POMEGRANATE – LIFE’s ELIXIR – A BERRY WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED

POMEGRANATE – LIFE’s ELIXIR – A BERRY WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED

The pomegranate /ˈpɒmɨɡrænɨt/, botanical name Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between 5–8 meters (16–26 ft) tall.

The pomegranate is steeped in history especially of the moguls and Arabian nights,  belongs to the family Punicaceae which includes only one genus and two species, the other one, little-known, being P. protopunica Balf. peculiar to the island of Socotra (an island of Republic of Yemen- where most plants seems to belong to yester world and are unique)

The genus name PUNICA , was the common name of Carthage in Rome, the place from which best pomegranates were sent to ITALY. The  French called it as GRANADE and perhaps the present name has been derived from these two names.

ORIGIN

The pomegranate tree is native from Iran to the Himalayas in northern India and has been cultivated since ancient times throughout the Mediterranean region of Asia, Africa and Europe. The fruit was used in many ways as it is today and was featured in Egyptian mythology and art, praised in the Old Testament of the Bible and in the Babylonian Talmud, and it was carried by desert caravans for the sake of its thirst-quenching juice. It traveled to central and southern India from Iran about the first century A.D.

COMMON VARIETIES

The most popular KABUL POMEGRANTE , is a VARIETY and need not come Kabul in Afghanistan. But people are used to associate the fruit with Kabul.

In India there are several named cultivars. Preference is usually given those with fleshy, juicy pulp around the seeds. Types with relatively soft seeds are often classed as "seedless". Among the best are 'Bedana' and 'Kandhari'. 'Bedana' is medium to large, with brownish or whitish rind, pulp pinkish-white, sweet, seeds soft. 'Kandhari' is large, deep-red, with deep-pink or blood-red, subacid pulp and hard seeds.

Further information on the varieties and names can be obtained from the web.

DESCRIPTION

An attractive shrub or small tree, to 20 or 30 ft (6 or 10 m) high, the pomegranate is much-branched, more or less spiny, and extremely long-lived, some specimens at Versailles known to have survived two centuries. It has a strong tendency to sucker from the base. The leaves are evergreen or deciduous, opposite or in whorls of 5 or 6, short-stemmed, oblong-lanceolate, 3/8 to 4 in (1-10 cm) long, leathery.

FLOWERS

Showy flowers are home on the branch tips singly or as many as 5 in a cluster. They are 1 1/4 in (3 cm) wide and characterized by the thick, tubular, red calyx having 5 to 8 fleshy, pointed sepals forming a vase from which emerge the 3 to 7 crinkled, red, white or variegated petals enclosing the numerous stamens. The flowers are bright red, 3 cm in diameter, with four to five petals (often more on cultivated plants). Some fruitless varieties are grown for the flowers alone.

Pomegranate [Punica granatum (Punicaceae)] is characterized by having two types of flowers on the same tree: hermaphroditic bisexual flowers and functionally male flowers. This condition, defined as functional andromonoecy, can result in decreased yields resulting from the inability of male flowers to set fruit. In short the same plant has both MONOCEOUS (having both female and male parts) and DIOCEOUS (having either male or female part) flowers.

FRUIT

The edible fruit belong to the fruit classification  BERRY and is between a lemon and a grapefruit in size, 5–12 cm in diameter with a rounded hexagonal shape, and has thick reddish skin. The exact number of seeds in a pomegranate can vary from 200 to about 1400 seeds, contrary to some beliefs that all pomegranates have exactly the same number of seeds. Each seed has a surrounding water-laden pulp—the edible aril—ranging in color from white to deep red or purple. The seeds are embedded in a white, spongy, astringent membrane. Nearly round, but crowned at the base by the prominent calyx, the fruit, 2 1/2 to 5 in (6.25-12.5 cm) wide, has a tough, leathery skin or rind, basically yellow more or less overlaid with light or deep pink or rich red. The interior is separated by membranous walls and white spongy tissue (rag) into compartments packed with transparent sacs filled with tart, flavorful, fleshy, juicy, red, pink or whitish pulp (technically the aril). In each sac, there is one white or red, angular, soft or hard seed. The seeds represent about 52% of the weight of the whole fruit.

CLIMATIC  CONDITIONS FOR GROWTH

The species is primarily mild-temperate to subtropical and naturally adapted to regions with cool winters and hot summers, but certain types are grown in home dooryards in tropical areas. Fruit development is enhanced after a cold winter.  The plant favors a semi-arid climate and is extremely drought -tolerant.

SOIL CONDITIONS

Pomegranate has been found to thrive on Calcareous alkaline soil as well as mild acidic loam. Hence it is tolerant most soil conditions.

HARVESTING AND YIELD

It takes six to seven months  for the fruit to ripen after flowering. Protecting the fruit from its natural enemies, Birds and squirrels is a grate problem one has to face. The fruit cannot be ripened off the tree even with ethylene treatment. Growers generally consider the fruit ready for harvest if it makes a metallic sound when tapped. The fruit must be picked before over maturity when it tends to crack open if rained upon or under certain conditions of atmospheric humidity, dehydration by winds, or insufficient irrigation. Of course, one might assume that ultimate splitting is the natural means of seed release and dispersal.

