[NAFEX] questions about [American] persimmons
Jwlehman at aol.com
Jwlehman at aol.com
Wed Oct 15 11:36:08 EDT 2008
In a message dated 10/14/2008 6:01:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
lonrom at hevanet.com writes:
> The condition is called a bezoar. It's real. It's a concretion of skins
> and seeds, though you have to eat a LOT of them. I've heard it's most common
> among hunters who eat wild persimmons while they are in the woods and
> include a lot of partially ripe ones.
I'd like to add two more points.
1. A contributing factor of the danger without doors man eating them is the
lack of stomach liquid (water) at the time of eating, aiding the astringency to
bind the mass thus helping form a bezoar. In Lee Reich's book, "Uncommon
Fruits Worthy of Attention," he writes of the chemical compound leucodelphinidin
in astringent persimmons. This compound tends to bond proteins and well as
absorb moisture, therefore the harsh choking experience when biting into a very
astringent persimmon. This same bonding and absorbing of moisture is a factor to
forming bezoars. If one is eating a quaintly of whole persimmons don't eat
the seeds, avoid eating the skin especially from the calyx area which usually
carries a higher degree of astringency and if possible drink plenty of water.
Best just to eat juicy very ripe persimmons.
2. Defending our friend Dr. Parmar, who states, "No, not true at all. I eat
a lot of persimmons every season. I do not peel the fruits nor I have seen
these being peeled by anyone even in Japan." I believe the danger is much less
if eating D. kaki, especially the non-astringent varieties which is the
primary persimmon species in India. Chiranjit, please correct me if I'm wrong.
Jerry
PS. I know of no actual cases of persimmon bezoars, first hand. I don't
consider it a grave danger, but if one forms there is only one cure, surgery.
**************
New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your destination.
Dining, Movies, Events, News & more. Try it out
(http://local.mapquest.com/?ncid=emlcntnew00000002)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/private/nafex/attachments/20081015/9e91f55b/attachment.html
More information about the nafex
mailing list