A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO POSTHARVEST RESEARCH AND UTILIZATION OF PERSIMMON (DIOSPYROS KAKI) IN CHINA: ANCIENT TIME TO TODAY

Persimmon (Diospyros kaki Thunb.) originates from China. Chinese people began to cultivate persimmon in a certain area during the Tang-Song dynasty (618-1279 AD), and used it as “woody food” to survive a crop failure during the Ming-Qing dynasty (1368-1911 AD). In the meantime, some earliest traditional utilization methods of persimmon developed in ancient times. With the progress of society and technology and communication among countries, modern postharvest physiology and processing techniques were researched and developed in China. Some outstanding achievements are: (1) methods for astringency removal in ancient times by use of alkaloid (earliest record in 1279), mixing with other fruits or foliage (1067), warm water (1116), lime water (1279), mulberry leaf and salt solution (Mid-17th century) and naturally ripening (1578); the earliest record of dried persimmon is in 1116-1313; the record of processing persimmon paint in the 15th century; and the simple and easy storage technology; (2) modern postharvest physiology researches and processing technology, comprising postharvest fruit characteristics, improving keeping quality, and some processed products, (3) important utilization in health care.