Flavonoid rich Persimmons and Chuseok holiday - Korean Thanksgiving.
Mulled Cider like spicy persimmon beverage recipe - Sujeonggwa; and ingredient substitutions.
Persimmons and Chuseok Holiday – like Thanksgiving, but Korean.
The persimmon tree, hardy and beautiful, speaks to me of crisp harvest smells and sounds. Skies will clear and the air will be sweet again. Time and seasons roll on and the tree of life will persist.
Persimmons are not ripe until October, until then the sweet looking fruit will cause your mouth to pucker. We don’t see persimmons on the fresh fruit market because they have that annoying fruit tendency of being unripe, until it reaches perfection . . . for only a few days, and then it is too ripe. Don’t miss the narrow window of perfection, or dry them for use as a dried fruit. (Butt, et al., 2015)
Persimmons look a bit like shiny smooth peaches, but the interior has small seeds and a star like pattern and the texture is softer than a peach. Persimmon species are tangy, and the flavor varies from honey-like and mild - Fuyu persimmons, to pumpkin-like in flavor - Hachiya persimmons, or caramel-tangerine flavored - American persimmons (Diospyros Virginiana).
Do pumpkins grow on trees?
No, but persimmons do, and illustrations of the fruit on the tree may resemble little pumpkins on a tree. The bright orange color points to persimmon’s rich concentration of vitamin A and carotenoids like lycopene, beta-cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin.
Persimmons are super sources of vitamin A, lycopene, lutein, beta-cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin – antioxidants that protect against free radical damage. Stop toxins before damage occurs by loading up on antioxidants. Cancer is caused by many small mutations, little breaks that a healthy body repairs daily. Protect from within by arming the body with super foods.
Bright orange and red fruits and vegetables are loaded with antioxidants that are particularly good for eye health and prevention of retinopathy as well as fighting cancer. Watermelon, pink grapefruit, carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, tomatoes, red peppers, apricots, peaches, and nectarines are some of the more common sources of lycopene — and now we know persimmon are too! Corn is also a good source of lutein and zeaxanthin. Green leafy vegetables and green peas are excellent sources as well.
Vegetarians in Paradise/Persimmon History, Persimmon Nutrition, Persimmon Recipe, (vegparadise.com).
Chuseok holiday (추석) is traditional in Korea and dried persimmon fruit are part of the festive season of honoring and giving thanks to our ancestors … and feasting. It is like Thanksgiving Holiday without our Pilgrims or turkey. The holiday lasts three days and people traditionally return to their hometown to celebrate. It is also called Hangawi (한가위). Chuseok was September 16 – 18 this year.
The date of Chuseok varies from year to year and will be on October sixth in 2025 and the day before and day after (Oct 5-7). (90daykorean.com)
See: 10 recipes for a traditional Chuseok Thanksgiving holiday, by Irene Yoo, creator of Yooeating, a Korean American food channel. Sep 28, 2023, (thkitchn.com).
Persimmon are used in a spicy mulled cider-like punch called Sujeonggwa. It is served hot or cold for Chuseok celebrations. Ginger and cinnamon are steeped with dried persimmons and sugar. The simmered fruit might be served too, with a garnish of pine nuts.
How to make Sujeonggwa:
In eight cups of water, gently simmer ginger root (half cup peeled and thinly sliced) with 8 cinnamon sticks for one hour, then strain out the ginger and cinnamon.
Add 4 dried persimmons and one cup sugar to the hot ginger spiced liquid, and simmer ten minutes longer to soften the fruit and flavor the fruit punch.
Strain again and serve the beverage hot or chill it to serve later.
The softened fruit might also be served with the Sujeonggwa along with a garnish of pine nuts. (thkitchn.com)
Potential ingredient substitutions for Sujeonggwa or mulled cider.
There are many choices around the world for tangy beverages – dried citrus peel, Sumac powder, and fresh cut cedar, or Tamarind paste are all sources of winter time vitamin C.
Sujeonggwa (or Mulled Cider) could also be made with powdered ginger to taste (~ 1 tablespoon) and cinnamon powder or Pumpkin Pie Spice blend to taste (~ 1 teaspoon), and adding some dried plums - prunes, or Tamarind paste might be a fruity swap if you can’t find dried persimmons.
Pumpkin puree is a base ingredient in Harry Potter world Pumpkin Juice, served cold, so it might work in a hot mulled cider like beverage too. Pumpkin puree is starchy, so a beverage with it would be thicker in texture and might be good hot. A little emulsifier and creaminess would make it a spicy hot cocoa like drink. It is worth cooking fresh pumpkin.
Canned pumpkin does not taste the same. Sweet potato blended would be similar. Either can be used as a tomato sauce substitute, or for a low carotenoid sauce, red lentils might thicken a tomato free chili or make a tomato like pasta sauce. Add, at the end of cooking, a little apple cider vinegar to give it a tomato-y tang, or lemon juice or Sumac powder.
