Persimmon

Persimmon or Diospyrus kaki (Ebenaceae)

1. Andrew L Myrthong 2014-12-126 1

2. Introduction Diospyros Kaki Ebenaceae Native of China National fruit of Japan Chromosome no. 2n=90 China, Japan, Korea are the largest producers Rank 14 th in the world as the most consume fruit after cherries and before avocados 2

3. Production figures in tonnes per year[10] Country 1970 1990 1995 2000 2005 2011 China 457,341 640,230 985,803 1,615,797 2,212,151 3,259,334 Korea 30,310 95,758 194,585 287,847 363,822 390,820 Japan 342,700 285,700 254,100 278,800 285,900 207,500 Brazil 21,659 46,712 51,685 63,300 164,849 154,625 Azerbaijan - - - 96,000 108,965 146,084 Spain - - - 30,000 [11] - 70,000 [12] Italy 59,600 68,770 61,300 42,450 51,332 50,236 Pakistan - - - 19,000 19,000 19,000 Israel - 17,200 11,000 14,000 48,000 29,271 New Zealand - 972 1,600 1,352 3,000 2,526 Iran 25 925 1,000 1,331 1,748 2,123 Australia - 329 640 759 943 642 India - - - - 220 380 Mexico - 275 274 247 369 223 3

4. China Japan Korea Brazil Italy Israel 4

5. The Plant The genus contains almost 400 species Species Common names Main region of cultivation Uses D. Kaki Kaki, Japanese or Oriental persimmon, Yamagaki Japan, China, Korea Fresh and processed D. Lotus Date plum, Ghae tsao, Mamegaki Asia Tannin source, rootstock D. Virginiana American persimmon North America Fresh and processed, rootstock D. Oleifera China Tannin source, rootstock 5

6. Multitrunk or single stemmed deciduous Grows upto 6m height The branches are brittle and easily damaged by wind Leaves are large and glossy green During autumn leaves turn to yellow, orange and red colour thus, acquiring an ornamental value Trees bear either male or female flowers Flowers are borne in the leaf axils of new growth from one year old wood 6

7. Female flowers: large and cream coloured, with dark green four lobed calyx Male flowers: small and occur in 2-3 flowered cluster Fruits shape: spherical, acorn or flattened Fruit colour: light yellow orange to dark orange red Astringency is due to tannins in the flesh 7

8. Cultivars Classified into two major groups: Non astringent and astringent Further subdivided based on their response to pollination: Pollination constant: no change in flesh colour after pollination Pollination variant: light colour when seedless and dark reddish brown when seeded 8

9. Cultivars Harvest period Fruit characteristics Tree characteristics comment Izu Early to late march Orange red, medium size Dwarf and medium vigour Earliest but prone to fruit fly Jiro Early to late march Orange, round, excellent quality Highly vigorous , high parthenocarpic ability Stylar end cracking problem Fuyu Mid april to late may Orange red, medium sized and round Medium vigour Superior quality and recommended Suruga Early april to early may Crimson, medium size Semi dwarf Late maturing, susceptible to leaf spot 20 th century March to april Small to medium size Low vigour Need pruning and thinning Non astringent cultivars 9

10. Astringent cultivars Triumph Nightingale Flat Seedless Hiratanaenashi Dai Dai Maru Hachiya 10

11. Fuyu Flat Seedless Hachiya 11

12. Soil and Climate Soil: Well drained sandy loam soils Soil ph 6 - 6.8 Heavy fruit drop in alluvial soils Temperature: 16 to 22 C When dormant tolerates upto -15 o C Chilling requirement (100-200 hours) Total sunshine(light) is 1400 hours 12

13. Propagation Seed Obtained from firm mature or soft ripe fruit Firm mature fruits give better seed viability Germinates best at 28 C Take 2-3 weeks to germinate For long term storage, seeds should be dried to 45% moisture and stored at 0 o C 13

14. Vegetative Propagation Cutting: Root cuttings and 2 year old stem cuttings Low success rate Grafting and Budding: Whip or cleft grafting in September (75% success) Chip or T budding in late February to early March (97-98% success) Topworking: Late Feruary to mid March Trees (3-8 years old) grafted at 1m height with 5-10 scions/tree 14

15. Rootstocks Three rootstocks are used: D. kaki Uniform vigorous seedlings, long taproot with fewer fibrous laterals Compatible with all cultivars Most preferred D. virginiana Tolerant to drought and waterlogging S uckers severe and not uniform in size and vigour Susceptible to cephalosporium wilt D. lotus Uniform size, fibrous root system Incompatible with non astringent cultivars susceptible to crown gall 15

16. Micropropagation Apical buds on media supplemented with 10µM zeatin 0r 0.20µM IAA recorded the best shoot development In vitro propagation is still in the early stage of development Acclimatization of persimmon micropropagules depend on several factors: Optimum temperature(28 C) Continuous lighting rather than under a 16-h photoperiod Enhanced photosynthetic photon flux 16

17. Cultivation Planting and plant density Best planted in July or early August when dormant Planting after bud break cause transplanting shock Pit size 1m 3 Density depends on cultivar, rootstock and soil type Dwarf cultivars: 5.0 x 2.5 m (800 trees/ha) Semi-dwarf cultivars: 5.0 x 3.0 m (660 trees/ha) Vigorous cultivars: 6.0 x 4.5 m (370 trees/ha) 17

