2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
The pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a shrub or tree reaching a height of 8 meters, which blooms with large and red worlds. Its delicious fruits have a hard rind, with numerous pink, yellow and red seeds. The inside of the pomegranate is juicy and strongly resembling the shape of an orange. Pomegranate is incredibly tasty for food and has been valued for thousands of years as a medicine.
Each individual seed inside the pomegranate is transparent and wrapped in bright red flesh. The berries have a very specific and refreshing pleasant sweet and sour taste. This fruit has extremely valuable taste and health qualities. It is a drought-tolerant plant found in Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean and the southwestern United States.
Although it is grown for its juicy edible fruit, quite often gardeners grow it only for decoration in the garden. In our country pomegranate trees are found in the form of fruit trees in the southern parts of the country and on the Black Sea coast. In our southern neighbors - Greece and Turkey, pomegranates are widespread.
History of the people
The history of pomegranate can be traced back to ancient times. Legend has it that because of a single grain of pomegranate, Demeter, the goddess of fertility, from ancient Greek mythology, was doomed to lose her daughter Persephone because of Hades, the god of the underworld. Pomegranate has embodied a lot of symbolism in Lebanese, Iranian and Turkish mythology and cuisine.
In ancient Egypt, in the tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep, a drawing of born. This is no accident - for the Egyptians pomegranate was a symbol of fertility and a cure for many diseases. Tibetan medicine has long known the valuable qualities of pomegranates - sweet pomegranate juice has been used successfully in gastralgia, kidney stones, and sour pomegranate - against diabetes.
In the medicine of the Arab peoples with the juice of born headache, angina, and gastrointestinal disorders were overcome. For the Indians, the liquid was like ragweed - they used it to rejuvenate. In traditional Chinese medicine, the decoction of pomegranate fruit peel was used as a tonic and anti-inflammatory agent that stimulates metabolism.
Composition of pomegranate
Pomegranates are a unique gift from nature, rich in many vitamins and trace elements. In them we find many vitamins - B1, B2, P, C. Red seeds contain citric acid, tannins and polyphenols, which are very important for the body to improve the tone of blood vessels. With regular consumption of pomegranate, bad cholesterol becomes good because these fruits seriously improve blood oxygen saturation.
Freshly squeezed pomegranate juice is a delicious, refreshing drink, well known in warm countries for its ability to perfectly quench thirst. In the juice of born contains sugars (about 20%), organic acids (malic and citric, 9%), minerals - manganese, phosphorus, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, chromium, nickel, calcium, copper (0.2-0.3%), and also and vitamins C, B1, B2, B6, B12, P and A. Pomegranate has the highest content of vitamin C and the lowest content of vitamin A.
Dyes in pomegranates are abundant - there is a huge amount of flavonoids, proteins, cellulose and liquid oils containing vitamin E. There are many tannins in the bark of pomegranates. Quite often small amounts of it are dried and tea is prepared, which is successfully treated. stomach disorders.
100 g of pomegranate contains: Calories 83, Protein 1.67 g, Carbohydrates 18.7 g, Fat 1.17 g
Selection and storage of pomegranate
Always choose heavier fruits with fresh skin. The nice one born is heavy and large. Its bark should be dry, without spots and soft areas. The nipples must be felt through it. Whole fruits born are successfully stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 month, and in the freezer the seeds of the delicious fruit can last up to 3 months. However, freezing is not preferable to being able to eat fresh pomegranate fruit.
Culinary use of pomegranate
Pomegranate is not only a delicious fruit that is ideal for desserts, but it is also used to make very interesting-tasting sauces. You can mix 1 tsp. pomegranate juice with 1/2 tsp. ground walnuts and finely chopped parsley. Add a little black pepper, which will make an excellent sauce for meat and fish. Pomegranate seeds can be dried and added to dishes of peas and legumes. In India, this mixture is known as anardana. Pomegranate juice, like other fruit juices, is extremely suitable for marinating meat, as a result of which it is juicy and tender.
Pomegranate fruits are also used in canned form. They are sometimes used to color confectionery, including ice cream. In Eastern cuisine use boiled and concentrated juice from born to complete the taste of roasted meat, poultry and fish dishes. Pomegranate fruits can be used to make pickles, mousses, etc., and they can also be used to decorate various desserts.
Benefits of pomegranate
It is clear that pomegranate extracts have antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory effects, which is confirmed by modern medical science. Studies in recent years have even indicated that regular consumption of pomegranate can help make childbirth easier.
There is also a scientific justification for the claim that pomegranates contain compounds called phytoestrogens. They can successfully replace the deficient amount of the hormone estrogen in the female body. Ladies who love the taste of pomegranate and eat it regularly have a much more painless period of menopause. For medicinal purposes, even tree bark, flowers and fruits that ripen in autumn are used.
From time immemorial in folk medicine, pomegranate is used as a medicine for fevers, malaria, scurvy, angina, cough, anemia, bronchial asthma, in the treatment of tuberculosis, pneumonia, kidney crises, dermatitis, burns and poisoning. Pomegranate juice of sour and sweet-sour pomegranates is recommended for diabetics and successfully lowers the temperature.
Pomegranate infusion has a beneficial effect on stomach pain, gastrointestinal disorders, headaches and more. It suppresses gram-positive bacteria, and polyphenols from the bark stop the growth of dysentery rods.
People in a pre-infarction state restore their heart activity thanks to only 50 g of pomegranate juice daily dose. These valuable gifts from nature have another nice plus - 200 ml of pomegranate juice is equal to 1 pill of Viagra - strange as it may sound, this is the result of the scientific work of a team of specialists.
The magic pomegranate is used persistently in beautification and in various cosmetic procedures. As it turned out, this fruit is one of the most effective natural antioxidants that can prevent skin aging. Applied to freckles, pomegranate juice is an effective means of hiding them.
The juice of born also plays the role of mouthwash - rinse your mouth with pomegranate juice, which will help you deal with problems in the oral cavity and bad breath. Virtually no part of this valuable fruit should be discarded because it can be used successfully for various purposes.
White partitions between pomegranate seeds are also used - they are dried and added to tea. They have the ability to calm the nervous system and successfully fight insomnia. If you are stressed and have unstable sleep, such tea will be useful.
Decoction of pomegranate bark is also used for beautiful hair. To do this, cut the peels of two pomegranates into small pieces, fill them with 1 liter of boiling water and leave on the stove for 3 minutes. Cool the liquid, strain it and rinse your hair after washing it.
