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Pomegranate: History & Fun Facts

One of the Oldest Fruits Ever Farmed

Archaeologists have found pomegranate remains at sites in the Middle East dating back more than 5,000 years, making it one of the oldest fruits humans deliberately grew rather than only gathered wild. Ancient trade routes carried dried pomegranate rind and seeds across long distances, since the tough leathery skin protected the fruit far better than thinner-skinned fruit could survive the same journey.

The Crown-Shaped Calyx on Top

That pointed crown sitting atop the whole fruit in this picture is not decoration added by an artist. It is the dried remains of the flower's calyx, the small leaf-like structure left over after the pomegranate blossom fades. Some historians believe that crown shape influenced the design of actual royal crowns in several ancient cultures, since the fruit was already associated with kings and abundance long before those crowns were forged.

Hundreds of Arils Packed in Chambers

Cut a pomegranate in half, as shown in this scene, and you'll find hundreds of small juicy seed sacs called arils crowded into irregular chambers, each chamber separated from the next by a bitter white pith. A single fruit can hold anywhere from 200 to 1,400 arils depending on the variety and size, which is far more individual seed units than almost any other common fruit carries.

A Latin Name Meaning Seeded Apple

The word pomegranate comes from Latin roots meaning seeded apple, a fitting name once you see the fruit split open and packed edge to edge with seeds. Early English speakers even shortened the name to garnet when describing the deep red gemstone, since jewelers thought its color closely matched the fruit's ruby-toned arils.

Harvest Season and Long Storage

Pomegranate trees typically bear fruit in early autumn, and the harvest has long lined up with New Year and harvest festivals across parts of the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and South Asia, where cutting one open is treated as a small celebration in itself. Unlike many fresh fruits, a whole pomegranate can be stored for weeks or even months in a cool, dry spot without spoiling, thanks to its thick protective rind, which made it a valuable food source through long winters before refrigeration existed.

Groves From Iran to California

Iran remains one of the largest pomegranate-growing regions in the world, with orchards that have operated for centuries, while Spanish missionaries carried the fruit to the Americas in the 1500s. California's warm, dry Central Valley later became the main pomegranate-growing region in the United States, and a single healthy tree there can keep producing fruit for well over 100 years.

A Small, Hardy Tree With Bright Blossoms

Pomegranate trees stay fairly small compared to other fruit trees, usually growing no taller than about 20 feet, and their bright orange-red flowers bloom in late spring before slowly forming into the round fruit shown whole in this picture. The trees tolerate drought and poor soil far better than most fruit trees, which is part of why they thrived for so long in the dry, rocky regions where the fruit was first cultivated.