The History of the Pomegranate

The many-seeded fruit of the pomegranate tree (Punica granatum), native to the Near East and tropical Africa, is one of the oldest Semitic symbols of life, fertility and abundance. The pomegranate, along with wheat and the grape, was regarded as one of the prime attributes of Ibritz, the Hittite god of agriculture. It was embroidered at the hem of Aaron's sacred robes and adorned the official vestments of the priest-kings of ancient Persia. The capitals and pillars of the Temple of Solomon were covered with carved pomegranates. Pomegranates were served at the marriage banquets of ancient Assyria and Babylonia as a symbol of love and fecundity.

When the pomegranate traveled from Asia Minor to the Far East, its symbolic meaning accompanied it. At Oriental weddings, seeds of the pomegranate were offered to the guests and when the newly-weds entered their bedchamber, pomegranates were thrown to the floor of the bursting fruits strewed their seeds all over the room, signifying that the marriage should be happy and blessed with many children. When the Moors conquered Spain about 800 A.D., they introduced the pomegranate into the Iberian peninsula and the fruit became the emblem of Granada, whose name was derived from it.

Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536), the first wife of Henry VIII, wore the Spanish emblem of the pomegranate, and the Oriental fruit became the badge of their daughter, Mary Tudor (1516-1558), Queen of England.

Presumably, the pomegranate was introduced into the new world by the early Spanish colonists and has since been commonly cultivated in gardens ranging from warmer sections of the USA to Chile. Small commercial plantings have been made in California. Though pomegranates will grow in a wide range of climates, good fruit is produced only where high temperature and dry atmosphere accompany the ripening period.

Varieties cultivated in the USA are the Wonderful, the Paper-Shell, and the Spanish Ruby.

The name of the pomegranate was derived from the Latin pomum (apple) and granatum (with seeds). When the explosive shell that strewed metal particles over a wide area was invented, the French, mindful of the seed-scattering characteristics of the pomegranate, called it granade, and the special regiments, founded in 1791, who launched these new weapons, were called granadiers.

In folk medicine, the fruit's astringent properties have been used to treat various ailments (cuts, sore throats, tapeworms, dysentery, and gum disease). Pomegranate juice is marketed in the United States as a major source of antioxidant nutrients that protect against heart disease and other ailments. Recent research has focused on its potential use as a treatment for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and various forms of cancer.

Pomegranates are a good source of vitamin C, providing between 10-20% of the recommended daily allowance according to one source and up to 40% according to another. The potent antioxidant properties of the fruit have been attributed to its high content of soluble polyphenols. When tested in vitro on normal and colon-cancer cell lines, the juice was found to have superior antioxidant, antiproliferative, and proapoptotic effects compared with single purified active ingredients, probably the result of synergistic actions among the fruit's multiple compounds. Studies have shown that the antioxidant activity of the pomegranate flowers yielded activity two to three times the antioxidant potency of tea or red wine.

In studies of the fruit's anticancer effects, pomegranate fruit extract (PFE) has been found to be chemopreventive in mouse mammary organ culture and in human breast cancer cells in vitro. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison found that PFE significantly reduced serum prostate-specific antigen levels and inhibited proliferation of aggressive human prostate cancer cells in athymic mice. Pomegranate extracts have exerted antiproliferative, antiestrogenic, and proapoptotic actions on leukemia cells as well as breast- and prostate-cancer cells.

Its juice may be cardioprotective, reducing risk factors (such as cholesterol accumulation, foam-cell formation in macrophages, and oxidized low-density lipoprotein [LDL]) without affecting native LDL.
In a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, CA, pomegranate juice drinkers with coronary artery disease had a 17% improvement in blood flow compared with an 18% worsening in the control group. The study team concluded that the antioxidants in the juice may help prevent the formation of fatty deposits on artery walls. Australian researchers found that pomegranate flower extract reduced factors (hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and a fatty heart) that can result in increased cardiac-impairing fibrosis in patients with type 2 diabetes. Other studies have shown the benefits of pomegranate in promoting neurologic health, maintaining joint integrity and function, exhibiting estrogenic properties, blocking herpes simplex virus replication and adsorption, enhancing immune function, treating periodontal disease, enhancing the activity of antibiotics used to treat methicillin-resistant and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus infections, and preventing smooth muscle dysfunction and fibrosis in erectile dysfunction. In Ayurvedic medicine, the astringent properties of pomegranates are linked with bone and cartilage build-up; in the cosmetic arena, fruit-peel extract has been shown to stimulate a type of procollagen synthesis and inhibit a dermal degeneration process.The antioxidant, immune-boosting, and anticarcinogenic properties of the pomegranate, offers multiple potential medical applications.

Thanks Shari Henson for your contribution with this post.