MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Semsur – Women of Semsur (Adıyaman) harvest pomegranate fruits in autumn. After washing and deseeding the pomegranates, they boil them to make pomegranate syrup. But this year they complain about the less juicy pomegranates due to low rainfall.

“We boil pomegranate fruits to make syrup”

Feride Çetin deseeds the pomegranates after harvesting them with her family members to make pomegranate syrup. “We first harvest pomegranates and then deseed them. We put the seeds in a bag and crush them to release the juice from them. We boil the juice and bottle it,” she told us.

“We don’t receive a recompense for our work”

Feride Çetin and her family make a livelihood by making pomegranate syrup and planting tobacco. “Making pomegranate syrup is a very hard job but we don’t receive recompense for our work. People like homemade pomegranate syrup but they cannot buy it because of its high price. We work every season to earn our livelihood,” she said.

Less juicy pomegranates due to low rainfall

Feride Çetin is concerned about the less juicy pomegranates due to low rainfall. “This year, pomegranate syrup will be more expensive due to low rainfall,” she said. Talking about the benefits of homemade pomegranate syrup, Feride Çetin said, “It supports a healthy immune system and may reduce the risk of certain cancers. But it didn't rain this year, so the pomegranates dried up on branches. Since the pomegranates are spoiled, our earnings will decrease even more this year.”