Pomegranates have a moderate amount of sugar but are considered a relatively low-sugar fruit option compared to others and are very nutritional. However, they are notoriously hard to extract from whole pomegranates, which puts many people off buying the red fruits in their weekly shop.

A savvy cooking expert has revealed an easy way to gather the seeds from a whole fruit in “seconds”, leaving few reasons not to indulge in the juicy seeds for their antioxidant benefits. Valeria Farris shared his insights with Food52: “The trick at hand: Slice a pomegranate in half, around the middle, and hold it over a bowl of water, seed side down.” Pomegranate seeds are encased in membranes and can be difficult to remove due to the fruit's structure and the tendency of the juice to stain, but techniques like this can help.

The fruit must be ripe before attempting to scoop out the crunchy seeds from the centre of a pomegranate,

Look for heavy fruit with flattened, angular sides and matte, slightly rough, leathery skin.

The colour should be a deep and rich shade of red or purple,e depending on the variety.

When submerged, you’ll need a bowl large enough to contain the water and the pomegranate, so ensure you have this before whacking the fruit.

Slice the pomegranate in half and “get whacking”, as Valerio put it. He said: “I opted for a wooden spoon, though I imagine any flat, blunt object would do the trick.”

According to the foodie, the whacking motion requires some force: “I whacked so hard that bright pink kernels began to collect at the bottom of my bowl. The trick, it seemed, was working. And pretty well, at that”, he said.

The result was impressive, with “every piece of pomegranate” gathered directly into the bowl.

Valeria explained that the method stirred up very little splashing and was quick, with only 30 seconds of whacking required per pomegranate half.

There may be a few you must dig out with your fingers, but the Food52 writer noted that the clever hack encouraged a surprising amount of “ruby red gems” into the bowl.

Pomegranate seeds, known as ‘arils,’ are safe to eat raw and make a delicious, nutritious snack.

You can eat them directly from the fruit or use them as a topping for salads, yoghurt, porridge, or even smoothies.

According to BBC Good Food, pomegranates have an antioxidant activity three times higher than red wine and green tea, so it would be fair to expect beneficial anti-inflammatory properties.

Various studies have examined the potential anti-inflammatory properties of pomegranate, with some conclusions linked to reduced gut inflammation. Other studies have looked into the potential anti-inflammatory effects of one antioxidant compound, punicic acid, which is found in pomegranate seed oil, on breast cancer cells.

A paper in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences also reported a small trial in which patients with type 2 diabetes consumed pomegranate juice daily and showed fewer markers of inflammation in their blood after 12 weeks.