All About Pomegranates

Pom Wonderful © June 2007

There's more to a pomegranate than meets the eye! Pom Wonderful enlightens us on some of the more trivial aspects of this tasty fruit... or maybe they are not so trivial?

Other items of interest

Background, Myth and Religion

Pomegranates are one of the earliest cultivated and most revered fruits

Considered one of the oldest known edible fruits, pomegranates were brought to the New World by Spanish Missionaries in 1521

The pomegranate is native to Iran and to the Himalayas in northern India and has been cultivated and naturalised to the Mediterranean region, as well as parts of China

The pomegranate grows as a shrub and can grow to be 12-16 feet tall when trained as a tree. Pomegranate trees live for many years and there are specimens in Europe that are over 200 years old

Early Wonderful, Grenada, Footlhill and Wonderful are names of pomegranate varieties that grow in California

Pomegranate Terminology

Outer peel or skin

Albedo - white fleshy substance directly under the skin

Membrane - see-through yellow membrane surrounding arils

Aril - edible juice sack and seed

In England

The British Medical Association and three royal colleges, the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Physicians, all feature the pomegranate in their coat of arms

The heraldic meanings of the pomegranate reflect the meanings of the pomegranate in the myth of Persephone - the persistence of life, fertility and regeneration

The Greeks

In Greek mythology the pomegranate represents life, regeneration and marriage

Pomegranates were said to be a favourite food of the gods

The Myth of Persephone

Hades, Lord of the Underworld, abducted Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Demeter and made her Queen of the Underworld. Once there, Hades tempted her with a juicy pomegranate. By eating the arils, Persephone was thus joined Hades - the pomegranate being a symbol of the indissolubility of marriage

Inconsolable at the loss of her daughter, Demeter prevented the earth from bearing fruit unless she was her daughter again. Zeus arranged a compromise: Persephone would live with Hades for one third of the year and the other two thirds with Demeter. Persephone's return from the underworld each year is marked by the arrival of Spring

Judaism

Pomegranate arils are said to number 613 - one for each of the Torah's 613 commandments (according to Judaic law)

Depictions of the fruit had long been featured in architecture and design. They decorated the pillars of King Solomon's temple and the robes of Jewish kings and priests

In the Song of Solomon 4:3 it reads, "Your lips are like a scarlet thread and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil."

The silver shekel coin of Jerusalem, in circulation from 143 to 135BC, bears engravings of three pomegranates

Christianity

Recent scholarly works show that it was the pomegranate, not the apple, which Eve offered Adam in the Garden of Eden

A symbol of resurrection and life everlasting, the pomegranate is often found in statues and paintings of the Virgin and Child

In medieval representations, the Pomegranate tree, a fertility symbol, is associated with the end of the unicorn hunt

Buddhism

Pomegranates are one of three blessed fruits, along with citrus and peaches

The demoness Hariti was, according to Buddhist legend, cured of her evil habit of devouring children in Buddha, who gave her a pomegranate to eat

In China, the pomegranate is widely represented in art symbolizing fertility, abundance, prosperity, numerous and virtuous offspring and a blessed future. A picture of a ripe pomegranate is a popular wedding present

Islam

The Koran describes a heavenly paradise with four gardens that contain, among other things, the pomegranate

Legend has it that each pomegranate contains one aril descended directly from paradise

Mohammed considered the pomegranate to be a precious fruit filled with nutrition, bringing both emotional and physical peace

Bedouin weddings prominently feature pomegranates: a ripe fruit is split open by the groom as he and his bride enter their home. Abundant arils ensure that the couple who eat them will have many children