What Pomegranate, a High-Vitamin-C Fruit, Should Not Be Eaten With, Plus Ripening and Storage Methods

Pomegranate is one of everyone's favorite fruits, with many juicy arils and a delicious taste, and many friends buy it. Pomegranate fruit is rich in nutrients, and its vitamin C content is one to two times higher than that of apples and pears. So what should pomegranate not be eaten with? When does pomegranate ripen? And how should it be stored?

1. What should pomegranate not be eaten with?

1. Tomato

Tomato should not be eaten with pomegranate. If eaten together, it easily leads to insufficient nutrient absorption and can also cause some harm to the stomach. Apart from that there is nothing too abnormal, but it is still best to eat them separately so as not to cause this adverse effect.

2. Crab

Crab and pomegranate are not suitable to eat together. Crab is rich in protein and calcium, while pomegranate is rich in tannic acid. If the two are eaten at the same time, it will not only reduce the nutritional value of the protein, but also cause the calcium in the crab to combine with tannic acid into a new substance that is not easily digested, irritating the gastrointestinal tract and causing symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Therefore, pomegranate is not suitable to be eaten at the same time as seafood such as crab.

3. Watermelon

Pomegranate is a warming fruit, but watermelon is a cooling fruit. One is warming and the other cooling, with opposite functions, so it is best not to eat them together.

4. Potato

Eating pomegranate and potato together can cause poisoning. If taken together with potato, you can drink water soaked with Chinese chives to detoxify.

Sea cucumber and pomegranate conflict with each other. Sea cucumber contains rich nutrients such as protein and calcium, while pomegranate contains a relatively large amount of tannic acid. If the two are eaten together, it can cause protein to coagulate, making digestion and absorption difficult, and can cause symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.

6. Carrot

Do not eat pomegranate with carrot. This is because carrot contains a dissolving enzyme that can destroy the vitamins in pomegranate.

7. Ginseng

Ginseng has the effects of greatly tonifying vital energy, restoring the pulse and preventing collapse, tonifying the spleen and benefiting the lungs, promoting body fluid production, and calming the mind, so many people cannot do without ginseng when taking tonics. What effect does eating ginseng and pomegranate at the same time have? The protein in ginseng and the tannic acid in pomegranate very easily combine to form a precipitate, affecting the absorption of the active ingredients in ginseng and reducing its medicinal effect.

2. When does pomegranate ripen?

1. The pomegranate flowering period is May-June, and the pomegranate fruiting period is September-October. After ripening it becomes a large, multi-chambered, many-seeded berry, with many seeds in each chamber; the outer seed coat is fleshy, bright red, pale red or white, juicy, sweet with a sour note, and this is the edible part; the inner seed coat is horny, and some have degenerated and softened, namely soft-seeded pomegranate. 

2. Pomegranate grows on mountains at an altitude of 300-1000 m. It likes a warm, sunny environment, is drought-tolerant, cold-tolerant, and also tolerant of poor soil, but not tolerant of waterlogging or shade. It is not strict about soil requirements, but cultivation in well-drained sandy loam is preferable. In the early stage, pomegranate needs a bit more water, the sweetness is not high and the seeds are slightly hard; in the later stage there is less water, the sugar content is a bit higher and the seeds are slightly softer. However, if pomegranate is stored properly, it still keeps very well, and you can even eat pomegranate at Spring Festival.

3. How should pomegranate be stored? 

1. Hanging storage: For fruit used for hanging storage, a section of fruit stalk should be left at harvest, tied into bunches with fine string, and hung in a cool room. Alternatively, wrap the fruit in newspaper or plastic film and hang it in a room with small temperature and humidity changes, where it can be stored until around Spring Festival. If storing pomegranate, it needs to be harvested half a month in advance; overripe pomegranate is prone to rotting in hanging storage. 

2. Heap storage: Choose an empty, ventilated and cool room, sweep it clean, and sprinkle an appropriate amount of water to keep the room clean and moist. Then spread a 5-6 cm thick layer of rice straw (or fresh masson pine needles) on the ground, and on top of it place a layer of pomegranate and a layer of pine needles until fully covered. During storage, turn and check the heap once every 15-20 days, remove rotten fruit and replace the pine needles once. Varieties with good storage qualities can be stored until April or May of the following year using this heap storage method.

3. Jar storage: Wash containers such as earthen jars clean, then spread a layer of wet sand with 5% moisture content at the bottom, 5-6 cm thick, and stand a sorghum stalk bundle or bamboo tube upright in the center to facilitate air exchange. Place pomegranates around the sorghum stalk bundle or bamboo tube until they reach 5-6 cm from the jar mouth, then cover firmly with wet sand, and seal the jar or vat mouth with plastic film and tie it tightly. After storage, check once a month and remove any rotten fruit promptly. This storage method can keep them until March or April of the following year. 

4. Bag storage: Put pomegranates that have been pre-cooled and treated with fungicide into polyethylene plastic film bags, tie the bag mouths well, and place them in a cool room. Stored this way for 140 days, the pomegranate fruit is still as fresh as at the beginning. You can also pack pomegranate fruit treated with fungicide individually in plastic bags; stored at 3-4°C for 100 days, such fruit has good aril freshness and only mild husk scald. Plastic bag single-fruit packaging stores better than other methods.