Bright Red Variety

Crispy and ready to eat

The “Bright Red” (“Rojo Brillante”) kaki is a local variety that originated naturally by spontaneous mutation in the mid-1950s from another local variety called “Crystalline”, which was also grown in the area of the Upper Banks of the River Júcar (Ribera Alta).

In the late 1990s, we started using natural techniques to eliminate the astringency of this fruit, and this brought about a new way of eating and using this fruit, which is now known commercially as “Persimon®”, a registered trademark from the Designation of Origin providing consumers with ready-to-eat persimmons. This allowed us to expand commercialisation of this crop, offering consumers a new way to enjoy unique kakis with a longer commercial life and an incomparable flavour.

Although classification of the different varieties of kakis in the scientific community is done differently, to simplify we divide persimmons into ASTRINGENT and NON-ASTRINGENT VARIETIES with respect to consumption.

Therefore, it is very important to know what “astringency” is:

Astringency causes a dry sensation in the mouth and a contraction of the tongue, producing an unpleasant feeling of roughness, dryness and bitterness.

This is caused by the presence of tannins in some varieties of persimmons. The interaction of tannins with proteins on the surface of the tongue gives rise to the astringency effect.

Astringent varieties of kakis have a high tannin content, but when overripe they become insoluble and are not readily perceived. But if astringent varieties are eaten when not yet overripe, the tannins present in the fruit cause this unpleasant effect, which only lasts a few minutes.