INTRODUCTION

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a deciduous fruit tree and has been improved for the purposes of fruit, as well as for ornamental and medicinal usages. It originated in the Middle East (Persia and the surrounding area) and was distributed from the Mediterranean area to East Asia in ancient times (De Candolle 1883).

The genus Punica includes only two species, Punica granatum L.(pomegranate) and P. protopunica L. P. protopunica L. originated in the Sokotora Peninsula adjacent to the Red Sea, and is presumed to be an ancestral species of P. granatum L. However, they are sometimes classified in different genera because of difference in habitats.

A group of dwarf pomegranates are classified into a variety (P. granatum var. nana Pers.= P. nana L.) which has dwarf growth. Some dwarf pomegranates can flower within 1 year after sowing seeds like annual plants.

By means of evolutionary and artificial improvements over a long period, many variations have evolved. For economical purposes, wide variations in fruit size, split of pericarp, and sweetness and color of the juice have been found and selected. Moreover, pomegranate has accumulated variations in other characteristics, such as color of young leaf, variegation of leaf, leaf shapes, color of flower from white to scarlet, single or double petals, pollen fertility, growth habits, twist of the trunk, maturity season of the fruit, etc. They are important keys in the identification of cultivars and clones.

Breeding of pomegranates has been advanced and reported in Mediterranean countries such as Italy, in Egypt, and recently in the USA. The improvements in fruit size, quality, and crop yield are important breeding aims. Whether seedless or with small seeds is also

important for commercial cultivars. New cultivars have been bred and released through conventional cross-hybridization and mutation.

In addition to table use of the fresh fruits, they are also processed to make grenadine juice. Moreover, pomegranates have been developed for ornamental and medicinal usages.

Pomegranates are cultured mainly in the Mediterranean area, Central Asia, and the USA for fruit production, and are also developed as ornamental trees in East Asia. However, crop yields of pomegranates are not high enough for exact statistics f world acreage and yield to be cited in the FAO crop production year book. In spite of the present state of production, pomegranate has a potential for cultivation because of its high adaptability to dry climate and acidic soil conditions.

Distribution and Historical Perspective

The pomegranate, from the Latin words pomus and grnatus, meaning a seeded or granular apple, is native from Iran to the Himalayas in northern India, where it has been cultivated for thousands of years. There are over 1000 cultivars of P. granatum that originate from Persia, extended eastward to China and India through Mediterranean, and on to the American Southwest, California and Mexico (Lansky & Newman, 2007). Some of the important pomegranate growing regions include Egypt, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, India, Burma (Myanmar) and Saudi Arabian(Morton, 1987). Its pouches of plentiful seeds and blood-red pulp made it a symbol of both fertility and death in various Mediterranean and West Asian mythologies. The Egyptians called the pomegranate the “most beautiful of fruits”. Babylonians regarded pomegranate as an agent of resurrection (Aviram et al., 2000) and their soldiers reportedly ate its seeds before battle to make themselves invincible. The prophet Mohammed (PBUH) told his

followers to eat the pomegranate, “for it purges the system of envy and hatred” (Swenson, 1995).

In ancient Greek mythology, Persephone, the goddess of the underworld, would initiate the dead to their after life by feeding them pomegranate, which was known as the ‘fruit of the dead’ (Spretnak, 1992). In the Hebrew tradition, the pomegranate fruit rimon, with its abundance of juicy seeds, has been regarded as a symbol of fertility for thousands of years. Pomegranate is frequently mentioned in the Bible, and is believed to be one of the seven species with which the land of Israel was blessed. It was also a favorite motif of Jewish art in ancient times, the capitals of two columns in the facade of the temple in Jerusalem were decorated with pomegranates and so were the robes of the High Priest (Heber, 2006). According to ancient Chinese tradition, the seeds of pomegranate symbolize longevity and immortality (Langley, 2000). It was brought to China probably during the Han and Sung dynasties by traders from the Middle East. The mention of pomegranate in Romeo and Juliet indicates that it was known in Elizabethan England and was slowly adopted in medieval Europe (Haber, 2006). In deference to this historical reputation of pomegranates, the British Medical Association and several British Royal Colleges feature pomegranate in their coat of arms. The Royal College of Physicians of London adopted the pomegranate in their coat of arms by the middle of the 16th century (Langley, 2000; Neurath et al., 2004).

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

Domain: Eukarya

Kingdom: Plantae

Subkingdom: Tracheobionta

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Subclass: Rosidae

Order: Myrtales

Family: Lythraceae

Genus: Punica

Species: P. granatum

Generic Group: Pomegranate

GEOGRAPHY AND DISTRIBUTION

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. and was reported growing in Indonesia in 1416. It has been widely cultivated throughout India and drier parts of southeast Asia, Malaya, the East Indies and tropical Africa. The most important growing regions are Egypt, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Burma and Saudi Arabia. There are some commercial orchards in Israel on the coastal plain and in the Jordan Valley.

It is rather commonly planted and has become naturalized in Bermuda where it was first recorded in 1621, but only occasionally seen in the Bahamas, West Indies and warm areas of South and Central America. Many people grow it at cool altitudes in the interior of Honduras. In Mexico it is frequently planted, and it is sometimes found in gardens in

Hawaii. The tree was introduced in California by Spanish settlers in 1769. It is grown for its fruit mostly in the dry zones of that state and Arizona. In California, commercial pomegranate cultivation is concentrated in Tulare, Fresno and Kern counties, with small plantings in Imperial and Riverside counties. There were 2,000 acres (810 ha) of hearing trees in these areas in the 1920’s. Production declined from lack of demand in the 1930’s but new plantings were made when increased in the 1960’s.

MORPHOLOGY

An erect deciduous spreading shrub or tree, 8 to 10 metres high; stren, woody and thorny; girth of main stem, 48 to 78 cm; wood, very hard and light yellow; leaves shed in December, new light red leaves appearing in the middle of March, new growth, very ornamental.

Leaves, opposite, lanceolate, shinning from above, 5.7 cm long, 1.7 cm broad, having entire margin; petiole, thin, 4 cm long; leaves, often clustered on arrested branchlets.

Flowers, sessile, ebracteate, complete, actinomorphic, bisexual, solitary or in axillary clusters of 2 to 6; length, 3.7 cm; diameter, 3.6 cm; color, claret rose 021; calyx, actinomorphic, persistent, thick, fleshy, 3.1 cm in diameter; corolla, polypetalous, with six petals, begonia 619 in color, caduceus, actinomorphic, inserted at the top of the calyx lute; length, 2 to 2.5 cm; androecium, with numerous stamens, inserted at different levels below the petals, polyandrous; filament, 4 mm long, light red; anther-lobes, dorsifixed and light yellow; style and stigma 1 to 1.2 cm long; ovary, inferior, containing numerous ovules, ovary enclosed entirely within the persistent calyx tube.

Fruits, globular, crowned by a persistent calyx, possessing a hard outer rind diameter, 4.2 to 6.6 cm; weight, 80.5 g volume, 78.5 ml color, yellowish green, with a red tinge.

Seeds, angular, with a fleshy aril which constitutes the edible part; color, varying from red to pinkish white, however, in most cases, it is rose opal 622.