Effects of Deastringency with Carbon Dioxide and Alcohol on Fruit Quality and Chloroplast Pigment Content of Persimmon cv. ‘Zaohong’

Fruits of persimmon cv. Zaohong were treated with carbon dioxide and alcohol in different concentration for deastringency. The results showed that, at room temperature, the treatment of carbon dioxide and alcohol reduced soluble tannin content significantly. Especially in treatment with 30% and 40% alcohol and 80% carbon dioxide, the content of soluble tannin was reduced to lower than a threshold value within 96 hours. The efficiency of reduction was better in alcohol treatment than in carbon dioxide treatment. The content of soluble sugar in treated fruits revealed decreasing in early phase of treatment for 48h then turn to increasing and the trends were different in between two treatments. The content of titratable acid and chloroplast pigment in treated fruits were decreased but the carotenoid content was increased gradually. The vitamin C content increased slightly at early phase of treatment, then downwards to decrease. Overall results, it was indicated that deastringency effect for persimmon fruits presented better with carbon dioxide treatment than with alcoholic. The higher the concentration, the better fruit quality.