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Punica granatum

Punica granatum: Fruit
Photo by Ken Fern. High resolution version

Common name:	Pomegranate	Family:	Punicaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	11, 51, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	S.E. Europe to E. Asia - Himalayas.
Habitat:	Dry limestone soils to 2700 metres in the Himalayas[51].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Malus punica[H] Punicum malum[H]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	An Shih Liu [E], Dadima [E], Dalima [E], Delima [E], Gangsalan [E], Granada [E], Granado [E], Grenade [E], Grenadier [E], Hannar [E], Nar [E], Naragaci [E], Pomegranate [H,B,MS,P,E], Pomme Grenade [E], Pomogranado [E], Rumman [E], Shan Shih Liu [E], Zakuro [E],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Myrtales. Pomegranate family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China; Dominican Republic; Egypt; Ethiopia; Europe; Haiti; India; Iraq; Israel; Java; Kurdistan; Malaya; Mexico; Mexico(Kickapoo); Peru; Spain; Turkey; Us; Venezuela

Physical Characteristics

A decidious tree growing to 5m by 8m . It is hardy to zone 9 and is frost tender. It is in flower from June to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Hedge, Woodland, Sunny Edge, By Walls, By South Wall.

Edible Uses

Condiment; Fruit; Leaves; Seed.

Fruit - raw[1, 2, 3, 4]. Juicy and refreshing with a sub-acid flavour[183], they are considered delicious by many people though others do not like the large number of seeds with relatively little fruit pulp[K]. The fruit juice can be used in soups, sauces, jellies, ice cream, cakes etc[183]. The fruit contains about 1.5% protein, 1.6% fat, 16.8% carbohydrate, 0.6% ash[149, 179]. Annual yields from wild trees in the Himalayas averaged 32kg per tree[194]. The fruit is about 12cm in diameter[200].
The fresh seed is soft and can be eaten raw[227]. When dried it is used as a seasoning in dal, fried samosa, stuffings and chutneys[183].
The boiled leaves are said to be eaten[183].

Composition

Fruit (Dry weight): In grammes per 100g weight of food:
Water: 0 Calories: 362 Protein: 5 Fat: 2.2 Carbohydrate: 90.5 Fibre: 12 Ash: 2.6
In milligrammes per 100g weight of food:
Calcium: 40 Phosphorus: 180 Iron: 3 Sodium: 4.35 Potassium: 1250 VitaminA: 90 Thiamine: 0.27 Riboflavin: 0.25 Niacin: 3.2 VitaminC: 43
Source: [218]
Notes : The figures given here are the median of a wide range quoted in the report.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antibacterial; Antiviral; Astringent; Cardiac; Demulcent; Emmenagogue; Refrigerant; Stomachic; Vermifuge.

The pomegranate has a long history of herbal use dating back more than 3,000 years[238]. All parts of the plant contain unusual alkaloids, known as 'pelletierines', which paralyse tapeworms so that they are easily expelled from the body by using a laxative[238]. The plant is also rich in tannin, which makes it an effective astringent. It is used externally in the treatment of vaginal discharges, mouth sores and throat infections[238].
The whole plant, but in particular the bark, is antibacterial, antiviral and astringent[21, 46, 57, 89, 176, 194]. This remedy should be used with caution, overdoses can be toxic[21, 218].
The flowers are used in the treatment of dysentery, stomach ache and cough[218]. Along with the leaves and seeds, they have been used to remove worms[4].
The seeds are demulcent and stomachic[4, 240].
The fruit is a mild astringent and refrigerant in some fevers and especially in biliousness[4]. It is also cardiac and stomachic[240].
The dried rind of the fruit is used in the treatment of amoebic dysentery, diarrhoea etc[4, 238]. It is a specific remedy for tapeworm infestation[254].
The stem bark is emmenagogue[218]. Both the stem and the root barks are used to expel tapeworms[4]. Use this with caution, the root bark can cause serious poisoning[7].The bark is harvested in the autumn and dried for later use[238].
The dried pericarp is decocted with other herbs and used in the treatment of colic, dysentery, leucorrhoea etc[218].

We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.

Other Uses

Dye; Hedge; Ink; Tannin; Wood.

A red dye is obtained from the flowers and also from the rind of unripened fruits[89, 100, 158, 168]. The dye can be red or black and it is also used as an ink[149]. It is coppery-brown in colour[168]. No mordant is required[168]. A fast yellow dye is obtained from the dried rind[194].
The dried peel of the fruit contains about 26% tannin[46, 223]. The bark can also be used as a source of tannin[146]. The root bark contains about 22% tannin, a jet-black ink can be made from it[194].
Plants are grown as hedges in Mediterranean climates[200].
Wood - very hard, compact, close grained, durable, yellow. Used for making agricultural implements. A possible substitute for box, Buxus spp[146, 149, 158, 194].

