Persimmon

If You Read Nothing Else

Fully ripe and soft only: unripe persimmon is heavily astringent (tightens tissue and leaves a dry feeling in the mouth) and can, in rare cases, form a phytobezoar in the stomach.

Among the fibre-densest common fruits (~6 g per fruit) and rich in beta-carotene, cryptoxanthin, and lycopene (the red pigment in tomatoes).

Traditionally soothing for a hot, dry throat and cough — the Persian late-autumn cooling fruit.

Best eaten between meals, not with heavy animal-protein courses, to reduce tannin-related digestive discomfort.