Technical paper

The study of the black persimmon in ChinaGuoliang WU1,2*, Qunlong LIU3, Xiaohua Liu1,2, Aiqing JI4, Yanjun YANG1,2, Meiling KANG5

* Correspondence and reprints

Received 13 February 2011Accepted 5 January 2012

Fruits, 2012, vol. 67, p. 369–376© 2012 Cirad/EDP SciencesAll rights reservedDOI: 10.1051/fruits/2012031www.fruits-journal.org

RESUMEN ESPAÑOL, p. 376

The study of the black persimmon in China.

Abstract – Black persimmon in the literature. The persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.) is adeciduous fruit tree originating in China. One type consisting of a group of similar cultivars isthe black persimmon, which is a precious germplasm resource of China. Black persimmon ismainly distributed in the south of the Taihang Mountains in northern China. Black persimmonis astringent, though this astringency can now be removed easily via normal maturity of thefruit. The skin of the fruit is black and the flesh has abundant nutritional value, with vitamin Cand carotene. Information given by a black persimmon orchard. A trial on black persim-mon was carried out from 2003 to 2009 in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China. Plant growth,yields and phenological characteristics were studied. The fruit has a thick skin which assists instorage and transportation; it has excellent flavor and quality, making the fruit highly valuedby producers, marketers and consumers. Key cultivation techniques. Practices to achievehigh quality are reviewed such as the proper plant environment, tree planting and pruning,the soil management, the wintering and protection of young trees, and pest control.

China / Diospyros kaki / land varieties / fruits / genetic resources / phenology /cultivation

Étude sur le kaki noir en Chine.

Résumé – Le kaki noir dans la littérature. Le kaki (Diospyros kaki L.) est un arbre fruitier àfeuilles caduques originaire de Chine. Un type de D. kaki est constitué d'un groupe de culti-vars semblables dont le fruit est noir ; c’est une ressource précieuse du matériel génétique dela Chine. Le kaki noir est principalement réparti dans le sud des monts Taihang dans le nordde la Chine. Le fruit du kaki noir est astringent mais cette astringence peut maintenant êtrefacilement enlevée via la maturité normale du fruit. La peau du fruit est de couleur noire et lachair a une grande valeur nutritionnelle en vitamine C et en carotène. Information donnéepar un verger de kakis noirs. Une expérimentation sur le kaki noir a été réalisée de 2003 à2009 à Zhengzhou, province du Henan, en Chine. La croissance, les caractéristiques phénolo-giques et les rendements des arbres ont été étudiés. Le fruit a une peau épaisse qui facilite lestockage et le transport ; sa qualité et son goût sont excellents, ce qui le rend très appréciédes producteurs, commerçants et consommateurs. Techniques culturales clés. Les pratiquespermettant d’obtenir une production de grande qualité sont abordées comme le bon environ-nement végétal, la plantation des arbres et l'élagage, la gestion des sols, l'hivernage et la pro-tection de jeunes arbres, et la lutte contre les ravageurs.

Chine / Diospyros kaki / variété indigène / fruits / ressource génétique /phénologie / pratique culturale

1 Coll. Hortic. Sci., HenanAgric. Univ., Zhengzhou,China, 450002,walnut-wu@126.com

2 Henan Key Lab. Fruit andCucurbit Biol., Zhengzhou,China, 450002

3 Coll. Hortic. Sci., ShanxiAgric. Univ., Taigu, China,030801

4 Dep. Biol. Sci. Technol.,Jinzhong Coll., Jinzhong,China, 030600

5 Dep. Biol. Sci. Technol.,Zaozhuang Coll., Zaozhuang,China, 277160

Fruits, vol. 67 (5) 369

Article published by EDP Sciences

370

G. Wu et al.

1. Black persimmonin the literature

Recently, the popularity of black foods hasincreased, with more and more being mar-keted and achieving best-selling status in themarket [1]. There are two reasons for this.First, consumers consider these unusualfoods to be fascinating and they want totaste them. Second, black foods possessabundant quantities of compounds withhigh nutritional value [1, 2]. Of these variousblack fruits, the black persimmon has arange of cultivars typically suited to and pro-duced in Shanxi province in China [3]. Manyyears of observation have shown that thecharacteristics of persimmons are excellentand that they would seem to have consid-erable potential.

