Abstract
The effects of seed number in the fruit on the quality of Japanese persimmon cv. Maekawa-Jiro were studied with special reference to fruit coloring, soluble solids content and cracking of the fruit apex.
1. Seedless fruits were smaller in size and shorter in longitudinal length than the seeded fruits and showed a flat shape. Moreover, seedless fruits were delayed in fruit coloring and showed lower soluble solids content and far smaller cracking width of fruit apex than the seeded fruits. With the same-colored fruits, soluble solids content was not affected by the number of seeds in the fruit, and the cracking width of fruit apex of the seedless fruits was clearly smaller than in the seeded fruits.
2. In the fruits with fewer than 4 seeds, fruit weight, fruit coloring, soluble solids content and cracking width of fruit apex increased with increase of seed number. But in fruits with more than 5 seeds, fruit weight and soluble solids content were not affected by the number of seeds.
3. Fruits with imperfect seed only showed better fruit coloring and a higher level of soluble solids than the seedless fruits. Fruit weight and cracking width of apex on the fruits with imperfect seed only were intermediate between the seedless and the seeded fruits.
