True gourmets shared secrets on how to choose pomegranates of breathtaking juiciness and ripeness. The peel, the flower at the base and the total weight of the fruit will tell about the taste of the grains. Having carefully examined the fruit, you are definitely not mistaken.
Ripeness test
The most useful pomegranate is ripe pomegranate. At the peak of ripening in fruits, the largest amount of nutrients and trace elements is concentrated.
Doctors recommend eating pomegranates for people with diseases of the cardiovascular system and low hemoglobin. The grains contain essential amino acids, vitamin B6, K and many others. They positively affect the work of the blood forming organs, relieve chronic fatigue and loss of strength.
How to understand that the fruit is healthy and ripe? In a store with a small turnover, sellers often helpfully cut the “lid”. Like, admire what beautiful grains. Unfortunately, spectacular performance does not guarantee juiciness and sweet taste. Saturated red grains may be sugary. Garnet gourmets are advised not to cut the fruit in place, but to twist it in your hands a little.
Only the best have a “crown”
A “crown” of a pomegranate is a flower cup. As the fruit ripens, it dries, and the petals bend back, forming a semblance of a royal crown.
The more beautiful and drier the tip of the pomegranate, the more likely it is that you have a juicy and ripe copy.
A flower cup can also talk about the condition of pomegranate seeds. If it is soft, with gray-green spots, with a high degree of probability inside you will find mold and rot. Unscrupulous sellers often cut this part. In this case, you need to pay attention to other signs.
Small and remote
If the selected pomegranate, despite its small size, weighs 400-700 grams or more, you can safely put it “+”.
The heavier the fruit, the more juice it contains.
Unripe pomegranates, as well as overripe (shrunken), mainly consist of seeds, voids and peel. They have a negligible weight. Liquid, ripe juice - this is what gives heaviness. If a fruit the size of a male fist weighs only 200 grams, it is best to leave it in a store on a shelf.
Meet by clothes
The condition of the peel is usually the first thing you pay attention to when choosing a pomegranate. And it is right. In a ripe and juicy fruit, it:
- beautiful color: red, burgundy, yellow, pink (depending on grade);
- matte, not shiny;
- no cracks;
- without dents;
- without gray-brown spots;
- thin but dense.
Fine quality pomegranate. Under the peel, tubercles of grains are distinctly palpated.
Shallow scratches and healed punctures on the skin do not affect anything. But large cracks are best avoided. Naked grains are easily affected by molds. If you damage the fetus on the way home, eat in a short time, otherwise it will disappear.
What else to look for when buying a pomegranate?
The choice of pomegranate can be compared with the choice of watermelon. And to those, and to others the same approach is often applied. Grenades also “tap” and, first of all, choose specimens with a dry tip. So, how else can you test the fruit for ripeness:
- Tap the grenade with your index finger. If the sound is dull, there is a lot of emptiness inside. Juicy fruit sounds loudly. You can compare it with the sound of metal.
- Pay attention to the brightness of the color. The pallor of the peel often indicates a large amount of acid. But there are exceptions to the rules. For example, seedless varieties, which are often light in themselves.
- If the seller helpfully cut the “lid”, evaluate the shape of the grains. Ripe and sweet pomegranate grains are oblong, have a well-defined ribbed surface. The round shape is a sign of immaturity.
- Smell the fruit. Unlike apples, strawberries and peaches, ripe pomegranates do not emit any flavor at all. Unripe fruits smell.
- Press on the inflorescence. A crunching sound is a good signal. It means that ripe grains crack under pressure.
Sweet and sour pomegranate varieties
There are about 350 varieties of pomegranate. They have different tastes, have a characteristic shape and color. Conventionally, all grenades can be divided into two categories:
- stone fruits;
- seedless.
The first group is the most extensive. It is widespread and familiar to everyone. But far from everyone heard about boneless grenades. They were bred artificially.
A distinctive feature of seedless pomegranates is their sweet taste. The grains of the fruit are soft, honey and completely non-acidic, even if the fruit is not slightly ripe.
Stone fruit
Most varieties of pomegranate contain a seed inside the seeds. She bothers one, and they spit it out, eating a juicy pulp. Others eat grains with seeds. In small quantities, they do not harm health. First of all, pomegranates need to be selected by ripeness. Excess acid irritates the gastric mucosa and harms digestion much more than the hard core of grains.
Saturated juice of stone pomegranates irritates the gastric mucosa, and grains can cause intestinal upset. Doctors call to limit their use to people with gastritis, ulcers and other chronic diseases of the digestive system.
In many respects, the knowledge of the variety helps to determine the sweetness of the fruit. Most often in the store you can find grenades:
- Ahmar. Iranian pomegranate, which is deservedly considered one of the sweetest. Its juice contains up to 19% sugar. The fruits are distinguished by a pink-green skin. Grains have a light pink tint.
