Many people call it the Japanese apple but it is better known as Japanese Persimmon. The French call it ‘Kaki’ and the North African’s names it ‘Tomatech França’ which translate to ‘the tomato from France’. How do I know this? My parents have got a tree in their garden.
When my parents host friends, and put this fruit on the table, the hosts all have stories. They love speaking about the fruit itself and tell us how they call it. So I gave you three names that I remember from the top of my head. If you have another name for it, just leave it as a comment below.
What is a Japanese apple fruit?
This particular fruit comes in two distinct colors, orange and yellowish. But there are a number of trees that produce them in dark red colors and as big as the largest apple you have ever seen.
It is sweet in taste and you can find them in autumn-winter. They are very nice to eat and have a lovely fresh taste.
Usually, you leave the fruits on the tree branches till late in autumn. At that time, tree leaves have long fallen on the soil (see picture above, there are no leaves on the branches, but the fruits are still there).
They keep till they get a little soft. At that time, you have about two weeks to eat them all. I can tell you that the tree produces a lot of them. So you better have lots of friends.
What are the benefits of the Japanese apples?
Japanese apple has a lot of benefits to our body. Below I give you 6 of them.
1- Cancer Prevention
This fruit is full of vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin K. It has a high content of antioxidants. Together, all of these helps to fight against many types of cancer. But it is the lycopene that really does the job. The World Cancer Research International recommends eating lycopene to reduce the risk of cancer.
The vitamins and antioxidants contained in this fruit help to dramatically improve your immune system. It also provides plenty of natural chemicals to fight against diseases such as cold etc.
One of the most interesting things about this fruit is that it can help you relieve stress. Lower stress means a lower potential for cancer too. It is the antioxidants that do this, as it protects from oxidative stress.
Eating this fruit does definitely strengthen your blood vessels.
2- Greatly support food digestion
The level of fibers in Japanese apple is so high that if you have issues with your digestive system, then this fruit has a high chance to contribute to solving it.
What Japanese apple does is stimulate your intestines with their fibers. This helps to digest food better. At the same time, it lowers the possibility of constipation. In turn, this provides a means to your body to release its toxins.
3- The eye vitamin fruit that improves eyesight
The antioxidants available in the fruit, for instance, zeaxanthin, play an important part in helping reduce the effect of cataracts and eye muscle degeneration.
It is not for nothing that Japanese persimmon fruit high antioxidant content is often called the “eye vitamins”.
4- Great immune system
let me tell you about this incredible number. Each Japanese apple contains about 12.6 mg vitamin C. Eating of these on a daily basis will provide you with just over 20 % of your recommended daily intake of vitamin C.
That is one-fifth of your daily intake requirements. Eat one of these at lunchtime and one in the evening and you are halfway through your daily intake of vitamin C.
Looking at this fruit in a little more scientific way, when you eat them you effectively protect your body from free radicals – Hence lower potential for cancer, stronger immune system and providing your body with substances to fight against many common diseases.
5- Improve the heart
Now you know it. Japanese persimmon is full of good digestive fibers. It is also full of minerals and phenols, both of which are very important to fight against atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis is a very dangerous disease. Plaque of fat builds up inside your arteries (some type of veins if you prefer). Think of it the arteries are the blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood to your heart.
It also carries oxygen to other parts of your body. So if these get blocked, then you could suffer from a heart attack, stroke or other very serious illness.
The Persimmon fruit is a great fighter against these unwelcome fat type plaques in your arteries. That’s probably one of the best feature of this fruit. In essence, it makes your heart muscles even stronger and reduces dramatically any heart-related diseases.
6- Lowering body weight
Persimmons contain a lot of fibers. It is about 6 g in one single Japanese apple. That’s a staggering 24 % of your daily recommended intake. I repeat myself, 24% of your daily requirements in one single fruit.
By eating the persimmons, you will help your body in losing weight. Weird, isn’t it? Well not really. These fruits help speed up your metabolism. They also reduce your appetite, and so by definition use more energy and indirectly you lose weight. Not bad for a small orange type fruit.
Where to buy Japanese apple/persimmons
There are a lot of shops that sell these. Mostly small shops. You seldom find them in larger supermarkets. It is a seasonal fruit only to be found in late autumn and winter. So do not expect small shops to have them in spring.
However, you can find them on the internet too. Here you can click on this link and buy Japanese apple (Japanese persimmons) online.
Conclusion
I have provided you with a little bit of background on this wonderful, healthy Japanese fruit. I told you about its different names and what it can do for you. This fruit is simply very nice to eat, great taste, full of antioxidants and can fight against cancer.
It is really good for your digestive system, for your eyes, to get rid of toxins, for your heart and to lose weight too. So what are you waiting for? Go to your local fruit shop and get some of these apples. If you cannot find them, get them ordered on the web. I gave you a link above.
Back to you
I hope you enjoyed the post. Please do not forget to take action and eat some Japanese persimmon and like the post! Share it with your friends and families and please leave a comment below.
See you soon in another Omigy post.