Serving

o    The USDA defines one serving of persimmon fruit as one raw Japanese persimmon fruit or 168 g in weight.

Calories

o    Persimmons are a good source of energy. One serving has 118 calories, with most of the calories coming from carbohydrates.

Fat

o    Those who are looking to stick to a low-fat diet can add persimmon fruit to their diet. One serving of persimmon fruit has zero g of fat.

Vitamins and Minerals

o    One serving of persimmon fruit offers 55 percent of your daily recommended amount of vitamin A and 21 percent of your daily amount of vitamin C. It also has eight percent of your daily amount of potassium.

Dietary Fiber

o    The persimmon fruit is also a great source of dietary fiber. One serving has six g of dietary fiber. This is 24 percent of your daily recommended amount.

Health benefits of persimmon fruit

• The fruit is low in calories (provides 70 cal/100g) and fats but is rich source of dietary fiber.
• Persimmons contain many health benefiting phyto-nutrients flavonoid poly-phenolic anti-oxidants like catechinsand gallocatechinsas well as important anti-tumor compound betulinic acid. Catechins are known to have anti-infective, anti-inflammatory and anti-hemorrhagic (prevents bleeding from small blood vessels) properties.
• Fresh permissions contain anti-oxidant compounds like vitamin-A, beta carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin and cryptoxanthin. These compounds functions as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease processes.
• zeaxanthin, an important dietary carotenoid, selectively absorbed into the retinal macula lutea in the eyes where it is thought to provide antioxidant and protective light-filtering functions; thus, helps prevent “Age related macular disease”(ARMD) in the elderly.
• The fruits are also very good source of vitamin-C, another powerful antioxidant (especially native Chinese and American persimmons; provide 80% of DRI). Regular consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.
• The fruit is good in many valuable B-complex vitamins such as folic acid, pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), thiamin…etc. These vitamins acts as co-factors for numerous metabolic enzymatic functions in the body.
• Fresh Persimmon fruits also contain healthy amounts of minerals like potassium, manganese (15% of DRI), copper (12% of DRI) and phosphorus. Manganese is a co-factor for the enzyme superoxide dismutase, which is a very powerful free radical scavenger. Copper is a co-factor for many vital enzymes, including cytochrome c-oxidase and superoxide dismutase (other minerals function as cofactors for this enzyme are manganese and zinc). Copper is also required for the production of red blood cells.