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, it prefers a well-drained fertile soil[1, 182, 260] and succeeds in a hot dry position[166]. Requires a sheltered sunny position[219].
Not very hardy in Britain, the pomegranate tolerates temperatures down to about -11°c[3], but it is best grown on a south facing wall even in the south of the country because it requires higher summer temperatures than are normally experienced in this country in order to ripen its fruit and its wood[11, 166]. The wood is also liable to be cut back by winter frosts when it is grown away from the protection of a wall[11]. Trees do not grow so well in the damper western part of Britain[182].
Most plants of this species grown in Britain are of the dwarf cultivar 'Nana'. This is hardier than the type but its fruit is not such good quality[11]. This sub-species fruited on an east-facing wall at Kew in the hot summer of 1989[K].
The pomegranate is often cultivated in warm temperate zones for its edible fruit, there are many named varieties[183]. In Britain fruits are only produced after very hot summers.
Plants often sucker freely[7].
Flowers are produced on the tips of the current years growth[200].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse, preferably at a temperature of 22°c[200, 238]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first 2 growing seasons. Plant out in late spring or early summer.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 4 - 5cm with a heel, June/July in a frame[78, 113]. Good percentage[78].
Cuttings of mature wood, 20 - 25cm long, November in a warm greenhouse[113].
Layering.
Division of suckers in the dormant season[200]. They can be planted out direct into their permanent positions, though we prefer to pot them up first and plant them out when they are growing away well in late spring or early summer.

Cultivars

'Wonderful': The fruit is large and red[260].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for punica granatum (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[3] Simmons. A. E. Growing Unusual Fruit. David and Charles 1972 ISBN 0-7153-5531-7
A very readable book with information on about 100 species that can be grown in Britain (some in greenhouses) and details on how to grow and use them.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[51] Polunin. O. and Stainton. A. Flowers of the Himalayas. Oxford Universtiy Press 1984
A very readable and good pocket guide (if you have a very large pocket!) to many of the wild plants in the Himalayas. Gives many examples of plant uses.

[57] Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.
Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[89] Polunin. O. and Huxley. A. Flowers of the Mediterranean. Hogarth Press 1987 ISBN 0-7012-0784-1
A very readable pocket flora that is well illustrated. Gives some information on plant uses.

[100] Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969 ISBN 0192176218
An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.

[113] Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press 1987 ISBN 0942375009
A very detailed book on propagating trees. Not for the casual reader.

[146] Gamble. J. S. A Manual of Indian Timbers. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh 1972
Written last century, but still a classic, giving a lot of information on the uses and habitats of Indian trees. Not for the casual reader.

[149] Vines. R. A. Trees of Central Texas. University of Texas Press 1987 ISBN 0-292-78958-3
Fairly readable, it gives details of habitats and some of the uses of trees growing in Texas.

[158] Gupta. B. L. Forest Flora of Chakrata, Dehra Dun and Saharanpur. Forest Research Institute Press 1945
A good flora for the middle Himalayan forests, sparsly illustrated. Not really for the casual reader.

[166] Taylor. J. The Milder Garden. Dent 1990
A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.

[168] Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. 1974 ISBN 0-02-544950-8
A very good and readable book on dyeing.

[176] Yeung. Him-Che. Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles 1985
A very good Chinese herbal.

[179] Reid. B. E. Famine Foods of the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre 1977
A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.

[182] Thomas. G. S. Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. Murray 1992 ISBN 0-7195-5043-2
Contains a wide range of plants with a brief description, mainly of their ornamental value but also usually of cultivation details and varieties.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[194] Parmar. C. and Kaushal. M.K. Wild Fruits of the Sub-Himalayan Region. Kalyani Publishers. New Delhi. 1982
Contains lots of information on about 25 species of fruit-bearing plants of the Himalayas, not all of them suitable for cool temperate zones.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[219] Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. Gardening on Walls Collins 1983 ISBN 0-00-219220-0
A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.

[223] Rottsieper. E.H.W. Vegetable Tannins The Forestal Land, Timber and Railways Co. Ltd. 1946
A fairly detailed treatise on the major sources of vegetable tannins.

[227] Vines. R.A. Trees of North Texas University of Texas Press. 1982 ISBN 0292780206
A readable guide to the area, it contains descriptions of the plants and their habitats with quite a bit of information on plant uses.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

[260] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2 Pan Books, London. 1998 ISBN 0-330-37376-5
Excellent photos of over 1,100 species and cultivars with habits and cultivation details plus a few plant uses. Many species are too tender for outdoors in Britain though there are many that can be grown outside.

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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