Pomegranates are being hailed as a super food which can protect the heart!
Scientists in Israel have shown that drinking a daily glass of the fruit's juice can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
"Pomegranate juice contains the highest antioxidant capacity compared to other juices, red wine and green tea," said Professor Michael Aviram, who led the team.
The pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to between five and eight metres tall. The pomegranate is native to the region 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 Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, India, Syria, Turkey, the drier parts of southeast Asia, Peninsular Malaysia, the East Indies, and tropical Africa.
Introduced into Latin America and California by Spanish settlers in 1769, pomegranate is now cultivated in parts of California and Arizona for juice production. In the functional food industry, pomegranate is included in a novel category of exotic fruits called superfruits.
Antioxidants is the naturally occurring substance in plants that protects the body from free radicals - 'bad' chemicals in the blood.
Free radicals alter cholesterol in a process known as oxidation, which is thought to speed up the hardening of the arteries.
Pomegranate GardeningPomegranates grow best in warm areas, with temperatures up to 38 °C. In inland areas, temperatures can be high and fruits can suffer from sunburn. Rainfall in summer and early autumn should be low. Established plants will survive frosts to minus 10 °C. Flowering occurs in late spring, when there are no frosts. Pomegranates do not like high humidity.
There are many varieties, with a range of quality varying from very sweet (bland) to very acidic flavours and with soft seeds, medium hard seeds or hard seeds. The best quality pomegranates have a good balance of sugars and acidity, and soft seeds, which can be consumed with the pulp.
You can also make delicious wines from Pomegranates G, we might be better getting into that!
I'll give that a go!
General Gardening Spain