My pomegranate on the windowsill, Paciano, Italy.
There's several pomegranate trees here at Il fontanaro. I had never eaten a Pomegranate before! I've enjoyed them so much that both my Mother and I are wondering if we can grow Pom trees in Hilton Head.
They split open on the branches when they are ripe and are delicious with asiago cheese and crackers. Not to mention how incredible they are for your health!
From Wikipedia:
Pomegranate aril juice provides about 16% of an adult's daily vitamin C5 (pantothenic acid), potassium and antioxidant polyphenols.[19] requirement per 100 ml serving, and is a good source of vitamin B
The most abundant polyphenols in pomegranate juice are the hydrolyzable tanninspunicalagins which have free-radical scavenging properties in laboratory experiments. Punicalagins are absorbed into the human body and may have dietary value as antioxidants, but conclusive proof of efficacy in humans has not yet been shown.[20][21] called
Other phytochemicals include beta-carotene,[22] and polyphenols catechins, gallocatechins, and anthocyanins such as prodelphinidins, delphinidin, cyanidin, and pelargonidin.[23] The ORAC (antioxidant capacity) of pomegranate juice is considered moderate when compared to other herbs and spices. The ORAC of pomegranate juice is measured at 2,860 units per 100 grams.[24]
Many food and dietary supplement makers have found advantages of using pomegranate phenolic extracts as ingredients in their products instead of the juice. One of these extracts is ellagic acid which may become bioavailable only after parent molecule punicalagins are metabolized. However, ingested ellagic acid from pomegranate juice does not accumulate in the blood in significant quantities and is rapidly excreted.[25] Accordingly, ellagic acid from pomegranate juice does not appear to be biologically important in vivo.
YUMMY!