1.1. Source of black persimmoncultivars

The persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.) is adeciduous fruit tree originating in China.The black persimmon type group of culti-vars is mainly distributed in the Zuoquanand Licheng counties of Shanxi provinceand the She county of Hebei province,which lie in the south of the Taihang Moun-tains in northern China. The black persim-mon is of the astringent type, thus theastringency needs to be removed beforefruit is suitable for consumption. This hap-pens naturally upon ripening and cultivarsof non-astringent (at maturity) black persim-mon are kept in the National PersimmonGermplasm Nursery in Yangling, Shannxiprovince [4, 5].

1.2. Black skin and abundantnutritional value of black persimmon

The skin of the black persimmon has aglossy black pericarp when ripe. This is typ-ical of black fruit. Just like black plum, blackpeach and black grape, it has higher levelsof nutritional components and greater bio-compatibility than normal fruit; moreover, ithas many unique physiological and phar-macological functions (table I) [4, 6, 7]. Mostpersimmon cultivars are pistillate (female)

and, while self-compatible, do not formseeds as they are planted without males tofertilize them. They can be sold as fresh orprocessed and products are well appreci-ated in the market [1, 8].

1.3. Easy to remove astringencyand good storage quality

The fruit of black persimmon is of the astrin-gent type, thus the astringency needs to beremoved from fruit before eating. Comparedwith other persimmons, the astringency isremoved naturally when it is ripened on thetree and the fruit is ready to eat when har-vested, but the reason is unclear why thishappens. When the ripe fruit is harvested itis not easy to store. If storage is required,the fruit should be harvested earlier whenthey are mature but still firm, with the skincolor nearly fully developed into black. Incold places they can be stored for months;if they are kept in refrigerated conditions thefruit will keep longer. The skin is thicker soit endures transportation well [3, 9].

1.4. Small tree allowing closespacing with high yields

Tree height of black persimmon can reachabout 4 m with a branch spread of about4.5 m. Fruit production was approximately100 kg per tree with hundred-year-old trees.

1.5. Survival on moderately fertileland and easy to manage

Like any other kind of persimmon tree,black persimmon trees are not particular asto soil for growth, and they do well on anymoderately fertile land. Few pests or dis-eases attack the fruits. Hence, black persim-mon is very well suited for the developmentof new persimmon orchards.

2. Information given by a blackpersimmon trial orchard

To complement the information regardingcharacteristics of black persimmon alreadyavailable, an orchard of about 6500 m2 was

Fruits, vol. 67 (5)

The black persimmon in China

studied in Xingyang County, Henan prov-ince, from 2003 to 2009. The trial waslocated in the hilly land in the south of theYellow River, where the climate is subtropi-cal to mild-temperate. The zone has a coldwinter and hot summer. In winter, the windblows predominantly from the Northwest,while in summer, it blows from the South-east. In the fall, the orchard has adequatesunshine. The average annual temperatureis about 14.4 °C, while the highest temper-ature is 42.5 °C and the lowest temperatureis –16.9 °C [4]. The average annual rainfallis about 600 mm; the average annual sun-shine is about 2119 h and the continuousfrost-free period 211 days [4, 8].

The experimental field had a sandy soiland the soil layer was deep. The youngblack persimmon plants came from Zuo-quan County in Shanxi province (figure 1)and She County in Hebei province (fig-ure 2). These black persimmon cultivarswere compared with the local cultivar‘Xingyang Water Persimmon’ (figure 3).Cultivars were planted at 3 m × 2 m, the 6-year-old trees reaching 8.7 cm in trunkdiameter at ground level, with a tree heightof about 3.9 m, and a crown width of2.22 m × 2.19 m. Generally, good localmanagement techniques were used includ-ing irrigation and fertilizers with weedingand pest control as required. Fruit were allhand-harvested.

