Soup, salad dressing, liqueur, salsa, lollipops, juice, supplements, jam, jelly, hand lotion, perfume, and hair conditioner. These are just a few of the things that you can make out of the fruit that has recently been dubbed a new superfood- the pomegranate. While the pomegranate has been around for centuries, dating back to 3000 B.C., it is only in recent years that it has become popular in the west. Originating from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and the Himalayas, the fruit was introduced into Latin America as well as the southwestern United States in 1769 by Spanish settlers.
My personal introduction with pomegranates was in the southwestern United States too, Tucson, Arizona to be exact. It was there, in Tucson, that my aunt had a couple of pomegranate trees in her backyard. Each year she would harvest the fruit and laboriously make delicious jelly out of her crop. Family members would then receive a few of jars of this homemade treat as Christmas gifts. These simple gifts that were made with such love and care meant the world to all of us as a family.
As a child it took a few tastes before I was able to decide that I loved the strange, light red jelly we received from her. The taste was so unique- I still remember it- a mild sweetness with just a hint of a bite to it. I remember that we used to ration out the jelly carefully, trying to make our jars last long enough to make it to the next Christmas batch. It has been years since my aunt made her famous jelly; the incredible amount of time it takes to make jelly from fresh pomegranates is insane, and in her later years she would rather spend her time doing other things. I can't blame her, but I will always remember that wonderful, exotic jelly made from such a strange fruit.
This strange fruit has a rich history in art, religion, mythology, symbol and medicine. In the Jewish culture the pomegranate symbolizes righteousness, the Chinese consider it one of the three blessed fruit along with the citron and the peach, the Muslim Qu’uran refers to the pomegranate as the “fruit of paradise”, and in the Christian faith, some scholars argue that it was actually a pomegranate, not an apple, that tempted Eve.
Perhaps because of the importance of the pomegranate in many different religions, it has often been used in homeopathic remedies. The nutrients that the pomegranate has, as well as different properties of the plant as a whole have led to the root, bark, rind and seeds of the pomegranate bush being used for centuries to treat all sorts of ailments. As strange as it may sound, some of these ailments are indigestion, tapeworms, fevers, diarrhea, heartburn and even impotency and the possibility of miscarriage in pregnancy. Who knew that one little fruit had so much to offer?
I didn't know any of this information about the pomegranate when I reintroduced myself to the pomegranate in my fifth grade year. My teacher, Mrs. Skinner, allowed us to have snacks in class, so on a daily basis there would be a variety of foods in the room. It was because of me that she banned pomegranates from the list of things we could bring. After bringing a few in for myself, my friend Skeeter developed a taste for pomegranates as well. It was the beginning of the end when I started bringing in pomegranates for the both of us.
For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of eating a pomegranate, it is a very sticky, very messy experience. The pomegranate has a thick, red leathery skin that you must break or cut open to get at the fruit itself. The edible part of the berry are the hundreds of seeds inside of it (there are around six hundred seeds in each pomegranate). These seeds are called arils and are very juicy. Because of the natural sugars in the fruit, the aril juice is extremely sticky as well. The arils are held in place and protected by thick white membranes that must be torn apart as well. Eating a pomegranate is a lot of work as you must break the fruit apart and pick out the seeds a few at a time and eat them. While picking out the seeds, they can burst and spray juice across whatever is in front of and below it.
While Skeeter and I loved our unique, tasty snacks, by the time we were done our desks and the floor in front of us were covered with a fine red sticky mist. After a few days of this (and probably many complaints from the janitor) Mrs. Skinner told us that pomegranates were no longer a snack we could bring. It was a sad day, but a memorable one at that. Little did I know that I was providing myself with an incredibly healthy snack. Those little seeds obviously pack a lot of punch, even more than people originally thought.
Much of the recent health information and health studies that are out there on pomegranates came from studies paid for by POMWonderful, a California corporation owned by Stewart and Lynda Resnick. The Resnicks, since expanding their pomegranate farming business into the POMWonderful juice and supplement business that it is today, have spent more than twenty-three million dollars to research the health benefits of pomegranates. They asked Michael Aviram, an Israeli doctor who had done extensive research on the benefits of red wine, to start the research. They were all surprised at the findings.
Through the research that has been done on pomegranates (through POMWonderful funding as well as other studies) it has been found that the pomegranate is extremely high in vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Most impressive, the pomegranate has three types of antioxidants that prevent free radicals from damaging our bodies. These three antioxidants are tannins, anthocyanins, and ellagic acid. While there are other sources of foods that have these antioxidants, it has been shown that pomegranates have more antioxidants that the previously named superfoods green tea and red wine.
This combination of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals make pomegranates a healthy snack that helps improve blood flow to the heart, reduce systolic blood pressure, fights viruses, and slows down progression of cancer, and possibly prevents the development of cancer.
The nutritional assets the pomegranate holds have pushed the fruit out into the world market. Just a few short years ago it was practically impossible to find pomegranate juice, pomegranate liqueur or anything else remotely pomegranate in the United States. Now, largely thanks to POMWonderful, we have all sorts of different juices to choose from, the pomegranate has made a scene-stealing appearance on the market, and people are just beginning to find out about this seductively tasty berry.
The quiet power of the pomegranate reminds me of how very special nature’s gifts are and reinforces the thought that we take our food for granted much too often. Appreciation of our food and where it comes from can make a world of difference, not only for our gratefulness of our food, but for our own health as well. Bring on the poms!!
References
Wolf, Bonny (2006). Pomegranates: Jewels in the Fruit Crown. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6411097
Tsang, Gloria (2005). http://www.healthcastle.com/pomegranate-juice.shtml
(2005). http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20050321/pomegranate-juice-may-clear-clogged-arteries
Perveen, Shaveen. http://www.fbworld.com/Mag_Fall_2007/pomegranate/index.html
http://www.oakcreekorchard.com/id30.html
http://www.phytochemicals.info/plants/pomegranate.php
(2008). http://www.pomwonderful.com
(2008). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate
Fortini, Amanda. The New Yorker. New York: Mar 31, 2008. Vol. 84, Iss. 7, p. 92