- Gyuleysha is red. Round fruits with carmine peel are grown in Azerbaijan. Grains are large, saturated cherry color. The taste is astringent, sweet and sour.
- Ak-Dona Crimean. Bred in the Nikitinsky Botanical Garden. The fruits have a thin cream-colored peel with a blush on one side. Grains are dark pink, sweet with sourness.
- Bala Mursal. Variety bred in Azerbaijan. It is often compared to Iranian Ahmar. The fruits contain 16% sugar and are very sweet in taste. They have a slightly flattened shape and raspberry red color.
- Achikanor. Round red fruits with cherry-colored grains. It tastes sweet and sour, tart. It is believed that grenades of this variety quench thirst better than ayran and koumiss.
- Kizil-anor. Early grade. Cultivated in Uzbekistan. Fruits of different sizes, with pink skin and red grains. The taste is sweet and sour.
- Dhalka. Grenades come from India. They have a pale pink color, the grains are pinkish or white. Many give them the primacy of sweets. It is noteworthy that the Indians use the fruits for the preparation of pain medication.
- Mangulati is sweet. Israeli grade. The fruits are round, of a beautiful pink color. They have a pleasant sweet taste with barely perceptible sourness.
Sandless
Boneless pomegranates appeared in stores not so long ago and immediately won the sympathy of the Russians. Which is not surprising. Seedless pomegranates are always sweet, whatever fruit you choose. Of course, calling them boneless is not entirely true. Inside the grains there are white blotches - “binder” (botanical name of the substance). But they are not at all felt when chewing due to the soft consistency.
Popular seedless varieties:
- Wonderful (Vanderful). Very popular variety in America. It is most often imported to Russia from Egypt. The fruits are distinguished by a white-yellow color. They have a blush on one side. Grains of a soft cream color, very sweet and soft.
- Mollar de Elche (Mollar de Elche). The variety is widespread in Spain. Fruits are medium and large, can weigh 800 g or more. The peel is light red, the grains also have a rich red tint. It tastes sweet, with soft, edible pits.
Despite the fact that all seedless varieties are inherently sweet, you also need to be able to choose grenades. They can be sugary, succulent, juicy, even watery. When choosing the right way to focus on all of the above signs of ripeness, with the exception of one small correction: Vanderful grenades are chosen according to the "lightest" principle. A fruit with a dull peel is always juicier than its rosy counterparts.
Seedless grenades are ideal for people with digestive tract diseases.
Properly cut and try grenades
After choosing a juicy and ripe pomegranate, hurry to cut it and enjoy delicious grains. There are three ways to do this:
- Method number 1. Cut the top of the pomegranate with inflorescence to a depth of about 1 cm. Make a cross-shaped incision on the peel. Pierce the core with a thin knife to a depth of 5-10 cm. Now open the grenade. You will find 4 neat parts with whole beautiful grains.
- Method number 2. Cut the top to a depth of 1 cm. Pierce the core. Going down 3-4 cm, make an incision on the peel around the circumference. Take it off. Turn the pomegranate over exposed grains down over a deep bowl. Tap the knife handle on the peel. All grains fall into a bowl. By the way, this cleaning method is suitable only for very ripe and fresh pomegranates, which literally crack in your hands.
- Method number 3. Cut the top. Cut the peel crosswise. Pierce the core and put the grenade under water. After about 20 minutes, the septum will swell and the grains will easily detach. Peel the pomegranate directly under water.
Do pomegranates mature at home?
Unfortunately no. Fruits can ripen only on a branch. You can wrap them in paper and put in the refrigerator, but they will not become much sweeter.
What can be done with sour pomegranate?
From a sour fruit you can make a delicious dish. The simplest is pomegranate jam. Sugar neutralizes acid. And from sour pomegranate it turns out a wonderful marinade for meat. Put the seeds in a tight bag with zip fastener. Bleed the air and roll out with a rolling pin. Drain the juice through a small hole, add herbs and salt. Pickled meat will surprise you with a piquant taste.
Pomegranate is a very ancient fruit with a rich history. When excavating Egyptian pyramids, the fruits were found in sarcophagi. Scientists believe that the plant appeared 66 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous. Just think, tarbosaurs, tyrannosaurs and pterodactyls once walked near these fruits for a very long time. And today, everyone can buy marvelous grenade in the store.
It's easy to choose ripe pomegranate if you know some of the features of its ripening. If you do not go into details, the ripeness indicators are a lot of weight, a dry inflorescence and grains appearing through the peel. Give preference to fruits that have the shape of a polyhedron, and you will definitely not be mistaken!