2.1. The vegetative growth habit

The tree crown of black persimmon is typi-cally a cone in shape that is semi-open. Thefirst year, branches looked grayish-greenand reached up to about 16.9 cm long; thediameter of the stem base was 0.54 cm.

Generally, each bearing branch of the treecan accommodate 2–3 bearing shoots. Onlyfemale flowers are found on trees. Thefemale flowers have a small semi-opencorolla and the color of the petal is paleblack. Every flower has four stigmas whichunite in the lower parts. The ovary is in themiddle with a green peak. The number ofdegenerated stamen was about six to eightand they were always scattered in order.There were nine leaves in every branchlet.The length of the leaf was about 20 cm andits transverse diameter was about 10.5 cm.The leaf stalk was about 2 cm long with aninternode space of 8~10 cm. There was astrong parthenocarpic ability (table II) [2, 5].

FAZC

Table I.Comparison of nutritional composition of black and other persimmons in China [4, 6, 7]

Persimmon type Total sugar Protein Fat Total tannin Total carotene Vitamin

(%) (mg·100 g–1)

Persimmon 13.8 0.4 0.4 0.01 1.9 30.0

Sweet Persimmon 14.1 0. 5 0.3 0.1 2.0 31.5

Black Persimmon 14.3 0.7 0.4 0.1 2.1 39.2

Fruits, vol. 67 (5

igure 1.black persimmon tree from

uoquan, Shanxi province,hina, and the fruits.

.

C Total Ca Total Fe

(mg·kg–1)

120.5 22.0

124.0 21.8

138.1 23.5

) 371

372

G. Wu et al.

2.2. Phenological period

In the Zhengzhou area, black persimmonbuds sprout in late March, with leafing outin mid-April and flowering in mid-May, withflorescence lasting 3~7 days. Young fruitsenter into their rapid fruit expansion stagein the first half of June. By the middle of Sep-tember fruits begin taking on their yellowbase color; black stripes then start to appearslowly and gradually expand, turning thetotal surface black when fruits ripen in mid-to late October. However, the fruit whichlies in the internal regions of the crown orwhich is covered with leaves will still reveala yellow background. Black persimmonfruit can be harvested and appear initially onthe market when the fruit surface appearsblack in mid- to late October. Picking timecan last until November. From the end ofOctober to early November the leaves arefalling and the tree goes into a dormantperiod. The fruit development period in ourtrial was 138–151 days, and vegetativegrowth was 231–225 days. A comparisonwith black persimmon of Shanxi Zuoquan,and introduced black persimmons from SheCounty in Hebei showed that the develop-ment period of fruit was longer by 13 daysfor the She County persimmons, while thevegetative growth period was about 1 weekshorter for the Shanxi black persimmon,with a later budding period and an earlierleaf fall period. When black persimmon wascompared with the excellent native cultivarin Zhengzhou, ‘Xingyang Shui Persimmon’,there were no consistent differences inphenological phases (table II, unpublisheddata).

2.3. Fruit characteristics

The black persimmon fruit size was medianwith an average fruit weight of 195.3 g. Thebiggest fruit can amount to 270 g, the aver-age fruit length being 5.1 cm and breadth4.8 cm; the fruit shape index is 1.275. Thelength of the largest fruit was 5.5 cm, andthe largest fruit breadth was 5.4 cm. Fruitwas heart-shaped with a jet black face, andmuch fruit powder which was also jet black.Wiping off the fruit powder resulted inexposing a jet black shiny skin. The peel

Figure 3.Young black persimmontrees from Xingyang, Henanprovince, China, and the fruits(6th year).

Figure 2.A black persimmon tree fromShe county, Hebei province,China, and the fruits.

