LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- POM Wonderful, the nation's largest producer of California Wonderful pomegranates, announced that the pomegranate harvest is underway and this seasonal fruit will be available in supermarkets nationwide from now until January. The 18,000 acres of trees in POM Wonderful's central California orchards produced a healthy and plentiful crop this year.

POM Wonderful exclusively grows and handpicks the Wonderful variety of pomegranate, renowned for its sweet taste, plentiful juice and unique health benefits. A festive favorite, consumers can take advantage of the fruit's versatility and beautiful ruby-red color to add a special touch to fall and holiday decorations. Inside each pomegranate are hundreds of edible glistening arils which can be added to salads, desserts and entree recipes.

Wonderful pomegranates contain polyphenol antioxidants, which help protect the body against free radicals. Free radical damage is a major factor in diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Wonderful pomegranates also contain beneficial vitamin C, potassium and fiber.

For eating or juicing, select pomegranates by weight, not by color; the heavier the pomegranates are, the more juice they contain. Pomegranates are only picked when they are perfectly ripe on the inside. The outside of a ripe pomegranate can vary from pink to a deep ruby red.

POM Wonderful also uses its fresh Wonderful pomegranates to make its delicious and all-natural POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice, making it the only pomegranate juice maker that controls its products from tree to bottle. This stringent process of quality control results in 100% pure pomegranate juice with superior taste and a consistent dose of polyphenol antioxidants.

Over the last decade, ten clinical studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals that reveal how POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice, solely derived from the Wonderful variety, may help promote heart and prostate health. Visit http://www.pomwonderful.com for more information.

About POM Wonderful

POM Wonderful is the largest producer of California Wonderful pomegranates and the company exclusively grows and sells this variety. The company also juices its fresh pomegranates to make its delicious, all-natural, POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice and POMx, a highly-concentrated, incredibly powerful blend of all-natural polyphenol antioxidants harnessed from the pomegranate by a patent-pending process. POMx is available in POM Tea, POMx Pills(R) and POMx Liquid.(R) POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice and POM Tea are available year-round at retail and are found in the refrigerated section of supermarkets and grocery stores nationwide. POMx Pills and POMx liquid are exclusively available online at http://www.pompills.com.

SOURCE POM Wonderful