The kaki fruit will appear in our supermarkets from September and, with its rich, bright orange, is not only a delight for the eye, but also particularly good for the palate when ripe. It has its origins in China and Japan.
The origin of the persimmon tree - one of the oldest cultivated plants on earth - is believed to be in East Asia. Most of the commercially available fruit still comes from East Asian countries:
- Japan,
- Korea,
- China.
However, the kaki fruit is also grown in other countries with a subtropical climate, e.g. B. in Southern Europe and in the USA. A refined form of kaki is the Sharon fruit, which is cultivated on the Sharon plain in Israel for export purposes.
Persimmon, Sharon or Persimmon fruit?
All names refer to the tasty berries of a Diospyros kaki - the fruit tree from the ebony family (Ebenaceae). The names are often used as synonyms. The species differ not only in their origin, but also in the nature of the fruit.
persimmon
The fruits of the Diospyros Kaki are large and spherical, have a firm, smooth skin, which can be colored in different strong orange depending on the degree of ripeness. When ripe, the classic kaki fruit has very soft, juicy, jelly-like flesh. The hard fruits are practically inedible because the tannins cause a furry feeling in the mouth. The persimmons come to us from Asia.
Sharon
The Sharon fruit is a breed from Israel. Their fruits are smaller and flatter than persimmons. They look more like tomatoes. Their advantage is that they can be stored longer and eaten hard, since they hardly contain any tannins. They also have a thinner shell.
persimmon
This breed comes from eastern North America. The fruits of the Diospyros virginiana are relatively small and oval in shape. Like the Sharon fruits, they have firm flesh and taste pleasantly sweet and fresh, like a mixture of honeydew melon, pear and apricot, even when they are not fully ripe and hard.
tips and tricks
A persimmon that is inedible due to its high tannin content can be eaten after it has been stored in the freezer for a short time. The flesh softens after freezing but loses its firmness and can then be spooned out of the shell.
n / A