When Do Persimmons Ripen? A Complete Guide to Ripening and Harvest Times

The persimmon is also known as vermilion fruit, red persimmon, and so on. It is a perennial deciduous fruit tree of the genus Diospyros in the family Ebenaceae, native to the Yangtze River basin of China and areas to the south. There are many cultivars, which can be divided by color into red persimmon, yellow persimmon, green persimmon, vermilion persimmon, white persimmon, black persimmon, and so on, and by fruit shape into round persimmon, long persimmon, square persimmon, gourd persimmon, ox-heart persimmon, and so on. Now let us take a look at when persimmons ripen and come to market!

When do persimmons ripen?

The persimmon ripening season is around October, but different cultivars differ in their ripening times, and the fruit shapes also differ, such as spherical, almond-like, nearly conical, square, and so on, with colors ranging from light orange-yellow to deep orange-red. Particularly famous cultivars include the Dapan persimmon, known as the “world's finest cultivar” and produced in North China, the Lianhua persimmon and Jingmian persimmon produced in the Hebei and Shandong areas, the Jixin yellow persimmon produced in the Jingyang and Sanyuan areas of Shaanxi, the pointed persimmon produced in Fuping, Shaanxi, and the square persimmon produced in the Gudang area of Hangzhou, Zhejiang, among others.

What cultivars of persimmon are there?

1. Ox-heart persimmon: The ox-heart persimmon is named for its resemblance to an ox heart. It blooms in early June, with a flowering period of 7 to 12 days. The fruit is ox-heart shaped, with a nipple-like protrusion at the top. The fruit turns from green to yellow, and when ripe in October the fruit color is orange.

2. Luotian sweet persimmon: The Luotian sweet persimmon is a Chinese geographical indication product. The fruit is medium in size, with an average single-fruit weight of 100 grams, oblate in shape, with rough orange-red skin and above-average quality. It ripens in early to mid-October in Luotian.

3. Lotus persimmon: The lotus persimmon tree is tall, with a round-headed canopy and strong parthenocarpic ability. The fruit is rectangular, orange-yellow or orange-red, turning orange-red after softening, lotus-shaped, and large. It is best eaten crisp, and the fruit ripens in early to mid-October.

4. Jixin yellow: Jixin yellow is a late-ripening cultivar and a storage-tolerant one. It is named for its fruit color, red like a flame, and its skin luster like crystal. The color is bright red, 4 to 5 fruits make one jin, and it ripens in mid to late September, when it can be offered as a sweet persimmon.

What are the benefits of eating persimmons?

1. Stopping bleeding and cooling the blood: Persimmons have the effect of cooling the blood and stopping bleeding. Not only do persimmons have this effect, but decocting persimmon leaves and persimmon calyx in water and taking it also has a blood-cooling and bleeding-stopping effect.

2. Moistening the lungs and quenching thirst: Persimmons have the effects of clearing heat and moistening the lungs, promoting fluid production and quenching thirst, and strengthening the spleen and resolving phlegm, and can relieve bleeding, dry cough, sore throat, high blood pressure, and other conditions.

3. Moistening the intestines and relieving constipation: Persimmons contain organic acids and rich dietary fiber, and have the effect of moistening the intestines and relieving constipation. They can effectively promote digestion in the stomach and intestines and help relieve constipation.

4. Promoting blood circulation and lowering blood pressure: Persimmons have the effect of promoting blood circulation and lowering blood pressure, helping to lower blood pressure, soften blood vessels, and increase coronary artery flow, and can also promote blood circulation and reduce inflammation and improve cardiovascular function.

5. Sobering up and dispelling alcohol: Persimmons can promote the rapid oxidation of alcohol in the blood and help the body volatilize and expel alcohol from the body. They not only help sober a person up quickly but also help reduce the harm alcohol does to the body.

What are the contraindications for eating persimmons?

1. Persimmons are cold in nature, so people with cold in the stomach should not eat them. People with chronic gastritis, delayed gastric emptying, indigestion, and other conditions of low gastric motility function should not eat persimmons.

2. Persimmons are rich in carbohydrates, mostly sucrose, glucose, and fructose. They are easily digested after eating and easily raise blood sugar, so people with diabetes cannot eat them.

3. The tannic acid in persimmons can bind with iron in food, hindering the human body's absorption of iron from food. At the same time, the precipitate formed by the combination of the two can cause gastrointestinal discomfort and even colic, so people with anemia should not eat persimmons.

4. Persimmons contain relatively large amounts of tannic acid and pectin. On an empty stomach, under the action of gastric acid, these can form hard masses of varying sizes, forming “persimmon stones”, which can easily cause nausea, vomiting, gastric ulcers, and even gastric perforation, among other problems.

5. The vast majority of the tannic acid in persimmons is concentrated in the skin. If eaten together with the skin, it is even more likely to form gastric persimmon stones, and may also increase the chance of conditions such as abdominal pain and nausea.

6. Persimmons contain large amounts of carbohydrates and pectin. Eating large amounts of persimmons can easily erode the teeth and form cavities, and the large amount of tannic acid affects the human body's absorption of calcium, magnesium, and other trace elements, easily leading to malnutrition.