Pomegranate
Pomegranate
Pomegranates are round, red fruits. They feature a white inner flesh that’s densely packed with crunchy, juicy edible seeds called arils. Pomegranates seem like an intimidating fruit. But breaking through that tough skin to get to the juicy, ruby-red seeds is worth the effort because many health benefits lie within. Those tart arils can help keep your body healthy and disease free. Plus, they may be just what you need to add a punch of flavor to everything from your salad to your seltzer. They may be best known for the vibrantly colored juice they’re often used in, but these unique fruits have a lot more to offer.
Varieties
- Ganesh : This variety is developed by selection method. It is a prolific bearer, fruit very large, rind yellowish red, pinkish aril with soft seeds. It is the commercial cultivar of Maharashtra. The average yield ranges from 8-10 kg per tree.
- Arakta : The fruits are smaller than Ganesh variety having dark red coloured arils with soft seeds. This variety grows in abundance. The fruit is big, red and has sweet and juicy seeds. At its best, each sapling can bear up to 25 to 30 kgs of fruit.
- Mrudula: This variety has all the characters of the Ganesh variety except the arils are dark red in colour. This deep red variety has a shiny skin. The colour of the arils in ‘Ambe’ bahar and ‘Mrig’ bahar is dark red in colour while it is pink during the ‘Hasta’ bahar. The average fruit weight is 250-300 grams.
- Muskat: The fruits of this variety have red rind with pink coloured arils. The fruit are with average weight of 300- 350 grams.
- Jyoti: The fruits are large with attractive colour having dark red arils. The seeds are very soft with high pulp and juice contents. Fruits are borne on the inner side of the canopy and thus do not get damaged due to sun scorching. Medium to big in size, this variety has a shiny skin and is yellowish red in colour, and its soft seeds are extremely sweet.
- Ruby: This variety is developed at IIHR, Bangalore. The mature fruits resemble cultivar ‘Ganesh’ with respect to shape and size. However, the rind of this variety is reddish brown with green streaks containing red bold arils. The fruit weighs 270 g with an average yield of 16-18 tonnes/ha.
- Dholka : Fruits large, rind yellowish red with pinkish white aril. It is a popular cultivar of Gujarat.
- Bhagwa:This variety is a shiny ochre in colour and has deep red seeds in it. It is usually big in size. If cultivated properly, each sapling of this variety can bear up to 30-40 kgs of fruit. It is suitable to grow in Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
