The hand grenade and the garnet both take their names from pomegranates
The modern French word for pomegranate, grenade, gave its name to the military explosive, and the deep red garnet likely owes its name to the fruit's pulp too. The pomegranate itself, first domesticated on the Iranian plateau around 5,000 years ago, can pack anywhere from 200 to about 1,400 seeds.
The English name blends medieval Latin words for apple and seeded. Early English speakers called it the apple of Granada, a phrase that now survives only in heraldry, and in Ireland it was once known as the wine-apple, a term still heard at Dublin's Moore Street market.
The shrub originated in a region stretching from the Caucasus across Iran to Afghanistan and Pakistan. From there it spread through Asia to Iraq, Turkey and India, and on to Africa and Europe. Spanish colonists carried it to the Americas in the late 16th century and planted it in California in 1769. It is drought-tolerant, copes with frost to about minus 12 degrees Celsius, and can live remarkably long; some French specimens have survived 200 years.
Botanically the fruit is a berry. Beneath a hard red-purple rind lies a spongy white layer divided into irregular chambers, where the seeds sit loose, each wrapped in a juicy coat called a sarcotesta. The juice is tart, with a pH around 4.4, and rich in polyphenols; its colour comes from anthocyanins and ellagitannins and can leave permanent stains on fabric. Wild fruits are 2 to 8 centimetres across, cultivated ones up to 12.
Persian cooking uses pomegranate molasses for a sweet-sour depth in dishes such as the stew fesenjān. Elsewhere the fruit goes into juices, garnishes, baking and cocktails. The season runs from September to February in the Northern Hemisphere. Gardeners also grow it for its red or white flowers, and some cultivars produce no fruit at all. Older trees develop twisted, sculptural trunks. Cuttings root best between 18 and 29 degrees Celsius.
Source: Pomegranate