Fruits, vol. 67 (5)

The black persimmon in China

was rough, but with no mesh lines or cracks.The black persimmon fruit was without (orwith extremely seldom) a shallow longitu-dinal groove [7, 9]. There was some con-striction, which was in a cushion shapeunder the pedicel. The cross-section of thefruit was slightly squared-off round in shapewith orange flesh. The flesh of hard persim-mons is brittle and peel is difficult to removewhen it turns soft. Soft persimmon pulp issticky, has less juice and is very sweet intaste; soluble solids content could reach upto 22–26%. Pith parts were small; the corewas solid when ripping and there were eightventricles with no seeds [9]. Fruit can becompletely softened for consumption, butthe softening process is slow. The thick skinis slightly wrinkled after softening, with thefruit having excellent storage and transpor-tation qualities. The eating quality of blackpersimmon fruit was superior to that of nor-mal persimmon. Upon ripening the blackpersimmon fruit lose their astringency nat-urally on the tree and the fruit are edibleafter picking. Fruit can be harvested fromthe time that the fruit surface is becomingblack until it is turning soft [10].

The black persimmons grown in our trialwere large (about 195.3 g per fruit depend-ing on cultivar) [5, 6]. In hilly regions withsuitable irrigation and good management,fruit size will be bigger. The fruit has distinctcharacteristics which make this variety

unique: it has orange flesh, fine texture,more juice than other types and the fiber isthin and lower in quantity. The fruit has afresh and strong flavor with a natural andagreeable mouth sense and can be soldfresh or processed. At present there is onlya small production with superior character-istics so black persimmons have a high priceat about 5 Yuan (RMB)·kg–1 (US$ 0.78) inthe market. Generally, the annual value ofproduction from well-managed 3- to 4-year-old trees can reach US$ 11700 per ha and5- to 7-year-old trees can range fromUS$ 29250 to US$ 38610 per ha. This is agreater return than that provided by otherpersimmon cultivars [8, 9].

2.4. Bearing habit and production

In the second year after replanting, twentypercent of grafted plants began fruiting, witha yield of about 500 kg·ha–1; the third yearafter planting all of the trees producedharvestable fruit. The average yield ofblack persimmon was 15,487 kg·ha–1. At 5–6 years after planting, the trees were in ahigh yield period with production of up to(37,296 to 54,612) kg·ha–1. At the prevailingmarket price for average quality fruit of3 Yuan per kg (RMB), the output value willreach up to 7,500~10,922 Yuan·ha–1. Blackpersimmon was not only high yielding butsmaller in tree height with numerous strong,

Table II.Phenophases of black persimmon and Xingyang-Shui persimmon grown in a Xingyangto 2009 (China).

Persimmon cultivar Germinationstage

Leaf-expansion

stage

Floweringstage

Maturestage

Abscissionstage

Black persimmonfrom Zuoquanin Shanxi province

Late March Early andmiddle April

Middleof May

Middle andlate

October

Late Octoberto early

November

Black persimmonfrom She countyin Hebei province

MiddleMarch

Late March Middleof May

Middle andlate

October

EarlyNovember

Xingyang-Shuipersimmon

Late March Early andmiddle April

Late May Middle andlate

October

EarlyNovember

Fruits, vol. 67 (5

trial orchard from 2003

Fruitdevelopment

stage(d)

Vegetativegrowth stage

(d)

138 225

151 231

153 216

) 373

374

G. Wu et al.

vigorous branches and thus well suited tohigh density planting (table III) [5, 7].

3. The key cultivationtechniques of black persimmon

3.1. The proper plant environment

Our experience suggests that to successfullygrow black persimmon the annual averagetemperature should be above 10 °C, theminimum temperature no lower than –25 °C, and the frost-free period must bemore than 170 days; in districts without irri-gation conditions, annual precipitationneeds to be above 400 mm [3]. The soilshould be neutral, slightly alkaline or mildlyacid, with salinity below 0.3%; it should bedeep and rich, with better than averagewater-holding capacity. Consequently, mostof north China and some of the northwestregions of China would seem suitable forplanting black persimmon [4].

3.2. Planting and pruning

The black persimmon cultivar used in ourtrial has the ability to produce partheno-carpy [11]. There was thus no need toinclude pollination cultivars in the planting.Planting density depends on the soil condi-tions, moisture availability and managementtechniques. Regions should adopt a lower

planting density where the available man-agement technology is lowest; except in richsoil and high precipitation, the advisableplanting distances under these conditionswould be 4 m × 5–6 m.

