Pomegranate Trivia | 50 facts about the fruit

Pomegranate is a tasty fruit, which is beneficial for our health. It is also associated with many cultural and religious customs.

Let’s find out more about the fruit!

1. The pomegranate is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub.
2. It belongs in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae.
3. It grows between 5 and 10 m (16 and 33 ft) tall.
4. Young pomegranate in Side, Turkey
5. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean region.
6. It was introduced into Spanish America in the late 16th century.
7. It was them introduced into California by Spanish settlers in 1769.
8. The fruit is typically in season in the Northern Hemisphere from October to February, and in the Southern Hemisphere from March to May.
9. As intact sarcotestas or juice, pomegranates are used in baking, cooking, juice blends, meal garnishes, smoothies, and alcoholic beverages, such as cocktails and wine.
10. 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
11. The name pomegranate derives from medieval Latin pōmum “apple” and grānātum “seeded”.
12. Possibly stemming from the old French word for the fruit, pomme-grenade, the pomegranate was known in early English as “apple of Grenada”.
13. This is a term which today survives only in heraldic blazons.
14. This is a folk etymology, confusing the Latin granatus with the name of the Spanish city of Granada, which derives from Arabic.
15. Garnet derives from Old French grenat by metathesis, from Medieval Latin granatum as used in a different meaning “of a dark red color”.
16. This derivation may have originated from pomum granatum, describing the color of pomegranate pulp, or from granum, referring to “red dye, cochineal”.
17. The French term for pomegranate, grenade, has given its name to the military grenade.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. The flowers are bright red and 3 cm (1+¹⁄₄ in) in diameter, with three to seven petals.
21. Some fruitless varieties are grown for the flowers alone
22. The word pomegranate means apple with many seeds.
23. Pomegranates are native to the Middle East.
24. Pomegranates belong to the berry family.
25. Pomegranates are classified as a super fruit.
26. Pomegranates can be stored up to 2 months in the refrigerator.
27. Pomegranates grown in the United States are typically in season from September to December.
28. Pomegranates do not contain cholesterol or saturated fats.
29. Pomegranate trees grow in hot and dry climates.
30. Pomegranate trees can live for over 200 years.
31. One pomegranate can hold more than 1,000 seeds.
32. The pomegranate arils are also very sweet, with one cup containing 24 grams of sugar.
33. This means it has 144 calories.
34. Pomegranate has impressive anti-inflammatory effects.
35. One 12-week study in people with diabetes found that 1.1 cups (250 ml) of pomegranate juice per day lowered the inflammatory markers CRP and interleukin-6 by 32% and 30%, respectively
36. Pomegranate may help fight prostate cancer.
37. Pomegranates can be stored up to 2 months in the refrigerator.
38. In the United States, Pomegranates grown are typically in season from September to December.
39. Pomegranates do not contain cholesterol or saturated fats.
40. Pomegranate trees grow in hot and dry climates.
41. Pomegranate trees can live for over 200 years.
42. There are over 760 varieties of pomegranate.
43. Pomegranate remains dating back to 1000 BC have been found in Transcaucasia.
44. In early English, the pomegranate was called the “apple of Grenada.”
45. Pomegranates are mentioned many times in the Bible.
46. In the Qur’an, pomegranates are named as one of the fruits that will grow in the gardens of paradise.
47. In Greece, a traditional housewarming gift is a pomegranate placed under or near the home altar of the house in order to bring good luck, fertility, and abundance.
48. Thomas Jefferson planted pomegranates at Monticello in 1771.
49. Every October, the Pomegranate Festival is held in Goychay, Azerbaijan.
50. The flowers of Pomegranate are bright red and 3 centimeters in diameter.