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The pomegranate ( Punica granatum) is a fruit-bearing, deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punica, that grows to between tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it originated from the Iranian plateau including Iran, the Caucasus, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pomegranate was first domesticated by ancient Iranians in the Iranian plateau and nearby regions about 5,000 years ago. It is extensively cultivated for its fruit.
Pomegranate was exported from the Iranian plateau to other parts of Asia including Iraq, Turkey, India, Africa, and Europe. It was also introduced into Spanish America in the late 16th century and into California by New Spain in 1769.
Although the pomegranate is indigenous to Iran and its nearby regions, it is also nowadays cultivated across the West Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, North Africa and tropical Africa, the drier parts of Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean Basin, United States and Chile. The fruit is typically in season in the Northern Hemisphere from September to February, and in the Southern Hemisphere from March to May. (2026). 9780128008508 ISBN 9780128008508
Pomegranate molasses is a key ingredient in traditional Iranian cuisine, where it is used to add a rich sweet-sour flavour to dishes such as stews, sauces, and marinades, most notably in classic recipes like fesenjān, kabab torsh and zeytoon parvardeh. The pomegranate and its juice are variously used in baking, cooking, juice blends, garnishes, nonalcoholic drinks, and .
Garnet derives from Old French grenat by metathesis, from Medieval Latin granatum as used in a different meaning "of a dark red colour". This derivation may have originated from pomum granatum, describing the colour of pomegranate pulp, or from granum, referring to red dye, cochineal.
The modern French term for pomegranate, grenade, has given its name to the military grenade.
Pomegranates were colloquially called wineapples or wine-apples in Ireland, although this term has fallen out of use. It still persists at the Moore Street open-air market in central Dublin. (2026). 9781443883078, Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 9781443883078
The are bright red or white, and or more in diameter, with three to seven petals. Some fruitless are grown for the flowers alone. The flower's anthers close around the stigma until maturity, the ovaries are divided internally into compartments or locules of many suspended covered in septum.
The pomegranate fruit husk is red-purple with an outer, hard pericarp, and an inner, spongy mesocarp (white "albedo"), which comprises the fruit's inner wall where seeds attach. Membranes of the mesocarp are organised as nonsymmetric chambers that contain seeds which are embedded without attachment to the mesocarp, also a result of fertilisation to the divided ovary. Pomegranate seeds are characterised by having sarcotesta, thick fleshy seed coats derived from the integuments or outer layers of the ovule's . The number of seeds in a pomegranate can vary from 200 to about 1,400. Botanically, the fruit is a berry with edible seeds and pulp produced from the ovary of a single flower. (2026). 9780470386422 ISBN 9780470386422 The fruit is variable in size, from diameter in wild plants (to in some cultivars) with a rounded shape and thick, reddish husk. In mature fruit, the juice obtained by compressing the seeds yields a tart flavour due to low pH (4.4) and high contents of , which may cause a red indelible stain on fabrics. The of pomegranate juice primarily results from the presence of and ellagitannins.
Insect pests of the pomegranate can include the butterflies Virachola isocrates, Iraota timoleon, and Deudorix epijarbas, and the leaf-footed bug Leptoglossus zonatus. Fruit flies and ants are attracted to unharvested ripe fruit. (2026). 9781879906723, UCANR Publications. ISBN 9781879906723
The only other species in the genus Punica is the Socotran pomegranate ( P. protopunica), which is endemic to the archipelago of four islands in the Arabian Sea. The territory is part of Yemen. It differs in having pink (not red) flowers and smaller, less sweet fruit.
