A complete analytical characterization of extracts of nine persimmon
juices produced using different technologies was performed
with HPLC–DAD–ESI-TOF/MS for the first time.
Persimmon juice extracts were found to be a source of sugars
(sugar acids, disaccharides, and trisaccharides), protein derivatives
(amino acids and derivatives), organic acids (malic, citric, and
others), vitamins (ascorbic acid derivatives and pantothenic acid)
and polyphenols including simple polyphenols and polymerized
flavan-3-ols. Simple polyphenols consisted of phenolic acids i.e.
gallic acid and galloyl esters of glucose and flavonoids (flavanols
such as (epi)catechin, flavonols such as myricetin, quercetin, and
kaempferol derivatives and flavanones such as eriocitrin/neoeriocitrin).
Polymerized flavan-3-ols included a B-type procyanidin
dimer. Some of these compounds have been described for the first
time in persimmon products. A preliminary approach assessing
compositional variations arising from different technological processing
was performed. A marked influence was observed on the
composition of the juices. Extracts 3 and 7 (undergoing the
combinations of clarification and centrifugation, and astringency
removal, centrifugation, and pasteurization, respectively) contained
more polyphenols, which are thought in part to be responsible
of protective effect against chronic diseases. These results
pose the necessity of evaluating quantitative variations for a better
understanding of the impact of technology on fruit-juice production
as well as further studies on the scaling-up of such technology.