Pomegranate

The pomegranate ( Punica Granatum is a deciduous fruit-bearing shrub of the Lythraceae family, subfamily Punicoideae. It grows between 5-10 m (16 to 33 ft) high.

The Mediterranean region was the first to describe the pomegranate. It was introduced to Spanish America in late 16th century, and California in 1769 by Spanish settlers.

The fruit is typically in season in the Northern Hemisphere from October to February,^{[failed verification]} and in the Southern Hemisphere from March to May. As intact sarcotestas or juice, pomegranates are used in baking, cooking, juice blends, meal garnishes, smoothies, and alcoholic beverages, such as cocktails and wine.

Pomegranates are widely cultivated throughout the Middle East and Caucasus region, north and tropical Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, the drier parts of Southeast Asia, and the Mediterranean Basin.

Description

A shrub or small tree growing 5 to 10 m (16 to 33 ft) high, the pomegranate has multiple spiny branches and is extremely long-lived, with some specimens in France surviving for 200 years. P. granatum leaves are opposite or subopposite, glossy, narrow oblong, entire,

3-7 cm (1+1/4–2+3/4 in) long and 2 cm (3/4 in) broad. The flowers are bright red and 3 cm (1+1/4 in) in diameter, with three to seven petals. Some fruitless varieties are grown for the flowers alone.^{[citation needed]}

Fruit, sarcotesta and seeds

Red-purple in color, the pomegranate fruit husk has two parts: an outer, hard pericarp, and an inner, spongy mesocarp (white “albedo”), which comprises the fruit inner wall where seeds attach. Membranes of the mesocarp are organized as nonsymmetric chambers that contain seeds inside sarcotestas, which are embedded without attachment to the mesocarp. Containing juice, the sarcotesta is formed as a thin membrane derived from the epidermal cells of the seeds. The number of seeds in a pomegranate can vary from 200 to about 1,400.

Botanically, the edible fruit is a berry with seeds and pulp produced from the ovary of a single flower. The fruit is intermediate in size between a lemon and a grapefruit, 5-12 cm (2-4+1/2 in) in diameter with a rounded shape and thick, reddish husk.

In mature fruits, the juice obtained by compressing the seeds yields a sour flavor due to low pH (4.4) and high contents of polyphenols, which may cause a red indelible stain on fabrics. Primarily, the pigmentation of pomegranate juice 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 be tolerant of moderate frost, down to about -12 degC (10 degF).

Insect pests of the pomegranate can include the butterflies Virachola isocrates, Iraota timoleon, Deudorix epijarbas, and the leaf-footed bug Leptoglossus zonatus, and fruit flies and ants are attracted to unharvested ripe fruit. Pomegranate grows easily from seed, but is commonly propagated from 25 to 50 cm (10 to 20 in) hardwood cuttings to avoid the genetic variation of seedlings. Air layering is also an option for propagation, but grafting fails.

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.^{[citation needed]} It could well be a wild form with a distinct origin.^{[citation needed]} It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

The Socotran pomegranate is the only other species of the genus Punica. It is an endemic species to the Socotran archipelago, which consists of four islands in the Arabian Sea. One of these islands is known as Socotra. The territory is part of Yemen. It differs in having pink (not red) flowers and smaller, less sweet fruit.

Cultivars

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

There are many characteristics that distinguish pomegranate genotypes. These include: identification, preference, preferred use and marketing. The most important ones are fruit size, exocarp colors (ranging between yellow and purple with pink and red most commonly), seed-coat color (ranging in color from white to red), hardness of the seed, maturity, juice and its acidity, sweetness and astringency.