In Pakistan, it grows wild between 1,000–2,000 metres altitude, mainly in the western part of the country. Pomegranates have been cultivated throughout the Middle East, India, and the Mediterranean region for several millennia, and it is also cultivated in the Central Valley of California and in Arizona. Pomegranates may have been domesticated as early as the fifth millennium BC, as they were one of the first fruit trees to be domesticated in the eastern Mediterranean region. (2026). 9780199549061, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199549061
Remains of the fruit dating to the Neolithic period have been found at Gezer in Israel, and carbonised pomegranate exocarp has been recovered from early Bronze Age levels at Tell es-Sultan in the West Bank. Additional remains from this period have been found at Tel Arad and Gezer in Israel. Evidence from the Late Bronze Age includes pomegranate remains at Hala Sultan Tekke in Cyprus and the site of Tiryns in Greece. A large, dry pomegranate was found in the tomb of Djehuty, the butler of Queen Hatshepsut in Egypt; Mesopotamian records written in cuneiform mention pomegranates from the mid-third millennium BC onwards. (2026). 9780198503569, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198503569
Waterlogged pomegranate remains have been identified at the circa 14th century BC Uluburun shipwreck off the coast of Turkey. Other goods on the ship include perfume, ivory and gold jewelry, suggesting that pomegranates at this time may have been considered a luxury good. Other archaeological finds of pomegranate remains from the Late Bronze Age have been found primarily in elite residences, supporting this inference. During the Iron Age, the fruit was a frequent decorative motif in Israelites material culture, appearing on ancient artifacts.
It is extensively grown in southern China and Southeast Asia, whether originally spread along the Silk Road route or brought by sea traders. Kandahar is famous in Afghanistan for its high-quality pomegranates.
The pomegranate was introduced as an exotic to England in the 17th century by John Tradescant the Elder, but the disappointment that it did not set fruit there led to its repeated introduction to the American colonies, even New England. It succeeded in the South: Bartram received a barrel of pomegranates and oranges from a correspondent in Charleston, South Carolina, 1764. John Bartram partook of "delitious" pomegranates with Noble Jones at Wormsloe Plantation, near Savannah, Georgia, in September 1765. Thomas Jefferson planted pomegranates at Monticello in 1771; he had them from George Wythe of Williamsburg.
Before tomatoes (a New World fruit) arrived in the Middle East, pomegranate juice, pomegranate molasses, and vinegar were widely used in Iranian foods; this mixture is found in traditional recipes such as fesenjān, a thick sauce made from pomegranate juice and ground , usually spooned over duck or other poultry and rice, and in ash-e anar (pomegranate soup).
In Turkey, pomegranate sauce () is used as a salad dressing, to marinate meat, or simply to drink. Pomegranate seeds are used in salads and sometimes as garnish for desserts such as güllaç. Pomegranate syrup, also called pomegranate molasses, is used in muhammara, a roasted Capsicum, walnut, and garlic spread popular in Syria and Turkey.
In Mexico, pomegranate seeds are used to adorn the traditional dish chiles en nogada, representing the red of the Mexican flag in the dish which evokes the green (poblano pepper), white ( nogada sauce) and red (pomegranate seeds).
The pomegranate is one of the Seven Species of fruit and grains listed in the Hebrew Bible as special products of the Land of Israel. A fourth-century floor mosaic from Hinton St Mary, Dorset depicts the bust of Christ and the chi rho flanked by pomegranates. (2026). 9781468303001, Abrams. ISBN 9781468303001 In Islam, Ar-Rahman of the Quran mentions the pomegranate as a "favour" among many to be offered to those fearful to the "Allah" in "two Jannah".
The pomegranate is a symbol in Armenia, representing fertility, abundance, and marriage. Every autumn, the Goychay Pomegranate Festival is held in the city of Goychay in Azerbaijan. iguide.travel Goychay Activities: Pomegranate Festival In Palestinian culture, the pomegranate symbolises fertility and is deeply embedded in folklore and traditions. Introduced to China during the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), the pomegranate was an emblem of fertility, and pictures of the ripe fruit with the seeds bursting forth were hung in homes. In some Hindu traditions, the pomegranate) symbolises prosperity and fertility, and is associated with both Bhumidevi (the earth goddess) and Ganesha (fond of the many-seeded fruit).
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