A pomegranate is a round, red fruit filled with hundreds of jewel-like seed pods called arils, each containing a burst of tart-sweet juice surrounding a small edible seed. About the size of a large apple, the fruit grows on shrubs or small trees native to the region stretching from modern-day Iran to northern India. Pomegranates have been cultivated for over 5,000 years, making them one of the oldest known edible fruits.
What’s Inside a Pomegranate
Cut open a pomegranate and you’ll find it looks like nothing else in the produce aisle. The thick outer skin, called the exocarp, is smooth and leathery, ranging from deep red to yellowish-pink depending on the variety. Beneath that sits a layer of spongy white tissue (the mesocarp) that acts as padding and divides the interior into chambers. Nestled inside those chambers are the arils: small, glistening sacs of juice, each wrapped around a tiny seed.
The arils are the part you eat. They pop between your teeth, releasing a juice that’s simultaneously sweet, tart, and slightly astringent. The seeds inside are crunchy and edible, though some people spit them out. A single pomegranate can contain anywhere from 200 to over 600 arils, which is why the fruit has long been a symbol of abundance.
Nutritional Profile
Pomegranates pack a surprising amount of nutrition into a relatively low-calorie package. One raw pomegranate (about 100 grams of arils) contains roughly 83 calories, 4 grams of fiber, 236 milligrams of potassium, 10 milligrams of vitamin C, and 16 micrograms of vitamin K. That fiber content is notable for a fruit, since much of it comes from the edible seeds.
What sets pomegranates apart from other fruits is their antioxidant chemistry. The juice and peel contain compounds called punicalagins, which are potent antioxidants found almost exclusively in pomegranates. The seed oil, meanwhile, is rich in punicic acid, a fatty acid that makes up about 55% of the seed oil’s composition. Punicic acid is named after the pomegranate itself (Punica granatum) and is structurally related to omega fatty acids found in other plant oils.
Heart Health and Blood Pressure
Pomegranate juice has been studied more than most fruit juices for its effects on cardiovascular health. A meta-analysis of eight randomized controlled trials found that drinking pomegranate juice reduced systolic blood pressure by an average of about 5 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by about 2 mmHg. Those reductions held up whether people drank the juice for less than 12 weeks or longer, and even at modest daily amounts. A 5-point drop in systolic pressure is meaningful enough to shift someone from borderline high blood pressure into a healthier range.
These benefits likely stem from the combination of antioxidants in the juice, which help protect blood vessel walls from damage and may improve how vessels expand and contract. Pomegranate juice is not a replacement for blood pressure medication, but it appears to be a genuinely useful addition to a heart-healthy diet.
Common Varieties
If you’ve bought a pomegranate at a grocery store in the United States, it was almost certainly a Wonderful, by far the most widely grown commercial variety. Wonderful has the deep red skin and intensely flavored arils most people picture when they think of pomegranates. But dozens of other varieties exist, each with distinct characteristics.
- Eversweet produces clear seeds and clear juice, making it a good choice if you want sweetness without the deep tartness.
- Utah Sweet has soft seeds and pink arils, appealing to people who prefer a less crunchy texture.
- Angel Red is a newer variety with soft red seeds that are easier to eat whole.
- Ambrosia has striking purple arils and a rich, sweet flavor.
- Parfianka ripens earlier in the season and does well in climates with early fall rains.
Some varieties grown in other countries, like Malissi and Djebeli, are nearly seedless, producing arils that are almost entirely juice with minimal crunch.
How to Pick and Open One
A ripe pomegranate should feel heavy for its size, which signals it’s full of juice. The skin should be firm, slightly leathery, and smooth, with no soft spots or deep creases. Shape matters less than weight, though you want something roughly round or slightly oblong. Avoid fruits with wrinkled skin, which indicates they’ve been sitting too long and are drying out inside.
Opening a pomegranate without splattering red juice across your kitchen takes a little technique. The most popular method: slice the fruit in half around its equator, hold one half cut-side down over a large bowl of water, and whack the back firmly with a wooden spoon. The arils drop into the water below while the white pith floats to the surface, making it easy to skim off. If you prefer a gentler approach, submerge a halved pomegranate in a bowl of water and use your thumbs to push the arils free. Working underwater prevents spraying and keeps staining to a minimum.
Whole pomegranates keep for one to two weeks at room temperature and up to two months in the refrigerator. Once you’ve removed the arils, they’ll stay fresh in a sealed container in the fridge for about five days, or you can freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet and transfer to a bag for several months of storage.
How Pomegranates Are Used in Cooking
Fresh arils are the simplest way to use a pomegranate. Scatter them over salads, yogurt, oatmeal, or grain bowls for bursts of color and acidity. They hold up well as a garnish on roasted meats and pair naturally with rich, savory flavors like lamb, duck, or roasted root vegetables.
Pomegranate molasses, a thick syrup made by reducing pomegranate juice, is a staple in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking. It delivers a concentrated sweet-tart acidity that works in ways lemon juice or vinegar can’t quite match. You can whisk it into salad dressings, brush it on meat as a glaze, drizzle it over roasted vegetables, or stir it into hummus and baba ghanoush for added depth. Mixed into sparkling water, it makes a refreshing drink on its own. The molasses complements meat particularly well because it adds complexity without excessive sweetness.
Pure pomegranate juice, whether fresh-pressed or bottled, works as a base for cocktails and mocktails, a braising liquid for meats, or a simple drink. Its deep ruby color and layered flavor make it one of the more versatile fruit juices in the kitchen.
A Fruit With a Long History
Pomegranates were cultivated in Persia (modern Iran) by 3000 BCE and were present in Jericho around the same period. By 2000 BCE, Phoenician traders had carried them across the Mediterranean to North Africa, and the fruit had naturalized in Turkey and Greece. The spread continued steadily: China by 100 BCE, throughout the Roman Empire including Spain by 800 CE, Indonesia by the early 1400s. Spanish colonizers brought pomegranates to Central America, Mexico, and South America in the 1500s and 1600s.
The fruit arrived in what would become the United States in the early 1700s, grown in Spanish Florida and English Georgia. By 1770, pomegranates were growing at the California missions. Today, California remains the primary growing region in the U.S., with the harvest season running roughly from October through January. The city of Granada, Spain, is literally named after the fruit, and pomegranates appear in the art, mythology, and religious texts of nearly every civilization that encountered them.