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Persimmon

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Persimmon
Category
Subcategory
Origin
VolatilityTop Note
BotanicalDiospyros kaki
AppearanceN/A (no isolate)
Odor StrengthMedium
Producing CountriesChina (largest producer), Japan, Korea — for the fruit; perfumery accords assembled globally
PyramidTop

Persimmon is the fruit of Diospyros kaki, the Asian persimmon tree, cultivated for over two millennia in China, Japan and Korea. The astringent tannins of the unripe fruit yield to a honey-apricot-quince sweetness when fully ripe (hachiya) or remain crisp and pear-like in the non-astringent fuyu cultivar. The fruit yields no commercial absolute or essential oil — persimmon notes in perfumery are reconstructions.

  1. Scent
  2. The Full Story
  3. Fun Fact
  4. Extraction & Chemistry
  5. In Perfumery

Scent

Honey-apricot-quince at the heart, with a faint cooked-fruit sweetness and a soft tannic edge in the dry-down. Reconstructions typically combine γ-decalactone (peach lactone), β-damascenone (cooked apple), ionones (violet-fruit bridge) and trace ethyl caproate. Less sharp than apricot, less candied than mango.

The Full Story

Did You Know?

Did you know?
The astringent persimmon (hachiya cultivar) cannot be eaten until it is so soft it nearly liquefies — at which point the soluble tannins polymerize and lose their puckering effect. In traditional Japanese practice, the unripe fruit is hung outdoors to freeze and ripen over weeks, producing hoshigaki: a dried persimmon coated in its own crystallized fructose, considered a delicacy worthy of imperial offering.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method: No commercial essential oil or absolute. Persimmon accords in perfumery are synthetic reconstructions built from lactones (γ-decalactone, γ-undecalactone), ionones, β-damascenone and esters. The actual fruit is enjoyed culinarily; the perfumery note is a compositional fiction.

Botanical NameDiospyros kaki
SynonymsKAKI · SHARON FRUIT · JAPANESE PERSIMMON · 柿
Physical Properties
Odor StrengthMedium
Lasting Power2-6 hours (top-note range)
AppearanceN/A (no isolate)

In Perfumery

Top-note fruity material in modern compositions. Reads as warm-orange-amber adjacent — pairs naturally with osmanthus, peach, fig, and white tea. Used to add an autumnal, slightly amber fruity facet without the obvious tropical or red-berry register.

From the raw to the worn

This is what it becomes.