I agree. I’ve picked them early and let them ripen on the counter. They did just fine, but were not as juicy or good. Even the ripe ones I let wrinkle a little on the counter to get maximum flavor and make sure all astringency is gone.
2 Likes
Perhaps at the beginning of September would work at force ripening without astringency. I eat Aronia berries, they are astringent and I would think an ethanol ripened Persimmon cant be worse than them. a little astringency is not that bad.
I can’t comment on Garretson specifically, but you’d be surprised how often that “superiority” comes in the form of name recognition.
3 Likes
Persimmon astringency is a totally different can of worms. Someone should make a compilation video of people being fed unripe persimmon. It would be highly entertaining! If you aren’t very sensitive to astringency, with an almost ripe (but not totally ripe) persimmon, at the least, imagine the surfaces on the insides of your mouth and tongue transforming into cotton balls.
4 Likes
Many fruits aren’t at their best until fully maturity, despite the fact that many people believe leaving any fruit at room temperature can finish ripening it. The fruit might soften and sweeten but that’s more incipient rot that ripening. From what I’ve read, American persimmons will not finish ripening after harvest.
Then again, many people don’t mind astringent fruit. I do. I had a friend who would eat green persimmons!!
2 Likes
@lee, there are a few folks on here who harvest American persimmons at firm ripe stage and soften successfully on the counter. I think with persimmons, they are fully ripe once they reach peak color, and softening is actually a post-ripening/bletting as with pears and medlars.
I also still hold out hope for astringency removal treatments for American persimmons. There are a couple variables (most notably temperature) that have not to my knowledge been explored with American persimmons which have been shown to impact astringency removal in Asian persimmons.
1 Like
Ripening of Asian vs American persimmons may have to do with different physiology. Generally, climacteric fruit, such as banana, avocado, and European pear experience a burst of ethylene production once they get to a certain stage, and then ripen even if off the plant. Non-climacteric fruits, and American persimmon seems to be one of them, don’t undergo this ethylene burst and don’t ripen after picking.
I’ve wondered and spoken with researchers if there really is this correlation between ripening and climactic-ness. Peach, for instance, is climacteric, in that there is this burst of ethylene. But, from tasting many peaches, I don’t believe that they ever develop full flavor when picked befre fully mature. Plears, on the other hand, do.
Perhaps climactericness is a spectrum.
4 Likes
LOL – This is hard to believe unless you’re talking about inherently non-astringent Asian PCNAs.
I agree with @snowflake – An unripe, still-astringent persimmon is disgusting. Imagine that someone shot spray-on foam insulation into your mouth.
Also, it is little discussed but the combination of persimmon tannins plus undigested fibers plus stomach acid leads to a chemical reaction akin to concrete curing. The result is gastro-intesttinal blockage potentially requiring surgery. Check out “persimmon bezoars.”
4 Likes
I mention persimmon bezoars in my book “Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden.” Other foods, such as celery and coconut, also cause them.
The unripe persimmons my friend ate were mine, Szukis American persimmon. I found it hard to believe also.
4 Likes
I liked that book Lee. It helped me choose Garretson. It’s a great resource for people trying to grow unusual fruit that you will never find in a grocery store. I grow most of them now.
@clarkinks Clark: I haven’t noticed tip dieback on Early Golden, but we don’t get very cold here. 9A:20 degrees most years. I did notice that the tree seemed to grow a lot and produce better fruit after being biocharred. I bought them for $10 each on sale 15 or so years ago and one died soon thereafter. It might have been diseased. I have just found the flavor of Garretson to be more consistently complex and interesting over the years. I respect others’ opinions. That is just my two cents.
JohN S
PDX OR
3 Likes
John, what kind of texture does Garretson have? I am waiting for mine to bear fruit. Can I expect it to “splat” from a tall tree?
1 Like
My tree isn’t tall. I don’t think they will. They are more firm gelatinous as I recall.
John S
PDX OR
3 Likes
I don’t think it will splat. Mine don’t, but I don’t have hundreds on the tree. It’s smooth, not crunchy and not really soft.
2 Likes
That sounds like the kind of texture that I’d like! Looking forward to the time I get to taste its fruit, maybe next year…
2 Likes