Pomegranate

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Pomegranate flowers look like tongues of flame blazing in red bowl-like cups. In late autumn the flowers ripen into beautiful fruits.

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Varieties
There are many varieties of pomegranate with colors ranging from yellow-orange to deep reddish-purple. Forms include fresh pomegranate fruit, pomegranate juice, pomegranate syrup, and pomegranate molasses.

How To
· Peel
· Select, Store & Enjoy

Health Benefits
Pomegranates are not only delicious and beautiful, they’re also one of the most nutritious fruits you can eat.

High in vitamin C and potassium, a good source of fiber and low in calories.
Pomegranate juice is high in three different types of polyphenols, a potent form of antioxidants. The three types - tannins, anthocyanins, and ellagic acid - are present in many fruits, but pomegranate juice contains particularly high amounts of all three. As antioxidants, they are credited with helping in the prevention of cancer and heart disease.

Nutritional Information: 1/2 Cup of Arils (Seeds); 80 Calories; Sodium 5mg; Potassium 180mg; Carbohydrate 18g; Protein 1g

In Season
Fresh Pomegranates are available in September through January. Pomegranate concentrate is also available throughout the year.

History
The pomegranate is one of the oldest fruits as well as richest in history and folklore. The pomegranate is native from Iran to the Himalayas in northern India and has been cultivated and naturalized over the whole Mediterranean region and the Caucasus since ancient times. It is widely cultivated throughout Iran, India, the drier parts of southeast Asia, Malaya, the East Indies, and tropical Africa. Introduced into Latin America and California by Spanish settlers in 1769, pomegranate is now cultivated mainly in the drier parts of California and Arizona for its fruits exploited commercially as juice products gaining in popularity since 2001. In the global functional food industry, pomegranate is often mentioned among a novel category of exotic plant sources called "superfruits."