Generally, the trees’ natural shape was anopen-center shape or a layered shape afterstem thinning at a stem height of 0.8 m.Summer pruning was the principal thinningin tree training, and then winter pruning wasa supplementary process. As many branchesas possible should be left during the thin-ning, using relaxed pruning on the condi-tion that the tree is not disorderly. In the fullbearing period and later, it is most importantto adjust the relationship between fruit-setand growth by appropriate thinning [11, 12].

3.3. Soil management

As it was believed that the deep soil couldprovide adequate response to improved fer-tility a base fertilizer was applied in our trial.This fertilizer was mainly organic fertilizer(5 kg per tree) [9]. Application was a smallamount applied many times. Inorganic pot-ash fertilizer was also applied (0.1 kg pertree) [9]. Persimmon trees have a deep rootsystem and, as a result, can withstanddrought to a certain extent. However, thetrees are not physiologically drought-resist-ant. They are very sensitive to water short-age, so the areas without ability to applysupplementary water should adopt waterconservation measures [13].

k persimmon grown in a Xingyang trial orchard from 2003 to 2009 (China).

Diameter at ground(cm)

Height(m)

Crown width(m × m)

Yield per tree(kg)

Yield(kg·hm–2)

2.0 1.6 0.96 × 0.85 0.31 a 500

2.1 1.5 0.95 × 0.81 0.30 a 500

4.8 3.3 1.90 × 1.79 10.3 b 16650

4.3 2. 9 1.32 × 1.29 15.5 b 17786

8.9 4.2 2.53 × 2.32 22.4 c 37296

8.7 3.9 2.22 × 2.19 32.8 d 44612

d by different letters are significantly different by Duncan’s multiple range test, α ≤ 0.05.

Table III.Growth and yield of blac

Investigation time

Persimmon (2nd year)

Black Persimmon (2nd year)

Persimmon (4th year)

Black Persimmon (4th year)

Persimmon (6th year)

Black Persimmon (6th year)

Means within columns followe

Fruits, vol. 67 (5)

The black persimmon in China

3.4. Overwintering and protectionof young trees

In the northern region, owing to high windsand low temperatures in spring, persimmonsaplings often sprout too soon, resulting indead trees or broken branches. To preventthis happening, the young trees should nothave nitrogen fertilizer applied and irriga-tion should be controlled after the middleof August. A leaf surface spray of 0.3%potassium phosphate enhances branchmaturity [7, 9, 10].

3.5. Pest control

Black persimmon is subject to damage bythe pest Phenacoccus pergandei Cockrell,which is an important reason for late fruitdrop. Therefore, farmers should focus onthe prevention and control of that pest. Inaddition, they should also apply timely con-trol for leaf spot of persimmon (Kakivoriaflavofasciata Nagano) and Hypocala sub-satura Guenee, etc. The fungicide Bor-deaux mixture (1:2–3:500) or a solution ofthiophanate-methyl at 1:800 dilution shouldbe sprayed once in June. During the riskperiod of Kakivoria flavofasciata Nagano, a1000-times diluted application of 50% orig-inal strength of O,O-dimethyl-O-2,2-dichlo-rovinyl phosphate (DDVP) can be sprayed.DDVP or methamidophos (1:2000 dilution)can be applied to prevent Phenacoccus per-gandei Cockrell. and Hypocala subsaturaGuenee [9, 10, 13].

Acknowledgements

We thank the National Persimmon Germ-plasm Nursery in Yangling, Shanxi prov-ince, China, for providing support for thisresearch. Dr. Zhengrong Luo and Dr. Qing-lin Zhang (Agric. Univ. Huangzhong) arealso acknowledged for the extensive helpthey provided. We thank Prof. David LMcNeil (Univ. Tasmania, Australia) for hiskind guidance for this paper. This workwas supported by the Key Project of Sci-ence and Technology of Henan, China(No. 092101110600).

References

[1] Wang Peng, Han Wei, Wang Wen-Liang, Thenutrition and health function and developingprospects of black food in China, Mod.Agric. Sci. Technol. 17 (2010) 359–362.