The pomegranate is equal to the apple in having a long storage life. It is best maintained at a temperature of 32º to 41º F (0º-5º C). The fruits improve in storage, become juicier and more flavorful; may be kept for a period of 7 months within this temperature range and at 80 to 85% relative humidity, without shrinking or spoiling.

 

Pests and Diseases
The pomegranate butterfly, Virachola isocrates, lays eggs on flower-buds and the calyx of developing fruits; in a few days the caterpillars enter the fruit by way of the calyx. These fruit borers may cause loss of an entire crop unless the flowers are sprayed 2 times 30 days apart. A stem borer sometimes makes holes right through the branches. Twig dieback may be caused by either Pleuroplaconema or Ceuthospora Phyllosticta. Discoloration of fruits and seeds results from infestation by Aspergillus castaneus. The fruits may be sometimes disfigured by Sphaceloma punicae. Dry rot from Phomopsis sp. or Zythia versoniana may destroy as much as 80% of the crop unless these organisms are controlled by appropriate spraying measures. Excessive rain during the ripening season may induce soft rot. A post-harvest rot caused by Alternaria solani was observed in India in 1974. It is particularly prevalent in cracked fruits.
Minor problems are leaf and fruit spot caused by Cercospora, Gloeosporium and Pestalotia sp.; also foliar damage by whitefly, thrips, mealybugs and scale insects; and defoliation by Euproctis spp. and Archyophora dentula. Termites may infest the trunk. In India, paper or plastic bags or other covers may be put over the fruits to protect them from borers, birds, bats and squirrels.

FOOD USES

 Pomegranate fruit rinds can be eaten raw as many soft seeded varieties have come up. The fruits are juicy and mildly sweet. The fruits are  deeply scored several times vertically and then broken apart; then the clusters of juice sacs can be lifted out of the rind and eaten. Italians and other pomegranate fanciers consider this not a laborious handicap but a social, family or group activity, prolonging the pleasure of dining. Nevertheless  juice is fancied in many cuisines and countries.
In northern India, a major use of the wild fruits is for the preparation of "anardana"–the juice sacs being dried in the sun for 10 to 15 days and then sold as a spice.
MEDICINAL USES:
 The juice of wild pomegranates yields citric acid and sodium citrate for pharmaceutical purposes. Pomegranate juice enters into preparations for treating dyspepsia and is considered beneficial in leprosy.
The bark of the stem and root contains several alkaloids including isopelletierine which is active against tapeworms. Either a decoction of the bark, which is very bitter, or the safer, insoluble Pelletierine Tannate may be employed. Overdoses are emetic and purgative, produce dilation of pupila, dimness of sight, muscular weakness and paralysis.
Because of their tannin content, extracts of the bark, leaves, immature fruit and fruit rind have been given as astringents to halt diarrhea, dysentery and hemorrhages. Dried, pulverized flower buds are employed as a remedy for bronchitis. In Mexico, a decoction of the flowers is gargled to relieve oral and throat inflammation. Leaves, seeds, roots and bark have displayed hypotensive, antispasmodic and anthelmintic activity in bioassay.
PROPAGATION
Pomegranate seeds germinate readily even when merely thrown onto the surface of loose soil and the seedlings spring up with vigor. But the  seedlings show high  variation. Hence selected cultivars are usually reproduced by means of hardwood cuttings 10 to 20 in (25-50 cm) long. Treatment with 50 ppm. indole-butyric acid and planting at a moisture level of 15.95% greatly enhances root development and survival. The cuttings are set in beds with 1 or 2 buds above the soil for 1 year, and then transplanted to the field. Grafting has never been successful but branches may be air-layered and suckers from a parent plant can be taken up and transplanted.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND ECONOMICS
I visited a school at Huliar (13.5833° N, 76.5500° E) a small town in Chickanaikan halli Taluk, Tumkur district of Karnataka. The farmers in the area have taken up Pomegranate cultivation. I visited the TWO ACRE farm of one Chenna Gowda. He has planted Pomegranate plants at 3 meters distance from one another in his farm. He has also reserved about 10-15 plants as mother plants for AIR LAYERING.
This area receives less rain fall , but relatively fertile due to The Government irrigation schemes.
According to Sri.Gowda, he markets his Pomegranate produce at BANGALORE AUCTION about four hours drive from Huliar . After all his expenses he is understood to make around 10 lacs /peracre/per annum. Apart from this he alsp AIR LAYERS seedlings from the mother plants and sells rooted cuttings at the rate of Rs.20/cutting and planted seedlings in plastic bag at the rate of Rs.40/seedling. 
My three month old air-layered cutting has flowered and has yielded at our terrace garden at Chennai. We have to wait and see if the fruits would mature in about six months.