When Is a Pomegranate Ripe?

Fruit

• Pomegranates are mostly round, except for a protruding prominent calyx at their base. The fruits are approximately 2 ½ to 5 inches wide. The outer rind is tough, smooth and leathery to the touch. The fruit is frequently red on the outside, but may also be orange or yellow. The interior of the fruit is divided by membrane walls and bitter tissue into compartments filled with tart, juicy sacs. Each sac contains an angular seed, which may be eaten or spit out.

Time of Year

• Pomegranate fruit ripens approximately five to seven months after flowering. Flowering occurs during the early months of spring through June. In general, flowers that appear earliest will produce the largest fruit. Pomegranate harvest season runs from August, and for early ripening cultivars, through November. The Wonderful variety, which encompasses the majority of the commercially grown pomegranate, is a late-blooming variety that starts ripening in October. Most home growers should anticipate harvesting two to four times during each harvest season.

Market Fruit Selection

• Pomegranates must be ripe before harvesting. Fruit will not ripen off the tree -- even when given ethylene treatments. This makes pomegranates ideal for transport. All pomegranates for sale at your local market are ready for consumption. Be aware that seeds make up the bulk of the fruit weight. Heavier fruit will contain a higher concentration of seeds to fruit membrane.

Ripeness Indicators on Tree

• Look for indications of ripeness before picking pomegranates off a tree. The fruit should be about the size of a softball and the skin should be firm rather than wrinkled. Harvest-ready pomegranates produce a distinctive metallic sound when tapped. Do not allow fruit to over mature. Over mature fruit is more likely to crack, especially in conjunction with weather conditions such as high humidity or strong winds, or inadequate irrigation. Commercial growers have developed, and routinely use, various harvest maturity indexes for the Wonderful pomegranate variety. This includes a color score test of the fruit rind, which varies seasonally. There are no similar benchmarks available for other varieties at this time.

Harvest

• Pomegranate trees are exclusively hand-picked. Handle fruit with care to limit cracking, which may cause fruit to split open. Avoid pulling pomegranates off the tree. Instead, remove the entire stem by clipping the fruit close to its base. This will minimize potential damage, particularly if the pomegranates will be transported. An acre of pomegranate trees with approximately 110 trees can yield about 20,000 lbs. of fruit annually. Fruit is typically packaged in 28-lb. boxes.