[2] Ding Xiangyang, The study of black persim-mon introduction and its cultural techniques,H. Henan For. Sci. Technol. 25 (4) (2005) 6–7(in Chinese).

[3] Fu Gengfu, Fruit germplasm resources andregionalization in Shanxi province, For. Press,Beijing, China, 1995 (in Chinese).

[4] Wang Zhongying, The records of Shanxifruits, Econ. Press, Beijing, China, 1995 (inChinese).

[5] Yang Yong, Li Gaochao, Wang Renzi, Blackpersimmon, Northwest Hortic. 1 (1999) 34 (inChinese).

[6] Su Caihong, Guo Chuangye, The study of thefruit characters and the analyses of the nutri-tional components related to quality of non-astringent persimmons, Spec. Wild Econ.Anim. Plant Res. 3 (2001) 35–38 (in Chinese).

[7] Zhang Yaozhan, Chu Aixiang, ChenXiangyang, Li Yanmei, Ji Yanwei, Rare andprecious fruit – black persimmon introduc-tion and cultural techniques, Fruit Grow.Friendsh. 4 (2005) 19 (in Chinese).

[8] Wang Xiaochun, Black persimmon intro-duced in Tianshui of Gansu province, Non-Wood For. Res. 26 (1) (2008) 74–77 (inChinese).

[9] Zhu Yuanqing, Black persimmon introduc-tion and cultural technique, Shandong For.Sci. Technol. 4 (2006) 69–70 (in Chinese).

[10] Dai Guilin, Song Xiaodong, Nie Guowei,Yang Xiaohua, Seedless black persimmoncharacteristics and cultural techniques,Shanxi Fruits 1 (2005) 40–41 (in Chinese).

[11] Sugiyama N., Yamaki Y.T., Effects of CPPUon fruit set and fruit growth in Japanese per-simmon, Scientia Hortic. 60 (3) (1995) 337–343.

[12] George A.P., Collins R.J., Nissen R.J.,Growth, yield, and fuit quality of two non-astringent persimmon (Diospyros kaki) culti-vars, Izu and Fuyu, in subtropical Australia,Aust. J. Exp. Agric. 34 (2) (1994) 267–275.

[13] Li Xiaomeng, Ding Xiangyang, Effects ofPP333 on black persimmon growth, For. Sci.Technol. Dev. 22 (5) (2008) 101–102 (inChinese).

Fruits, vol. 67 (5

) 375

376

G. Wu et al.

El kaki negro en China.

Resumen – El kaki negro en la literatura. El kaki (Diospyros kaki L.) es un frutal de espe-cie caducifolia originario de China. Un tipo de D. kaki está constituido por un grupo de culti-vares semejantes, cuyo fruto es negro; se trata de un recurso preciado del material genéticode China. El kaki negro está repartido principalmente al sur de los montes Taihang, al nortede China. El fruto del kaki negro es astringente, pero esta astringencia puede eliminarse fácil-mente a través de la madurez normal del fruto. La piel del fruto es de color negro y la pulpaposee un gran valor nutricional en vitamina C y en caroteno. Información proporcionadapor un vergel de kakis negros. Se llevó a cabo un experimento en el kaki negro de 2003 a2009 en Zhengzhou, provincia del Henan, en China. Se estudiaron el crecimiento, las carac-terísticas fenológicas y los rendimientos de los ábroles. El fruto tiene una piel espesa que faci-lita el almacenamiento y el transporte; su calidad y su sabor son excelentes, lo que lo haceser muy apreciado por los productores, comerciantes y consumidores. Técnicas de cultivoclaves. Atañen las prácticas que permiten obtener una producción de gran calidad, como elbuen entorno vegetal, la plantación de los árboles y la poda, la gestión de los suelos, el inver-nadero y la protección de los árboles jóvenes, y la lucha contra las plagas.

China / Diospyros kaki / variedades indígenas / frutas / recursos genéticos /fenología / cultivo

Fruits, vol. 67 (5)