Summary: Description The Sharon Fruit is also known as Israeli Persimmon, Kaki Fruit, Japanese Persimmon, Velvet Apple, and many more names which you really don’t need to know! Grown mostly in Israel, America and Japan but in other places also, this fruit is light yellow-orange to dark red-orange in colour, varying from 2-8 cm in diameter, can be eaten fresh, cooked, dried or indeed in a smoothie (Result!) Healthy Stuff Sharon fruits are high in vitamin A and give you all the vitamin C you need each day (100% RDA) Buying and Storing Keep them in a cool dry place until they have started to become really soft, some species will dry your mouth out if you eat when firm (this can be done with sharon and kakki fruit variety as they are ripe even when firm, but Jake suggests letting all varieties go softish) as they are an astringent (can also cause body tissues to shrink, doesn’t sound too nice), the inside will appear stringly and moist when they are finally at their ripest and they will survive being ripe for a few days (always good). You can buy these from most big supermarkets or at good fruit markets, unfortunately not yet avaliable in Fairtrade Preparation Jake says: With a Sharon or Kakki fruit you can just bung it all in the smoothiemaker Ian says: With other varieties, (or if you don't like the skin) peel and chop up before blending Fun Facts Dried leaves can be used for tea, and persimmons are also used to make vinegar (Wow!). In america a persimmon pie contest is held annually, much like a pumpkin pie and whoever eats it fastest, bakes the biggest, can eat the most (and so on) wins!