18. Training and Pruning Dwarf cultivars are suited to modified central leader Vigorous and semi-dwarf cultivars suited to palmette T he advantage of palmette: R educes wind damage to branches and fruit, E arlier production , high yields and G reater mechanisation at harvest and during tree canopy management Tatura system allows closer inter row planting (1000 trees/ha) 18

19. Fig: fuyu cultivars trained to a palmette system 19

20. Pruning Light pruning when dormant and during early summer for better framework Summer pruning improves fruit size and colour Avoid heavy pruning Flowers borne on current season’s wood Reduces crop setting Forces excessive vegetative growth Mature trees require only thinning of weak, shaded, dead and diseased branches 20

21. Manuring and Fertilisation 125-250g N, 30-40g P, 150-300g K P requirement is low and given only when needed in autumn N and K applied in split doses One third before or at bud break Remainder over summer in two or more splits Avoid heavy application to prevent fruit drop and calyx separation Fertigation is recommended 21

22. Irrigation: Under tree mini sprinkler system is suitable Prevent line cracking, leaf drop Spring-early summer is the critical period Mulching: To control weed growth Mulching with rice straw and hull increase the yield 22

23. Pollination and fruit set Female flowers can set fruit parthenocarpically Low fruit set and fruit fall main problem Presence of adequate pollinisers is important Gailey , Akagaki and Omiyawase 1 polliniser interplanted with every 8-10 trees 2-3 beehives per hectare is recommended 23

24. Biennial bearing Observed in some cultivars Related to crop load, seed production, tree vigour or age, soil moisture and pollination Overcome by disbudding and fruit thinning in the ‘on year’ Chemical agents: NAA, Ethephon , Paclobutrazol 24

25. Cincturing Removal of a strip of bark from around the trunk of the tree Done during or just after the flowering period Increase precocity of bearing of young vigorous cultivars Undesirable effect of retarding the tree growth 25

26. Pests Yellow brown stink bug - ( Halyomorpha halys ) C oreid bug - ( Riptortus clavatus ) Fruit fly – ( Bactrocera tryroni ) Mealy bugs – ( Pseudococcus spp ) Fruit spotting bug – ( Amblypelta nitida ) Vertebrate pests - Birds and Bats 26

27. Diseases Cercospora leaf spot - ( Cercospora kaki ) Circular leaf spot - ( Mycosphaerella spp .) Crown gall - ( Agrobacterium radiobacter var. tumefaciens ) Dematophora root rot – ( Dematophora nacatrix ) Anthracnose – ( Gleosporium kaki) 27

28. Disorders Calyx-cavity(syn. Dehiscence) A cavity develops beneath the calyx Act as habitat for mealy bugs and fungal growth Avoid excessive N and K fertilization Skin Russeting : Due to excessive N and high Relative humidity Exact cause unknown 28

29. Calyx-end cracking: cause unknown but minimal in fruits with no seeds or less seeds Sujika : White lines produced on the rind of the fruit Severe in light fruited trees Night temperature of 18-20 C produced more sujika Ringing in mid J une is effective 29

30. Circular leaf spot Line cracking Sunburn Black spot 30

31. Harvesting Fruits are well developed Full orange to orange red with no visible green background TSS 14-16 Brix Avoid early and late harvesting Harvested by clipping, leaving the calyx and a short stem Handle with care so as to avoid bruising Two-three pickings recommended Yield: 30-40 t/ha Fig: mechanically aided harvesting 31

32. 32

33. Packing and Storage Remove field heat as soon as possible Graded according to size, colour Packing and grading done manually 12 to 30 pieces of fruit per tray and weight of 4–4.5kg per tray Stored for 3 months at 0 C and 90-95% RH Under CA storage with 5–8% CO 2 and 2–3 % O 2 at O°C stored for 5-6 months 33

34. Astringency Removal In non astringent fruits, after pollination the soluble tannins disappear In astringent cultivars, astringency is not lost until fruit is mature and ripe Treatment of the fruit with CO 2 The astringency of fresh juice is reduced by the addition of soluble pectin Placing the fruits for 2-3 days in ethanol also help remove astringency 34

35. Composition According to Ito (1969),persimmons contain: Water: 79 % crude fibre: 0.4% pectin:0.7 % Vitamin A: 2710 IU/100g Vitamin C: 11mg/100g Malic and citric acid are predominant in all developmental stages 35

36. Uses Traditionally kaki is used in dried form Sun drying for 20-40 days Artificial drying at 32-33 C Jellies, jams, peeled skin is used in pickles, canned in sugar syrup Production of tannin Mordant for protecting wood Treatment of hangover Antidote against cobra venom and bacterial toxins Pertussis vaccine Control agent for viral infections (e.g. TMV) 36

37. Fig: Sun drying of persimmon 37

38. 38

39. References George, A. P. and Nissen , R. J. 2002. Persimmon. In: Bose, T. K., Mitra , S. K. and Sanyal , D. ( eds ), Fruits: Tropical and Subtropical Volume-II (3 rd Ed.). Naya Udyog , Calcutta, pp. 65-116. Ullio , L. 2003. Persimmon growing in New South Wales. Agfact (3 rd ed.) Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Research Institute , Camden[on-line]. Available: www.agric.nsw.gov.au (17 th March 2015) 39

40. THANKYOU 40