) and Lord Ganesha (the one fond of the many-seeded fruit).[97,98] The Tamil name maadulampazham is a metaphor for a woman’s mind. It is derived from, maadhu=woman, ullam=mind, which means as the seeds are hidden, it is not easy to decipher a woman’s mind.

China

The pomegranate is regarded as a symbol of fertility in China. Introduced to China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), the pomegranate (Chinese: 石榴; pinyin: shíliu) in olden times was considered an emblem of fertility and numerous progeny. This symbolism is a pun on the Chinese character 子 (zǐ) which, as well as meaning seed, also means “offspring” thus a fruit containing so many seeds is a sign of fecundity. Pictures of the ripe fruit with the seeds bursting forth were often hung in homes to bestow fertility and bless the dwelling with numerous offspring, an important facet of traditional Chinese culture.[99]

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