- Author: Tammy Majcherek
The persimmon collection at the Center contains various cultivars that are not widely available and are sought after by avid fans of this fruit.
Persimmon cultivars are classified in relation to fruit astringency at harvest: Pollination Constant Non Astringent (PCNA), Pollination Variant Non Astringent (PVNA), Pollination Variant Astringent (PVA) and Pollination Constant Astringent (PCA). The varieties that were evaluated during the tasting included California Fuyu (PCNA), Gosho (PCNA), OC Fuyu (PCNA), Imoto (PCNA), Matsumoto Wase (PCNA), True Fuyu (PCNA), Trible (PVNA), Jiro (PCNA), Kurakuma (PCNA), and Fuyu F8(PCNA).
Participants, young and old alike, expressed their excitement for the opportunity to sample the various varieties not commonly available in the marketplace in addition to (7) early Cherimoya varieties: Fino de Jete, Bays, Sabor, Lisa, Thomson, Orton and Knight.
Listed below are the tasting results for those who are curious to see where their favorite ranked this year:
Many thanks to the staff; UCCE Master Food Preservers and Master Gardener volunteers who helped with the slicing, setup, facilitating, and clean up. Very special acknowledgment to the team of volunteers led by Isabel Barkman assist with our orchards year-round and for their hard work harvesting, labeling, and preparing the persimmons and cherimoyas for this event.