It seems like the simple pomegranate, a.k.a. Punica granada, has rocketed to rockstar status virtually overnight – just a few short years ago very few consumers knew what a pomegranate was (let alone how to eat them)! Thanks to their status as a ‘superfruit’, pomegranates have been given glowing endorsements by leading health and wellness practitioners including Dr. Joel Fuhrman – he claims that the fruit can help protect against cardiac disease, inhibit tumor (cancer) growth and even combat depression!

Here in California, our farmers now produce more than 4.5 million cases of pomegranates annually, with the bulk of our pomegranate crop being grown in Fresno County.

So, with the recent surge in popularity of the pomegranate, you might be inclined to believe this superfruit is a relative newcomer to the produce world. Nope. While domestic production and consumption rates have soared over the past decade, the pomegranate is actually one of the world’s oldest cultivated fruits!

The Ruby of the Bronze Age

Historians generally agree (because let’s face it, those guys never completely agree on anything) that pomegranates were native to Iran and Northern India; evidence of the ruby-red ‘seeded apples’ has been dated at 4,000 B.C. with references found in the Torah, Quran and Mesopotimian records. From there, the pomegranate was spread throughout the Mediterranean, Europe and Africa, then on to Asia via the silk road.

Fruit for the Afterlife

Around 1500 B.C., the pomegranate gained favor among Egypts’ pharaohs, thanks to it’s value as both an intestinal worm-fighting medicine and as a source of rich, red dye for clothing and household items. Pomegranates became so important to the Ancient Egyptians that they often packed the fruit along for their trip to the afterlife; pomegranates have been found in many Egyptian tombs, including that of King Tut himself!

The Greeks were also big fans of the seeded apples, while Buddists designated pomegranates as one of their “3 blessed fruits” back in 500 B.C.

Pomegranates quickly gained a global reputation as a symbol of strength, virility and prosperity; married Roman women wore crowns made of pomegranate branches – an oversized wedding ring, I suppose, while the Persian army used pomegranate-tipped weapons during their 480 B.C. invasion of Greece (not something we’d recommend, FYI).

The Last 2000 Years (or so)

Following their fame and popularity among the Greeks, Prussians, Egyptians and Asians during the previous 2000 years, pomegranates continued to be dispersed throughout the world by explorers and crusaders.

Fast forward to 1896 – that’s when a Mr. Bearss, a farmer from Potterville, is said to have transplanted cuttings from a Florida pomegranate tree into his California orchard; these super-sweet, extra-juicy fruits were so spectacular, he named the variety ‘Wonderful’ – the most common variety of California pomegranates on the market today!

So, the next time you hear someone claim that pomegranates are just the latest health fad, you can let them know just how wrong they are!