Pomegranate
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Fruits
Pomegranate
Latin:
Punica granatum
Origin:
The fruit of the plant Punica granatum L., a bush or small tree of Asia, which with a little-known species from the island of Socotra constitutes the family Punicaceae. The name pomegranate comes from the Latin for "fruit of many seeds." Because of its numerous seeds and its red color, the pomegranate has been linked with fertility since ancient times.
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Native to Persia, the pomegranate has since earliest times occupied a position of importance alongside the grape and the fig. According to the Bible, King Solomon possessed an orchard of pomegranates, and, when the children of Israel, wandering in the wilderness, sighed for the abandoned comforts of Egypt, the cooling pomegranates were remembered longingly. Pomegranate also appears in the folklore of ancient Egypt, where it was used in burial, and in the myth of the Persephone, Demeter, and the cycle of the seasons in Greek mythology. Centuries later, the prophet Muhammad remarked, "Eat the pomegranate, for it purges the system of envy and hatred."
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While the pomegranate is considered indigenous to Iran and neighbouring countries, its cultivation long ago encircled the Mediterranean and extended through the Arabian Peninsula, Afghanistan, and India. It is commonly cultivated in the Americas from the warmer parts of the United States to Chile.
Though the pomegranate grows in a wide range of climates, good fruit is produced only where high temperatures and dry atmosphere accompany the ripening period. Deep, rather heavy loams appear to be the best soils. Seeds can readily be grown, but choice varieties are reproduced by cutting and layerings.
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The plant, which may attain 5 or 7 m in height, has elliptic to lance-shaped, bright-green leaves about 75 mm long and handsome axillary orange-red flowers borne toward the ends of the branchlets. The pomergranate trees grow well in India, Iran, and parts of the United States.
The fruit is the size of a large orange, obscurely six-sided, with a smooth, leathery skin that ranges from brownish yellow, white and red. Within, it is divided into several chambers containing many thin, transparent vesicles of reddish, juicy pulp, each surrounding an angular, elongated seed. The fruit is eaten fresh, and the juice is the source of grenadine syrup, used in flavorings and liquors. However, snacking on pomegranate is laborious, as the edible seeds must be selected almost one by one to avoid the bitter-tasting membranes that house them.
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The flavor of the fruit is differentiated into sweet and sour. The sweet pomegranate is sweet, sour and tastes good. The sour pomegranate, however, is sour and astringent, and should only be used for medicinal purposes. The skin is also used for medicinal purposes. Sometimes its root and flower are also used.
Many varieties of pomegranate are available throughout the world. One of the main characteristics that sets off the varieties is the different color of the pomegranate seeds, which can be scarlet, dark pink, or light red.
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Pomegranates are available September through November.
Also called Dwarf Pomegranate.
Properties:
Sweet, astringent and slightly sour in flavor, warm in nature, it is related to the channels of the stomach and large intestine.
Functions:
Produces yin (body fluids) and quenches thirst, relieves diarrhea, stops bleeding, pacifies coughing.
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The skin of its root is an anthelminthic (an agent that kills or expells parasitic intestinal worms). In traditional Chinese medicine, it is an astringent.
Applications:
1. For stomatitis (inflammation of the oral mucous membrane):
Pound pomegranate seeds to obtain its juice to which a little rock sugar is added. Drink the juice as you like. Let the syrup stay in your mouth for a while before swallowing.
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2. For diarrhoea due to indigestion and enteritic (chronic inflammation of the intestine) abdominal pain:
Use fresh or white pomegranate peel to make decoction. Boil twice and separately, each 30 minutes. Mix the 2 solutions and concentrate it by slow fire. Then add some bee honey and move away from the fire once it boils again. Cool down and keep it in bottle. Administer 2 times a day with 1 teaspoonful for each dose.
Dosage and Administration:
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Carefully cut through the thin outer skin, and then separate the seeds from the cream-colored, inedible membrane. The seeds can be eaten raw, sprinkled on fruit salad, strained and used as a paste in cooking, or as a condiment. In Indian cooking they are used for a tart accent. Grenadine and other thick syrups are condensed from the pulpy part of the fruit.
Choose pomegranates with good color and that feel heavy; avoid those with dry-looking, wrinkled, or cracked rind. They will keep at room temperature for two to three days or in the refrigerator for up to three months.
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Cautions on Use:
Do not consume pomegranate in excess as it would produce phlegm and corrode teeth.
The skin of the fruit is slightly toxic.
Reference Materials:
Toxic or Side Effects:
The skin of the fruit is slightly toxic.
Modern Researches:
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Pomegranate contains protein, carbohydrate, fat, fiber; and is a good source of vitamin C.
The fruit skin contains tannic acid, resin, gallic acid, innosital, sugar and gum. The skin of its root contains isopelletierine.
Pomegranate skin reveals strong inhibition to typhoid bacilli.
In India, pomegranate has traditionally been regarded as a symbol of fertility. It is upheld for its sacred value. The leaves or flowers of pomegranate are offered to Lord Ganapati, Lord Satyanarayana and Lord Samba on Shree Sankastha Vrata and Nitya Somavara Vrata respectively. It is also used to treat fever and its complications and to increase energy in the body., http://www.100md.com