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How many seeds does a pomegranate have?

Pomegranates are curious fruits - apple-sized, red in color, and containing hundreds of pitch-red juicy seeds. Bitter-sweet in taste, depending on ripeness, puts these delightful transparent fragilities in-between grapefruits and red grapes.

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Figure 1.1
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What has nature blessed us with - the pomegranate is a very unstructured structured fruit. It contains multiple compartments, each tightly packing seeds around a sponge-like center, in some more or less random formation.

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Figure 1.2
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Sources are in disagreement about how many seeds a pomegranate holds. Some sources fix the number to exactly 613, some allow for an error of +/- 200, yet others believe that all pomegranates have the exact same number of seeds. It is certainly possible to disprove the first and third of these.

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Figure 1.3
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Then how many seeds are in a typical pomegranate? Here we keep track of a very small number of pomegranates, carefully disected and accounted for. This is an on-going experiments, and depending on mood and taste buds, the table will be filled with additional pomegranates.

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Figure 1.4
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Index Date purchased Price Weight Number of seeds Origin Place of Purchase Notes
1 10/28/2005 $2.69 567 g 730 California New York, NY
2 10/28/2005 $2.49 390 g 760 California New York, NY
3 10/31/2005 $1.75 470 g 789 California New York, NY
4 10/31/2005 $1.75 483 g 727 California New York, NY
5 11/2/2005 $1.99 354 g 700 California New York, NY
6 11/2/2005 $0.99 168 g 674 California New York, NY
7 11/4/2005 $2.50 576 g 798 California New York, NY
8 11/11/2005 S $1.00 250 g 339 ? Asia ? Singapore yellow
9 11/11/2005 S $2.20 400 g 579 ? Asia ? Singapore yellow
10 11/13/2005 $2.69 540 g 693 California New York, NY
11 11/13/2005 $1.50 680 g 1002 California New York, NY
12 11/13/2005 $1.50 676 g 828 California New York, NY
13 11/15/2005 $1.99 370 g 854 California New York, NY
14 11/15/2005 $1.50 685 g 1212 California New York, NY
15 11/15/2005 $1.50 712 g 1209 California New York, NY
16 11/23/2005 DH 1.68 280 g 580 Spain Al Ain, UAE yellow, soft seeds
17 11/23/2005 DH 1.82 305 g 407 Iran Al Ain, UAE
18 11/23/2005 DH 1.50 250 g 329 Iran Al Ain, UAE
19 11/26/2005 DH 2.06 230 g 364 Iran Dubai, UAE
20 11/26/2005 DH 3.98 445 g 726 Iran Dubai, UAE
21 11/26/2005 DH 2.95 330 g 837 Spain Dubai, UAE yellow, soft seeds
22 12/02/2005 $ 2.99 395 g 779 California New York, NY
23 12/09/2005 $ 0.99 372 g 644 California New York, NY
24 12/09/2005 $ 0.99 363 g 766 California New York, NY
25 12/11/2005 $ 2.50 572 g 860 California New York, NY
26 12/11/2005 $ 2.50 404 g 718 California New York, NY
