Pomegranates are blessed with hundreds of seeds and while sources disagree over just how many, Jewish people believe it is exactly 613. A Columbia University professor counted 206 pomegranates from all over the world and discovered the least was 165 and the most was 1,370. The average seed count was 613.

Eat only the pomegranate's seeds, or arils, nestled inside the fruit. Cut the fruit in half, scoop out the arils with a spoon or your fingers and eat them whole. Some people prefer to roll the aril around in the mouth until the juicy sac comes off and then discard the tiny, soft seed at the heart of the aril.

Royal Pom™ pomegranates are picked ripe and ready to eat after they have been taste-tested and examined in the orchard, so by the time they arrive in-store, you can assume they are all ripe and ready to eat. As a non-climacteric fruit, pomegranates do not ripen further after picking.

One pomegranate should yield about half a cup of juice. First roll the fruit on a hard surface to soften it, as you would a lemon, cut it in half, then squeeze the juice out using a citrus juicer.

Pomegranates grow on neat, round, bush-like deciduous shrubs or trees, usually in rows, in orchards. Royal Pom™ pomegranate trees are pruned and trained on trellises to maintain a manageable height and shape with each tree potentially yielding up to 25 fruit.

Freshly squeezed pomegranate juice has a complex, intense flavour which is both sweet and acidic and leaves a slight aftertaste in the mouth. It can be consumed straight, added to beverages such as soda water or lemonade or even poured over ice-cream.

Tiny, sweet pomegranate seeds appeal to children because of their cute size and great taste. Take a whole pomegranate, roll it around to loosen the seeds, then cut the pomegranate into "stars" by cutting the skin into wedges from a central point at the top of the fruit, fanning outwards to near the base of the fruit. Peel the flaps back so that the pomegranate lies flat, arils exposed, in a star shape. Give the kids spoons and let them enjoy. Don't forget to keep washcloths close by!

Australian-grown Royal Pom™ pomegranates are available loose in the fresh produce sections of your local supermarket or grocer from March to October every year. Look for the Royal Pom™ label.

The price of a Royal Pom™ pomegranate may vary from store to store and depend on seasonal influences or even the time of the season. Expect to pay between $2.50 and $3 a piece.

With their rich appealing colour, round shape and beautiful texture, pomegranates are widely used for creating sensational and lasting displays, especially in the United States when they are in season over Christmas. For best results, buff the skin until it shines and add them to floral or table decorations.