Abstract
Persimmon is one of the most popular and favorite fruits not only in Georgia, but also in other countries. People love it for its unique specific taste and high nutritional value. There are more than 500 types of persimmon, properties and tastes which depend on the persimmon growing conditions.
 The purpose of this project was to study the persimmon fruit chemical composition, the regularity in the quantity changes of the bioactive substances and technical-economical persimmon parameters during its storage and technological processing; to develop a highly profitable and efficient composite production technology for a new assortment of products and high quality beverages. Organoleptic and chemical tests of 12 persimmon fruit varieties were made. The content and composition of sugars, polyphenols, pectin, and tanning substances, were defined; and the relation of these parameters to the fruit maturity degree, the dynamics of their change in the ripening and storage process were determined. In addition, we determined the content of sugars ( inverted, total, saccharose), tanning substances (free, total), polyphenols and nitrogen through a spectrophotometric method, dry solids through a refractometric method, pectin (total, soluble, protopectin) and acidity through a potentiometric method, and cellulose through a chlorite method. The feasibility of the persimmon fruit industrial processing was established. Persimmon fruit of Khachia and Khiakume varieties were proved to be the best raw material for the industrial production of a fruit alcohol and beverages. It should be noted here that persimmon fruit must be harvested in November when they have a dark orange colouring and their dry solids content reaches 18%, inverted sugars make up 16-16.5%, and the acidity is 0.12%. For concentrate production, persimmon must be harvested in October when the fruit are yellow and their tanning and colouring substances reach 1.24%, and pectin substances make up 0.77%. The fruit sugars are glucose and fructose, generally in equal quantities. Tanning substances, leicoantocianes, in particular, are responsible for the tart taste; the lower their content is, the less the tart taste is felt, moreover, ripe fruit are less tart in flavour which is due to the tanning substances getting bound with high molecular substances. All the 12 persimmon varieties cultivated in Georgia can be used as raw material, including substandard and overripe fruit that are not marketable and do not have a long shelf life.
Highlights
The economic progress of countries is not possible without the development of efficient and wastefree technologies and the search for a new raw material potential as natural resources run low with each passing year and cannot be restored
In the first place, chemical and organoleptic analyses of persimmon fruit at their technical maturity condition were conducted for sugar content, dry solids, pectin, tanning substances, acidity, and the dynamics in the change of these parameters during the fruit ripening and storage
During the persimmon fruit ripening on a tree their mass grows and extractive substances pile up; we studied the accumulation dynamics of extractive substances taking fruit of two varieties: tart Khachia fruit and mildly tart Khiakume fruit (Figures 5 -8)
Summary
The economic progress of countries is not possible without the development of efficient and wastefree technologies and the search for a new raw material potential as natural resources run low with each passing year and cannot be restored. One of the new good-potential raw materials is persimmon. Subtropical persimmon is among the most popular crops. It is cultivated in every Georgian region due to its easy adaptability to many different soil-climatic conditions and good disease-resistance (Tal Kanety et al, 2014; Park et al, 2006). Its high yield capacity makes this crop very profitable: its fruit grow and get ripe till the end of vegetation so the harvest time comes late in the season.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.