27 12/11/2005 $ 2.99 726 g 836 California New York, NY
28 12/13/2005 $ 2.99 508 g 703 California New York, NY
29 12/16/2005 $ 1.99 449 g 857 California New York, NY
30 12/16/2005 $ 1.99 508 g 855 California New York, NY
31 12/17/2005 $ 1.29 315 g 518 California Queens, NY
32 12/17/2005 $ 1.29 322 g 612 California Queens, NY
33 12/17/2005 $ 1.29 338 g 379 California Queens, NY
34 12/17/2005 $ 1.29 288 g 741 California Queens, NY
35 12/17/2005 $ 1.29 263 g 545 California Queens, NY
36 12/20/2005 E 0.43 236 g 427 Iran Vienna, Austria
37 12/20/2005 E 0.43 238 g 439 Iran Vienna, Austria
38 12/20/2005 E 0.43 242 g 317 Iran Vienna, Austria
39 12/20/2005 E 0.99 250 g 390 Turkey Vienna, Austria
40 12/20/2005 E 0.99 226 g 267 Turkey Vienna, Austria
41 12/21/2005 E 1.99 520 g 971 Turkey Vienna, Austria
42 12/21/2005 E 1.99 546 g 787 Turkey Vienna, Austria
43 12/21/2005 E 1.99 524 g 833 Turkey Vienna, Austria
44 12/30/2005 E 1.08 360 g 499 Turkey or Iran Vienna, Austria Emad Basha Imp Exp
45 12/30/2005 E 1.08 360 g 532 Turkey or Iran Vienna, Austria Emad Basha Imp Exp
46 12/30/2005 E 1.07 355 g 641 Turkey or Iran Vienna, Austria Emad Basha Imp Exp
47 12/30/2005 E 1.31 436 g 600 Turkey Vienna, Austria
48 12/30/2005 E 1.36 452 g 768 Turkey Vienna, Austria
49 12/30/2005 E 2.10 660 g 1263 Iran Vienna, Austria
50 1/2/2006 E 1.99 568 g 647 Brazil Chemnitz, Germany
51 1/2/2006 E 1.99 658 g 1054 Brazil Chemnitz, Germany
52 1/2/2006 E 1.99 570 g 725 Brazil Chemnitz, Germany
53 1/2/2006 E 0.99 212 g 312 Iran Chemnitz, Germany
54 1/2/2006 E 0.99 200 g 266 Iran Chemnitz, Germany
55 1/2/2006 E 0.99 204 g 220 Iran Chemnitz, Germany
56 1/2/2006 E 0.99 204 g 309 Iran Chemnitz, Germany
57 1/11/2006 $ 1.50 159 g 340 California Hilo, Hawaii
58 1/11/2006 $ 1.54 163 g 330 California Hilo, Hawaii
59 1/21/2006 $ 2.99 803 g 1370 California New York, NY
60 1/28/2006 $ 2.50 540 g 895 California New York, NY
61 1/28/2006 $ 2.50 562 g 852 California New York, NY
62 1/31/2006 $ 1.99 381 g 545 California New York, NY
63 1/31/2006 $ 1.99 358 g 650 California New York, NY
64 1/31/2006 $ 1.99 367 g 286 California New York, NY
65 2/1/2006 $ 2.00 549 g 807 California New York, NY
66 2/1/2006 $ 2.00 608 g 767 California New York, NY
67 2/10/2006 $ 2.50 476 g 430 California New York, NY
68 2/10/2006 $ 2.50 513 g 694 California New York, NY
69 2/13/2006 $ 1.99 585 g 705 California New York, NY
70 2/13/2006 $ 1.99 517 g 762 California New York, NY
71 2/17/2006 $ 1.99 431 g 564 California New York, NY
72 2/17/2006 $ 1.99 540 g 824 California New York, NY
73 3/1/2006 $ 1.99 395 g 552 California New York, NY
74 3/1/2006 $ 1.99 408 g 372 California New York, NY
75 3/8/2006 $ 1.99 340 g 416 California New York, NY
76 9/3/2006 $ 2.99 485 g 1094 California New York, NY
77 9/5/2006 $ 2.99 472 g 1138 California New York, NY
78 9/5/2006 $ 2.99 422 g 845 California New York, NY
79 9/10/2006 $ 2.99 372 g 1046 California New York, NY
80 9/10/2006 $ 2.99 404 g 909 California New York, NY
81 9/15/2006 $ 2.99 399 g 1140 California New York, NY
82 9/15/2006 $ 2.99 345 g 1014 California New York, NY
83 9/20/2006 $ 2.99 376 g 903 California New York, NY
