Postharvest Biology and Technology of Persimmon

Persimmon production has continued to increase in recent years. It is now being cultivated in more countries and new varieties are also reaching markets. One important feature that differentiates persimmon from other fruit crops is that the fruits from some cultivars are astringent at harvest, while other cultivars produce non-astringent fruits. Therefore, from a postharvest point of view, some cultivars require specific treatments being applied to remove astringency before their commercialization. On the other hand, storage of persimmons is limited by their sensitivity to manifest chilling injury at low temperature; the main chilling injury symptoms are related to textural changes. This chapter presents the postharvest biology and technology aspects of persimmon fruits.