A
small-sized tree, the maadulam, called pomegranate
in English, is an alien that is sometimes grown in the backyards of a few
Chennai homes. It doesn't take a long look to realise that the tree is not at
home. Its true home extends from the Balkans to the Himalayas. No wonder the
fruit vendor swears that the pomegranate he has on hand is imported from
Afghanistan. However, the quantities in the pomegranate evident in Chennai
market in recent times suggest that the pomegranate has established itself
nearer home.
Quite naturally, when grown in
a Chennai backyard, the pomegranate tree needs extra care and even then, the
fruit from these trees tend to be small, more green than tinted in its crimson hue and the seeds look pathetically pale. And yet, even the trees that
grow here have smooth trunks and beautiful-looking red-coloured flowers,
features that characterise the species in their home-grown condition. Not for
nothing has the proverb, 'A leopard cannot change its spots, nor an Abyssinian
his skin colour' been coined! The smoothness of the trunk of the pomegranate
results from the disintegration of the soft parts of the bark of the tree.
The
flower is a real beauty! The reddish coat of its semi-inferior ovary, with the tough
and persistent sepals projecting out and the reddish crumpled petals which when
young form a temporary cup-like cover for the sexual elements of the flower -
all contribute to the beauty of the flower. No wonder, many a girl child in
Muslim families - don't forget that the peoples of the countries from the
Balkans to the Himalayas follow Islam - is named Anar,
the Hindi name for pomegranate. Does the name Anarkali and her imperial lover
come to your mind?
The fruit is globose, crowned
by the persistent and now toughened sepals spreading outwards. The fruit, when
cut open, reveals vertical tiers of placentas with numerous seeds growing on
them. The formation of these vertical tiers is a fascinating story in its own
right.
Originally,
the formation of placentas is such as to make them stand upright. But as the
fruit grows, they assume horizontal positions, leading to the appearance of
vertical tiers that we spoke of. Nature's designs exhibit an infinite variety
and all that we can do is to stand and stare and wonder why! As the fruit
natures, the outer parts of the seed coats come to store small quantities of
juices laden with foods and these form part of the edible portion of the fruit.
The rest is to be thrown off. What waste of biomaterial! Not surprisingly, a cup
of pomegranate juice is so costly. As can be seen, seedless grapes, tomatoes and
oranges are all right, but certainly not seedless pomegranates!
And
yet, pomegranate's medicinal importance should never be underestimated. The bark
of its roots and stems are anthelminthic, i.e., acts against intestinal
parasites such as tape worms. Flowers pasted and applied to bleeding gums arrest
further loss of blood. An extract of the flowers is a good specific for
epistaxis - bleeding nose. I was myself a beneficiary of this treatment
from the hands of my grandmother. The fruit rind is an excellent cure for
dysentery, diarrhoea and stomach aches. The juice is an excellent diuretic
(allowing free urination) and a good cardiotonic. It also helps to reduce pains
in the eyes.
I exclaimed: what a
waste of biomaterial! Don't you see that I was hasty in making that exclamation?
Obviously, it spilled out of my short-sighted anthropomorphistic view of life!
Ah! I see I did not tell you
the botanical name of maadulam; it is Punica granatum .
A
small-sized tree, the maadulam, called 
The
flower is a real beauty! The reddish coat of its semi-inferior ovary, with the tough
and persistent sepals projecting out and the reddish crumpled petals which when
young form a temporary cup-like cover for the sexual elements of the flower -
all contribute to the beauty of the flower. No wonder, many a girl child in
Muslim families - don't forget that the peoples of the countries from the
Balkans to the Himalayas follow Islam - is named 
Originally,
the formation of placentas is such as to make them stand upright. But as the
fruit grows, they assume horizontal positions, leading to the appearance of
vertical tiers that we spoke of. Nature's designs exhibit an infinite variety
and all that we can do is to stand and stare and wonder why! As the fruit
natures, the outer parts of the seed coats come to store small quantities of
juices laden with foods and these form part of the edible portion of the fruit.
The rest is to be thrown off. What waste of biomaterial! Not surprisingly, a cup
of pomegranate juice is so costly. As can be seen, seedless grapes, tomatoes and
oranges are all right, but certainly not seedless pomegranates!
