ABSTRACT
The pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruit is linked closely to culture, health, and medicine throughout the history of man and is mentioned in many ancient texts [1,2]. The ripe pomegranate fruit varies in size and can exceed 12 cm in diameter with a leathery skin (also referred to as the peel or husk) and crowned by a pointed calyx. The fruit contains many arils (the seed casings that constitute a succulent eshy coat containing small amounts of red juice over a hard pit/seed) separated by a white membranous pith and pericarp. With regard to the consumed part of the pomegranate, the culinary uses of this fruit are usually restricted to the aril, which is the edible portion. Thus, while the entire seed can be consumed, the tasty aril is usually the desired part although the dried seeds are used as a spice in Indian and Pakistani cuisine. In addition, a thick grenadine syrup formed from concentrated juice is also popularly consumed in various Middle Eastern cuisines. Interestingly, while the tough leathery peel of the fruit is inedible, it is important to note that during the large-scale commercial process of squeezing the whole fruit to produce pomegranate juice, numerous chemical constituents present in the pith, membranes, and the peel of the fruit are extracted into pomegranate juice, thus imparting biological properties to the beverage.
