Persimmon

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Persimmons

Persimmon (also known as Sharon fruit) most commonly refers to the edible fruit borne by some species of the genus Diospyros. They are also known as kaki (D. kaki), sharon fruit (D. kaki, a trademark name, exclusively reserved for persimmons grown in Israel), black sapote (D. digyna), mabolo or velvet-apple (D. discolor), date-plum (D. lotus), Texas persimmon (D. texana) and American persimmon (D. virginiana). The term is also used to refer to the trees bearing the fruit.

The word persimmon comes from an Algonquian language of the eastern United States, meaning "a dry fruit."

Fruit

Persimmons tend to be light yellow-orange to dark red-orange in colour, varying from 2-8 cm in diameter, and may be spherical, acorn or pumpkin shaped depending on the species. The calyx often remains attached to the fruit after picking. They are eaten fresh, dried, cooked and canned. They are high in glucose and protein, and also have various medicinal and chemical uses. There are generally two types of fruit, those that are astringent until extremely ripe and those that are non-astringent.

Astringent types contain high levels of soluble tannins and cannot be eaten until custard-soft unless the astringency has been removed either artificially or by an after-ripening of light exposure to frost over a few days; this process is known as bletting. The edibility of astringent types is much improved when the fruit is dried.

Non-astringent types are less astringent when unripe and lose their astringency earlier. They can be eaten at various stages of firmness, from very hard to very soft.

Commercial forms include:

Astringent:
- Korean
- Hachiya
Nonastringent:
- Fuyu or Japanese Persimmon
- Jiro
- Hanagosho

Species

Kaki Persimmon / Kaki Fruit (柿 (kaki) in Japanese) (D. kaki) is the most widely cultivated species, grown for its delicious fruit (see below). It has a very sweet taste and fibrous texture. This species, native to China, is deciduous with broad, stiff leaves. Cultivation for the fruit extended first to other parts of east Asia, and was later introduced to California and southern Europe in the 1800s.

American Persimmon (D. virginiana) is native to eastern North America. Colloquially known as a "pawdad".

Black persimmon or Black sapote (D. digyna) is native to Mexico. Its fruit has green skin and white flesh which turns black when ripe.

Mabolo or Velvet-apple (D. discolor) is native to the Philippines. It is bright red when ripe.

Date-plum (D. lotus) is native to southwest Asia and southeast Europe. It was known to the ancient Greeks as "the fruit of the Gods", i.e. Dios pyros (lit. "the wheat of Zeus"), hence the scientific name of the genus. Its English name derives from the small fruit, which has a taste reminiscent of both plums and dates. This variety is mentioned in the Odyssey; it was so delicious that those who ate it forgot about returning home and wanted to stay and eat lotus with the lotus-eaters.

There are many other species of persimmons that are not edible to humans.

Storage

Persimmons may be kept at room temperature (20°C); they will soften more rapidly if they are refrigerated.

Nutritional Information

Values here are per 100 g for "Persimmons, Japanese, raw" (Diospyros kaki); they may differ for other species.

Energy		293 kJ = 70 kcal
PROTEIN		0.58 g
FAT - Total		0.19 g
- Saturated		0.02 g
CARBOHYDRATE		18.59 g
- Sugars		12.53 g (fructose 5.56 g, glucose 5.44 g, sucrose 1.54 g)
DIETARY FIBER		3.6 g
Sodium		1 mg
Calcium		8 mg
Iron		0.15 mg
Copper		0.11 mg
Manganese		0.36 mg
Vitamin C		7.5 mg
Folate		8 µg

source: USDA Nutrient Database

Culinary use

Persimmon fruits are eaten both fresh and dried. In Korean culture, a punch called sujeonggwa is made from dried persimmons. In some Chinese cultures, dried persimmon leaves are used for tea (柿子葉茶). Persimmon Pudding is a traditional American dessert using fresh persimmons.

Wood

Though persimmon trees belong to the same genus as ebony trees, persimmon tree wood has a limited use in the manufacture of objects requiring hard wood. Most notably D. virginiana, the lightly coloured, fine-grained wood of which is used for some of the best golfclub heads and billiard cues and historically for the shuttles used in the textile industry.

Like other plants of the genus Diospyros, older persimmon heartwood is black or dark brown in color, which is in stark contrast with the sapwood and younger heartwood, which is pale in color.

The wood is used for paneling in traditional Korean and Japanese furniture (see example at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Korean_persimmonwood_chest.jpg).

Events

An annual Persimmon Festival is held every September in Mitchell, Indiana, that features a persimmon pudding contest. Persimmon pudding is a baked pudding that has the consistency of pumpkin pie but resembles a brownie and is almost always served with a topping of whipped cream.

Company

Persimmon plc is a major British housebuilding company.

External links

Ebenaceae | Fruit

Kaki | Хурма | Kaki | Kaki

Persymona | Caqui | Хурма | 柿

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