Persimmon has tannins in the fruit and the leaves.
Persimmon tannin, also known as kaki tannin in Japan, has the abilities to make our daily lives richer.
If you can understand how to use the abilities of persimmon tannin in your daily lives, your lifestyle will probably change at all.
I’ll explain what abilities persimmon tannin has.
Prevent hangovers
Persimmon tannin has an ability to prevent hangovers.
Generally, hangovers are caused by acetaldehyde in the liver. When people drink some kind of alcohol, this substance is broken down into the acetaldehyde by an enzyme in their liver. And then, in a second step, the acetaldehyde is broken down into acetate. And finally, the acetate is broken down into water and carbon dioxide and these substances are eliminated from their body with breath, sweat and urine. This is the process of alcohol metabolism.
But when the enzyme couldn’t break down the acetaldehyde into the acetate completely, people will have a hangover.
This is where persimmon tannin comes in.
Persimmon tannin can bond with acetaldehyde and get rid of it by excretions.
In addition, persimmons are rich in water, sugars, vitamin C and potassium. These substances in our body are easily lacked by drinking alcohols. So eating persimmons can also give these substances to our body.
From these reasons, persimmon and persimmon tannin can prevent hangovers.
If you wouldn’t like to have a headache, why don’t you eat a persimmon or a dried persimmon, also known as hoshigaki, before drinking?
Get rid of unpleasant smells like a body odor
Persimmon tannin has an ability to deodorize an unpleasant smell.
It is said that the cause of unpleasant smells like a body odor is the substances like isovaleric acid, acetic acid, ammonia, 2-nonenal and so on.
Persimmon tannin can deodorize 90% or more of these substances.
Taking this advantage of persimmon tannin, some company make products which can purify and deodorize a body odor.
To give you an idea, Mirai Clinical, based in California, produces a body spritzer using Japanese persimmon extract, a body wash, a soap and other products by making good use of persimmon tannin.
If you want to get rid of some unpleasant smells like a body odor, you might take advantage of persimmon tannin’s ability.
Antiviral properties for some viruses
Persimmon tannin also has antiviral properties for some viruses.
The properties are particularly effective against the flu and norovirus.
It was revealed by a study which was conducted by researchers at Hiroshima University in Japan in 2013. According to the study, persimmon tannin was able to inactivate some viruses like the flu and norovirus, and it is more effective than other tannins which was used in the test such as tannins from acacia, coffee beans, green tea and so on.
In addition, it is said that persimmon tannin has an ability to detoxify COVID-19 in Japan recently.
This information came from the research was conducted by researchers at Nara Medical University in Japan. According to the study, persimmon tannin was able to detoxify most of the coronavirus in test tubes about 10 minutes.
In this way, persimmon tannin has antiviral properties some viruses like the flu, norovirus and COVID-19.
If you’d like to know more information about this, you might click on this article I wrote.
Anti-aging effect
Persimmon tannin also has anti-aging properties.
Generally, aging is mainly caused by reactive molecules known as free radicals in our body. Free radicals have a property of stealing an electron from another molecule. When a molecule is stolen an electron by free radicals, the molecule is oxidized and becomes a free radical. This new free radical also steals an electron from another molecule and it will go on and on. This process is thought to be one of the causes of aging.
But a certain substance can stop the chain reaction caused by free radicals. That is antioxidants. An antioxidant can provide an electron to a free radical instead of other molecules. So, free radicals don’t need to steal an electron from another molecule at all. Therefore, an oxidation of molecules will be prevented by the property an antioxidant has.
And a persimmon tannin has antioxidant properties. By this properties, persimmon helps our body to prevent from aging.
Conclusion
As mentioned above, persimmon tannin has many abilities to help us live our daily lives healthy.
It has the ability to prevent hangovers, deodorize a body odor, detoxify some viruses and prevent from aging.
If you can use these abilities persimmons have effectively, your daily lives may change a lot.
Thank you for reading!
References
濵崎貞弘. 2016.『柿づくし』東京：農山漁村文化協会.
https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/drugs-alcohol/hangover4.htm, accessed June 3, 2021.
https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/AA72/AA72.htm, accessed June 3, 2021.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286579273_Deodorizing_effect_on_five_odor_compounds_and_extraction_of_tannin_from_persimmon_fruit_juice, accessed June 9, 2021.
https://theconversation.com/what-are-antioxidants-and-are-they-truly-good-for-us-86062, accessed June 13, 2021.
