LEADING PERSIMMON CULTIVARS FOR COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION AND BREEDING TARGETS IN JAPAN

Abstract

‘Fuyu’, ‘Hiratanenashi’, and ‘Jiro’ and their strains occupy two-thirds of Japan’s persimmon acreage. ‘Fuyu’: pollination constant non-astringent (PCNA) type, late ripening, large fruit, moderately firm flesh, juicy, prone to cracking at the calyx end, long keeping quality. ‘Hiratanenashi’: astringent type used mainly as fresh fruit, mid-ripening, medium sized fruit, soft flesh, juicy, easy to remove astringency artificially, long keeping quality. ‘Jiro’: PCNA type, late ripening, large fruit, moderately firm flesh, prone to cracking at the fruit apex. Other leading cultivars are ‘Izu’: PCNA type, early ripening, medium sized fruit, moderately soft flesh, juicy, prone to cracking at the calyx end, short keeping quality, less productive. ‘Saijo’ and its strains: astringent type used mainly as fresh fruit, small fruit, high sugar content, juicy, short keeping quality. ‘Nishimurawase’: pollination variant non-astringent (PVNA) type, early ripening, medium sized fruit, coarse and firm flesh texture, long keeping quality, poor eating quality. ‘Atago’: astringent type used as fresh fruit, high productivity, late ripening following ‘Fuyu’, large fruit, not high eating quality, long keeping quality. ‘Aidzumishiradzu’: late ripening, used as fresh fruit, high productivity, large fruit, long keeping quality. ‘Fudegaki’: PVNA type, early ripening, small fruit, coarse and firm flesh texture, juicy. Persimmon acreage, including that planted with ‘Fuyu’, has been decreasing in the last two decades. However, that of the ‘Tonewase’, which is an early ripening bud-mutant of ‘Hiratanenashi’, has increased greatly. The persimmon breeding program in the National Institute of Fruit Tree Science has been focused on PCNA types, early ripening, large fruit size, less cracking, high eating quality (soft and non-mealy flesh, juicy, and high sugar content), long keeping quality, and high productivity.