Fruit and leaves
The pomegranate tree has beautiful white and red flowers that turn into delicious fruits with scarlet or reddish-yellow skin called gulnar. The cover of this fruit contains hundreds of watery, shiny red or white grains, and in each grain there is a hard or soft seed, according to the quality and variety.
Pomegranate is a shrub up to 6 meters high with drooping branches, thorns at the edges, and its branches and leaves tend to be red. Its bright red flowers are beautiful in appearance. The fruit is spherical in shape and bears a crown, while the skin of the fruit is leathery in texture, and the fruit contains many red seeds or tends to be white at times, but mostly in a bright red color. As for the leaves, they fall in the fall, so the pomegranate tree is not evergreen. Pomegranate flowers are called gulnar, which is an Arabized word for the Persian word kulnar, which means pomegranate flower. The pomegranate is known in the Pharaonic language as “Ramman” and in the Coptic language as “Erman”.
Origin, cultivation and use
Pomegranate fruits from eastern Afghanistan, intended for export to Dubai
The pomegranate tree is one of the deciduous perennial trees native to Iran. Its cultivation has spread in many Arab countries due to its warmth. Its cultivation is widespread in the areas adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea, similar to olives, as well as in Yemen and the mountainous city of Taif, west of Saudi Arabia.
Another type of pomegranate is grown as an ornamental tree due to the beauty of its multi-petaled red flowers. This type is called the scientific name: Punica protopunica and some consider it a botanical variety that follows the same type of regular pomegranate called Nana Punica granatum Var. Nana.
reproduction
There are several ways to propagate pomegranate trees, including:
stalk mind. It is the most common method for propagating pomegranate trees, where these cuttings are taken from pomegranate trees and from mature wood one year old or more, with a length of 25-30 cm in winter, then planted in a nursery for a year until the roots appear in it, then transferred to plant seedlings in the orchard.
crabs. In this method, the crabs are separated from the vicinity of the pomegranate tree with a part of the stem called the heel. Usually the length of the crabs is 60-70 cm. They are grown in the nursery for a year, and then transferred to the orchard.
laying down Laying is usually used in the propagation of pomegranate trees, so a branch is taken from the tree and buried entirely in the soil while it is connected to the mother and it is irrigated with water, then after a year or two when the roots appear from it and a number of suitable growths grow, they are separated and planted in the nursery or directly in the orchard.
Vaccination. Pomegranate trees can be propagated in this way and usually bud grafting, pen grafting or grafting is used.
Seeds. This method is not used on a commercial scale as it takes a very long time and does not give seeds of the same variety but rather pomegranate plants different from the characteristics of the mother. The use of this method is limited to agricultural research for the production of new varieties of pomegranate.
the crop
A pomegranate tree bearing small fruits in an orchard in Iraq
Pomegranate trees begin to bear fruit early, as they can produce a crop in the third year of cultivation in the orchard, but the yield is small, in addition to the small size and low quality of the fruits in these early years of fruiting. Trees give their highest yield when they reach the age of 10-12 years. The trees may live to the age of 50 years. The yield of one tree ranges from 25-30 kilograms of fruits annually. The fruits usually ripen in the summer in the month of August and continue until the end of September, depending on the region and the varieties.
Avatar
The pomegranate fruit was mentioned in the Holy Qur’an in several places, and it is one of the fruits of Paradise in the Almighty’s saying (in them are fruits, palm trees and pomegranates) “The Most Gracious_55.” The pomegranate fruit was also mentioned in the English philosopher and writer Oscar Wilde’s novel “The House of Pomegranate” as a symbol of gathering the diaspora of the different into one element. The pomegranate fruit in the novel of the Iraqi writer Sinan Antoun alone, the pomegranate tree as a symbol of death and sin. It is possible to compare the symbolism of the “pomegranate” fruit with the symbolism of the “apple” fruit, which symbolizes the “first sin” that brought man out of the Garden of Eden to a world full of evil and conspiracies. The word pomegranate means in Latin “an apple that contains many seeds”; Wilde believes that from the abyss of the underworld comes spiritual rebirth, and Wilde gives the repentant person a higher status than the saint who has not committed the sin, as he says: “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future (in self-awareness).” Therefore, all of Wilde's characters find after reaching a degree Holiness through pain and suffering has joined the Kingdom of God
Contents
Inside the pomegranate there are 12 camels, i.e. a box, and within each camel there are approximately 30-31. One pomegranate can contain from 200 to 1400 seeds inside.
Pomegranate peel
The skin of pomegranate peels contains a tannin-colored substance that has been used for dyeing for hundreds of years because it contains a distinctive base substance known as tannins, which is also known in Arabic as tannins, and it is a dark-colored substance that was used in the past and is still used today in tanning. Leather is also a black dye used to dye silk.
Nutritional information for pomegranate syrup
Each cup of pomegranate drink (250 ml), according to the Shahiya website, contains the following nutritional information:
Calories: 103
Fat: 0
Saturated fat: 0
Cholesterol: 0
Phytochemicals found in pomegranate
Pomegranate, like other fruits and vegetables, contains phytochemicals
Juice: It is an important source of two types of polyphenolic compounds: anthocyanins and hydrolyzable tannins.
Seeds: They are an important source of fiber, sugars, and pectin, and they contain estrogen.
Tree bark: contains punicotonic acid - gallic acid - mannaite - pelletierin - methyl isobilitrene.
The outer skin of the fruit: contains most of the phytochemicals.
Pomegranate uses in traditional and folk medicine
Gastrointestinal diseases: diarrhea, intestinal colic, colitis, indigestion, and intestinal parasites, particularly tapeworms. Reproductive system diseases: infections of the reproductive system, white secretions, and excessive menstruation. Skin and soft tissue diseases: The crust is used as an external ointment in cases of allergic skin infections - acne and breast infections. Diseases of the nervous system: paralysis, headache and hysteria Anal surgical conditions: hemorrhoids and prolapse of the rectum Eye and ear diseases: ear pain and visual impairment Oral and dental diseases: gum infections and toothache Its effectiveness as an antioxidant: pomegranate contains elements with high effectiveness as antioxidants (which work to maintain human cell health and disease resistance). such as soluble polyphenol compounds
Modern medicinal uses of pomegranate
Preventive and chemotherapy for cancer
It has been proven that pomegranate extract in therapeutic doses causes a natural death of cancer cells by apoptosis without affecting healthy cells.
It has been used successfully in the treatment of breast cancer, as it has been proven to stop the growth of cancer cells, prevent their spread, and increase the rates of natural death, apoptosis of cancer cells.
It has also proven to be highly effective in the treatment and prevention of urinary bladder cancer, as it stops the growth of cancer and interferes with the genetic factors of cancer cells, leading to their death in the end.
It stimulates wound healing and strengthens soft tissues, and this also can contribute to preventing cancer cells from spreading
Treatment of cardiovascular diseases
Its high effectiveness has been proven as an anti-atherosclerotic as it reduces the growth of atheroma foci due to its antioxidant effects on lipoproteins and its effects on macrophages and platelets.
And restoring the disturbed normal functions of the heart muscle
Antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory
It is proven to be highly effective as an antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory
Anti-factors causing genetic abnormalities
Immune system booster
Prevents cirrhosis
Pomegranate peel
In a study conducted in China by the Institute of Health and Environmental Sciences in Tianjin, researchers confirmed that pomegranate peels contain higher levels of antioxidants than flavonoids, phenolnics, and proanthocyanides than grains. In ancient folk medicine, the Indians used pomegranate peels to treat many health problems, as they were dried in the sun.