MANILA, Philippines — An Israeli invention is poised to catapult pomegranate, heretofore considered mostly as a minor fruit, into something of major importance.

The invention is called Pomegranate Aril Separator. It functions like a corn sheller which mechanically removes the kernels from the corn cob. In the case of the aril separator, the machine extracts the hundreds of juicy seeds inside the pomegranate fruit.

The problem has been that the seeds are attached to membranes that are randomly found inside the pomegranate fruit. Thus, it is cumbersome to extract the arils from each fruit. It takes a lot of labor to do that manually. Maybe, one laborer can extract just a few kilos in one day if by hand.

Now, with the Juran Aril Separator invented by Emeritus Prof. Yoav Sarig and manufactured by Juran Technologies, extracting the arils is faster many times over and they are untouched by human hands.One small model of the aril separator can extract 200 to 300 kilos of aril in one hour.

There is an increasingly keen interest in the pomegranate fruit because it was discovered in medical research in Israel a few years back that pomegranate is very rich in antioxidant and it has been found to be effective in lowering bad cholesterol in humans. It is anti-cancer and is also claimed to enhance the health of the prostate gland.

Aside from its medicinal attributes, pomegranate is one fruit that is also very nice to eat. The fresh arils are sweet and with very pleasant taste. It is being served in upscale hotels in India. In Israel, fresh arils in plastic glasses are very saleable in public markets. One small glass of fresh arils sells for 8 Shekels in one of the public markets near Dan Panorama Hotel in Tel Aviv. That’s about US$2.22 or P95.50 in Philippine money. In the same market, pomegranate is blended with other fruits into fresh fruit shake and one glass is selling at 15 Shekels or $4.16. That’s about P180 in our local currency.

Aside from juice the pomegranate can be processed in to wine, jam, and frozen arils. According to Prof. Sarig, there’s a lot of potentials for research into other useful products. The seeds, for instance, yield a very special oil that can be used in the pharmaceutical industry. The rind is also said to contain useful components for the wellness and pharmaceutical industry.

The discovery of the medicinal uses of pomegranate and the recent invention of the aril separator are bound to accelerate the commercial production and processing of pomegranate. In fact, new areas of production are being established in the north hemisphere as well as in the south hemisphere. Pomegranate has been traditionally grown in the north hemisphere, including the Middle East, India, China, Spain and the United States. Because of that the availability of fruits has been confined to 3 to 6 months of the year.

With the interest in growing the fruit in the south hemisphere, it is believed that the fruit will be available throughout the year. Already, big plantings are said to be going on in such countries as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, South Africa and some other countries. As of last year, 5 to 10 percent of world production of pomegranate came from the southern hemisphere. And the volume could easily triple in a few years.

In the northern hemisphere, the leading producer in terms of acreage is China with 110,000 hectares planted to this crop as of 2008. The second is India with 100,000 hectares, followed by Iran with 35,000 hectares, US with 11,000 hectares, Turkey with 8,000 hectares, Spain with 4,500 hectares, Tunisia, 2,600 hectares and Israel 1,800 hectares.

While China has the biggest area planted, it is said that its varieties are inferior compared to those developed in Israel. The leading variety in Israel is called Wonderful. It produces big fruits with about 500 arils each. There is also an early-bearing variety, Akoy, which will start bearing fruit in two years, according to Prof. Sarig.

How’s the profitability of using the Aril Separator of Juran Technologies? A complete working unit that includes the packing systems is about 500,000 Euros. Juran’s financial forecast for the Aril System follows, based on output of 200 to 350 kg of arils per hour; a 15-hour workday, 22 days a month; a work season of 4-6 months, up to year-round; a total annual production of 200 to 1,000 tons of arils; an estimated average wholesale/retail price of $10-$16 per kg of arils.

Total annual potential turnover from one Aril System station is: Minimum turnover of US$4 million and maximum turnover of $16 million.

In India, the Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd. in Jalgaon, Maharashtra province, is promoting the production of pomegranate there. They themselves grow the trees with drip irrigation, and they process the fruits into juice. Aside from their own production, they buy the harvest of other farmers for processing. The Jain drip system is now available in the Philippines through Harbest Agribusiness and this could help local growers to produce not only pomegranate but many other crops profitably.

Can pomegranate be grown commercially in the Philippines? No commercial plantings have been made so far but some years back, Mrs. Gloria Balderama, a Singaporean married to a Filipino, used to have some plants in her orchid farm in Batangas. They were fruiting very well but they were taken for granted by local fruit enthusiasts probably because they were not aware of the many benefits of eating and growing pomegranates.

We are sure that pomegranate can be grown in the Philippines with proper techniques. Drip irrigation will definitely be useful in growing the crop. Personally, we are currently growing some young plants and they are doing very well so far. We plan to grow some of them and make them fruit in containers.

If we can grow the plant commercially, fresh arils in cups could be a bestseller in shopping malls. It could compete with sweet corn and many other food items currently sold in the market. Packed arils could become bestsellers, too, in supermarkets.

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