Botanical atlas

Pomegranate

Punica granatum

Pomegranate has been treasured since antiquity, its jeweled seeds carved into Persian palace reliefs and buried alongside Egyptian pharaohs as provisions for the afterlife. In Greek myth it was the fruit Persephone tasted in the underworld, binding her to return each year, a story ancient people told to explain the turning of the seasons. Across Ayurvedic, Unani, and traditional Mediterranean medicine, the juice was valued as a tonic for vigor and the heart, while the dried rind was steeped into a tea traditionally used to calm a sore throat and settle an unsettled stomach. For thousands of years it has also stood as a symbol of abundance and fertility at weddings and New Year tables from Turkey to India.

Safety.

The fruit, juice, and peel are a safe, everyday food, but the bark, root, and stem contain toxic alkaloids and should never be eaten or prepared as a remedy. Juice and supplements can interact with blood pressure medications, blood thinners, and liver-metabolized drugs.