Pomegranate season is upon us. Until recently Pomegranates were a member of the monogeneric family, punicaceae, meaning that the family contains only one genus. The punicaceae family is characterized by a floral structure consisting of four sepals, four petals and a large number of stamens with a superior ovary. New molecular studies have suggested that the genus Punicaceae be moved into the larger family, lythraceae.
Pomegranates are becoming quite popular as an edible fruit and also as a juice. Aside from their sweet, tart flavor and juiciness, flavor health advocates laud the value of pomegranate juice which is full of antioxidants. However, one thing that is often overlooked are the health benefits of the seeds. The seeds contain a very nutritious oil. The oil found in the seeds of the pomegranate is botanically, closely related to evening primrose oil. If you are going to juice the berries you will have a bag of seeds left. The seeds are not digestible as they are and need to be ground or masticated before ingestion.
There is only one cultivar of pomegranate that tends to do well here in Southern California and that is the cultivar called wonderful which is where most of the juice comes from. Other locally found cultivars of pomegranate are less popular. They tend to have pinker skin and juice,lower acidity and the flavor is often less intense. Other cultivars are also more susceptible to internal rot which is almost bound to occur if there is an early rain.
There is only one efficient technique for separating the fruit from the pomegranate. You first want to remove the berries from the skin and white membranes by breaking it apart in several pieces. Then place the pieces in a large pot of warm water. Working under water will prevent the berries from popping out all over the place. This also makes it much easier to seperate the berries from the membrane since the berries will sink and the skin and white membranes will float and can be easily skimmed off the the top. An additional benefit from this technique is that the seed coat is hydrophobic, water resistant, which makes it possible to decant the water by putting in a barrier at the lip to contain the berries before draining off the water. After draining off the water the berries are totally dry because of this hydrophobic effect.