Pumpkin Juice: Apple cider or juice, pumpkin puree, Pumpkin Pie Spice, Vanilla, sugar. Using orange juice instead of an apple base gives it a mulled cider “Wassail” taste. https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/our-version-of-harry-potters-pumpkin-juice/
Mulled cider tends to have dried citrus peel for the winter-time fruity tang and it adds flu and cold season protection from phytonutrients. Pomegranate rind would add some tang and health benefits to a mulled cider type of beverage but it doesn’t add much fruit favor. Dried mango peel also has anti-inflammatory benefits and adds a nice mango flavor when steeped in tea. Papaya peel also has health benefits and is used dried and powdered in regions that grow papaya.
Tamarind paste is sold in Indian groceries or Tamarind pods might be in a Mexican grocery – the beverage is known as Agua Fresca. (masterclass.com/Tamarind Paste) Approximately 1 tablespoon ginger powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons Tamarind paste heated with 8 cups of water and a cup of sugar might be tasty.
Tamarind paste is used in India and other nations to make a lemony sweetened cold beverage.
Indigenous Americans make a citrusy, vitamin C rich, beverage with edible sumac or with fresh cut cedar branches. Sumac powder is citrusy flavored and magenta in color. It is available powdered as a single spice or in Za’atar spice mix found at Middle Eastern grocery markets. Cedar branches are not sold for tea – but cedar are an evergreen tree that can be found in many areas. Make sure you’re not trespassing on private property though.
Medicinal hot beverages are found around the world because the tangy phytonutrients are helping our health – tangy and vitamin C tend to go together and bitter accents in our food add even more health benefits for us.
Hot foods in cold weather, and cold foods in hot weather…makes digestive good sense.
Hot beverages are good for us in colder weather because our digestive system needs to be warm enough to work well. Cold salads and beverages in the winter can upset our digestion by cooling us down too much. Eating seasonally can help our health – warm root vegetable rich soups are good in the winter and save the salads and cold drinks for the hot days of summer, or hot climates.
Related tea graphic:
Persimmon have many potent flavonoids - in the leaves and the fruit.
Persimmon leaves are used traditionally for an herbal tea beverage in Asian areas.
“Traditionally, persimmon leaves (PL) are used as a functional tea in Asian culture to cure different ailments, and are also incorporated into various food and cosmeceutical products as a functional ingredient. PL mainly contain flavonoids, terpenoids, and polysaccharides, along with other constituents such as carotenoids, organic acids, chlorophylls, vitamin C, and minerals. The major phenolic compounds in PL are proanthocyanidins, quercetin, isoquercetin, catechin, flavonol glucosides, and kaempferol. Meanwhile, ursolic acid, rotungenic acid, barbinervic acid, and uvaol are the principal terpenoids. These compounds demonstrate a wide range of pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, anticancer, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, anti-obesity, anti-tyrosinase, antiallergic, and antiglaucoma properties.” (Hossain and Shahide, 2023)
Flavonoids in persimmon include the medicinal catechins found in tea leaves, pomegranate peel, sumac powder or goji berries (also called Wolf berries). Catechins are flavon-3-ols which are recommended to have 400-600 mg of per day. Two or three cups of green tea might provide 200 mg.
Quercetin: A common flavonol found in persimmon leaves and fruits, quercetin has been linked to anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-cancer activities.
Kaempferol: Another flavonol present in persimmon, kaempferol has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-diabetic properties.
Myricetin: A flavonol glycoside, myricetin has been identified in persimmon leaves and fruits, and has been reported to possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer activities.
Isoquercetin: A flavonoid glucoside, isoquercetin has been found in persimmon leaves and fruits, and has been linked to anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
Catechin: A flavan-3-ol, catechin is a major component of persimmon leaves and fruits, and has been reported to exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer activities.
Epicatechin: A flavan-3-ol, epicatechin has been identified in persimmon leaves and fruits, and has been linked to antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Proanthocyanidins: A type of flavonoid oligomer, proanthocyanidins are responsible for the astringent taste and antioxidant properties of persimmon fruits. (Brave AI summary; Butt, et al., 2015; Hossain and Shahide, 2023)
Disclaimer: This information is being shared for educational purposes within the guidelines of Fair Use and is not intended to provide individual health care guidance.
Reference List
(Butt, et al., 2015) Butt MS, Sultan MT, Aziz M, Naz A, Ahmed W, Kumar N, Imran M. Persimmon (Diospyros kaki) fruit: hidden phytochemicals and health claims. EXCLI J. 2015 May 4;14:542-61. doi: 10.17179/excli2015-159. PMID: 27047315; PMCID: PMC4817420. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4817420/
(Hossain and Shahide, 2023) Hossain A, Shahidi F. Persimmon Leaves: Nutritional, Pharmaceutical, and Industrial Potential-A Review. Plants (Basel). 2023 Feb 18;12(4):937. doi: 10.3390/plants12040937. PMID: 36840285; PMCID: PMC9965245. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9965245/
Very timely! I have a tree full of persimmons. Thanks for this nutritional breakdown.
What is your opinion of Vitamin A toxicity? Have you covered this previously?