84 9/20/2006 $ 2.99 318 g 760 California New York, NY
85 9/21/2006 $ 2.49 340 g 932 California New York, NY
86 9/21/2006 $ 2.49 336 g 960 California New York, NY
87 9/25/2006 $ 2.49 259 g 528 California New York, NY
88 9/25/2006 $ 2.49 299 g 525 California New York, NY
89 9/25/2006 $ 2.49 259 g 715 California New York, NY
90 9/28/2006 $ 2.50 409 g 767 California Pittsburgh, PA
91 9/28/2006 $ 2.50 345 g 562 California Pittsburgh, PA
92 10/3/2006 $ 1.99 268 g 631 California New York, NY
93 10/3/2006 $ 1.99 259 g 818 California New York, NY
94 10/3/2006 $ 1.99 263 g 995 California New York, NY
95 10/4/2006 $ 2.49 299 g 497 California New York, NY
96 10/4/2006 $ 2.49 308 g 499 California New York, NY
97 10/4/2006 $ 2.49 336 g 639 California New York, NY
98 10/6/2006 $ 1.49 186 g 535 California New York, NY
99 10/6/2006 $ 1.49 181 g 504 California New York, NY
100 10/6/2006 $ 1.49 186 g 550 California New York, NY
101 10/6/2006 $ 1.49 186 g 567 California New York, NY
102 10/6/2006 $ 1.99 222 g 605 California New York, NY
103 10/7/2006 $ 2.50 544 g 860 California Pittsburgh, PA
104 10/7/2006 $ 2.50 522 g 598 California Pittsburgh, PA
105 10/10/2006 $ 0.54 164 g 494 California New York, NY
106 10/10/2006 $ 0.71 216 g 489 California New York, NY
107 10/10/2006 $ 0.59 180 g 458 California New York, NY
108 10/10/2006 $ 0.57 173 g 561 California New York, NY
109 10/10/2006 $ 0.56 170 g 602 California New York, NY
110 10/10/2006 $ 0.55 169 g 445 California New York, NY
111 10/10/2006 $ 0.54 166 g 480 California New York, NY
112 10/10/2006 $ 0.52 157 g 452 California New York, NY
113 10/10/2006 $ 0.60 182 g 643 California New York, NY
114 10/10/2006 $ 0.58 178 g 339 California New York, NY
115 10/10/2006 $ 0.53 160 g 506 California New York, NY
116 10/10/2006 $ 0.57 175 g 549 California New York, NY
117 10/15/2006 $ 1.49 299 g 619 California Brooklyn, NY
118 10/15/2006 $ 1.49 318 g 824 California Brooklyn, NY
119 10/15/2006 $ 1.49 299 g 686 California Brooklyn, NY
120 10/15/2006 $ 1.49 295 g 723 California Brooklyn, NY
121 10/15/2006 $ 1.49 304 g 701 California Brooklyn, NY
122 10/15/2006 $ 2.49 590 g 650 California Brooklyn, NY
123 10/15/2006 $ 2.49 594 g 852 California Brooklyn, NY
124 10/15/2006 $ 2.49 594 g 682 California Brooklyn, NY
125 10/15/2006 $ 2.49 553 g 860 California Brooklyn, NY
126 10/17/2006 $ 1.99 404 g 796 California New York, NY
127 10/19/2006 $ 0.99 340 g 781 California Pittsburgh, PA
128 10/19/2006 $ 0.99 304 g 899 California Pittsburgh, PA
129 10/19/2006 $ 0.99 299 g 867 California Pittsburgh, PA
130 10/19/2006 $ 0.99 358 g 879 California Pittsburgh, PA
131 10/19/2006 $ 0.99 345 g 1019 California Pittsburgh, PA
132 10/19/2006 $ 0.99 345 g 609 California Pittsburgh, PA
133 10/19/2006 $ 0.99 299 g 620 California Pittsburgh, PA
134 10/19/2006 $ 0.99 304 g 786 California Pittsburgh, PA
Table 1.1: Pomegranate Seed counts

Download the Matlab code for the distribution shown in Figure 1.5 below:

Image   Pomegranate Distribution in Matlab  

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Figure 1.5: Distribution of weight and seed count by country of origin