JA branch hopes for persimmon success

Freeze-dried persimmons will go on sale in December, courtesy of Japan Agriculture (JA) cooperatives, and are to be followed by persimmon wine in March. The project, undertaken by a JA branch in Kahoku, Ishikawa Prefecture, aims to pitch the pungent fruit as something that can grace the dining table in one form or other all year round.

Persimmons, known under the brand name Monbei, are grown on 19 hectares of land owned by 87 farming families in the Takamatsu district of the city. Monbei was a common male name in the district centuries ago. Shipments of the Monbei brand this year are expected to reach 100 tons.

The ongoing project was prompted by farmers who lost money in November 2002, when severe hailstorms wrecked their crop of persimmons. The JA branch says freeze-drying and brewing can turn damaged or even odd-shaped persimmons into viable ingredients. Over the past three years, the branch has tried various methods of slicing and freeze-drying unpeeled persimmons, which have already lost their pungency, into chips.

Now, the branch is poised to pack 300 bags of chips, each weighing 30 grams, for shipping to market next month. Persimmon wine has been in the works for five years. Two kinds of wine--one sweet, the other sour--will be ready for distribution in March. The wine will retain the original color of the fruit's skin. In the meantime, 300 bottles, each containing 720 milliliters of wine, will go on sale.

"Freeze-drying makes little difference to the taste of persimmons. These slices will be edible for about a year," said Haruyuki Kanamoto, assistant sales manager at the branch.

Source: yomiuri.co.jp