Benefits
Body fat mass and waist size in a 4-month trial
In a 4-month placebo-controlled trial in 71 adults with a BMI of 25 to 35, 400 mg a day of a standardized persimmon fruit extract lowered fat mass, body weight, BMI and waist size more than placebo, while lean mass did not change; weight fell about 2.2 kg on the extract. The extract maker funded the trial, and no second trial has repeated it.
Post-meal blood sugar rise after a starch drink
In a placebo-controlled crossover test in 35 healthy adults, 1.88 g of a persimmon tannin preparation taken 30 minutes before a starch drink kept plasma glucose lower at the 15 and 30 minute marks and insulin lower at 15 minutes. The highest glucose reading was about the same with tannin and placebo, so the rise was delayed rather than prevented. It was a single-dose test.
Total and LDL cholesterol with tannin-rich persimmon fiber
In a 12-week placebo-controlled trial in 40 adults with total cholesterol of 180 to 259 mg/dl, cookie bars with 3 or 5 g of tannin-rich fiber from young persimmon fruit, eaten three times daily before meals, lowered total cholesterol, and the 5 g bars also lowered LDL. The abstract reports these falls without stating a test against placebo, and HDL did not change.
Persimmon leaf extract tablets alongside standard drug treatment
A review pooled 16 Chinese randomized trials (1,572 patients with abnormal blood fats, often with heart or blood vessel conditions) that added persimmon leaf extract tablets or capsules, a Chinese medicine, to standard drugs. Total and LDL cholesterol were lower than with the drugs alone, but the reviewers rated the certainty low to very low and found frequent design flaws.
Hair density with a persimmon leaf, green tea and sophora blend
In a 24-week placebo-controlled trial in 88 adults funded by the product maker, an oral blend of persimmon leaf, green tea and sophora fruit extracts (2:1:1) raised hair density and hair thickness more than placebo, while gloss did not differ. Because the product combines three extracts, the result cannot be credited to persimmon leaf alone.
Skin temperature at the hands and feet after eating the fruit
Persimmon has long been viewed in China as a cooling food. In small experiments in 8 to 10 young Japanese women, eating fresh or freeze-dried persimmon kept foot skin temperature lower over the next hour than water or a matched cookie (wrist temperature only against the cookie), and slowed rewarming of a finger after ice water. Core body temperature did not differ.
Mechanism of action
Tannins slow starch-digesting enzymes
In lab tests, persimmon fruit tannin blocked alpha-amylase and other starch- and sugar-digesting enzymes and cut glucose uptake by gut-lining cells, and it blunted the blood glucose rise after a sugar load in rats. A polyphenol concentrate from persimmon leaf tea likewise lowered blood glucose after starch in rats, credited to amylase inhibition. These are cell and animal findings.
Binding of bile acids in the gut
Persimmon tannin binds bile acids in the test tube, most strongly those with fewer hydroxy groups, but did not bind cholesterol itself. In mice on a high-fat diet it raised bile acid loss in the stool about 2.3-fold and kept blood cholesterol and fasting glucose from rising. Bile acid binders are an established way to lower blood cholesterol, the rationale for the human fiber trial.
Possible rise in fat lost in the stool
In the 4-month fruit extract trial, fat lost in the stool rose with the extract only in people who started with low stool fat, a subgroup finding. The authors link this to animal reports that persimmon tannins block pancreatic lipase, the enzyme that digests dietary fat; that link has not been tested directly in people.
Clinical trials
Single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in Spain of perFix, a persimmon fruit extract with more than 5% condensed tannins, 200 mg twice daily before meals for 120 days; funded by the extract maker Euromed S.A.; registered as NCT05750342, where the listed primary outcome is fat mass at 84 days rather than the 120 days reported (Pérez-Piñero et al. 2024, Foods)
71 adults with a BMI of 25 to 34.9 who completed the study (35 extract, 36 placebo); the main analysis covered the 49 with a BMI under 30.
In the main group, fat mass (by DEXA and impedance), body weight, BMI and waist and abdominal circumference fell more on the extract than on placebo (between-group p < 0.001), with no loss of lean mass; the whole group showed the same pattern, with weight down about 2.2 kg on the extract while weight rose slightly on placebo. Fasting blood fats, fasting sugar measures, CRP and IL-6 did not differ between groups; TNF-alpha fell more and antioxidant capacity rose more on the extract. Analysis was per protocol, and the authors call the groups small.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover test of one 1.88 g dose of Kaki-tannin (Nara-type) tablets, or lactose placebo, taken 30 minutes before 40 g of maltooligosaccharides, with a 7-day washout; supported by a Nara Prefecture grant, with the tannin donated by Ishii Bussan; the paper also reports enzyme, cell and rat experiments (Takemori et al. 2022, J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo))
35 healthy adults (17 men, 18 women, average age 38) recruited at a clinic in Sapporo, Japan.
Plasma glucose was lower after tannin than after placebo at 15 minutes (107 vs 118 mg/dL) and 30 minutes (129 vs 140 mg/dL), both p < 0.01, and insulin was lower at 15 minutes. Peak glucose was about the same in both conditions, so the authors describe the effect as a delay in the glucose and insulin rise. Single dose only.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled three-arm trial of cookie bars containing 0, 3 or 5 g of tannin-rich fiber from young persimmon fruit, eaten three times daily before meals for 12 weeks; the first author is from Nakano BC Co., Ltd., a Japanese company (Gato et al. 2013, Ann Nutr Metab)
40 adults with plasma total cholesterol of 180 to 259 mg/dl (placebo 14, 3 g bars 13, 5 g bars 13).
Total cholesterol fell significantly in the 3 g group at 12 weeks and in the 5 g group at 6 and 12 weeks; LDL cholesterol fell in the 5 g group at 6 and 12 weeks. HDL cholesterol and the other blood fats measured did not change. The abstract reports these as changes over time within groups and does not state a test against the placebo group.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of BLH308, an oral blend of persimmon leaf, green tea and sophora fruit extracts (2:1:1), taken twice daily for 24 weeks; funded by Ben's Lab Co., Ltd. (Ham et al. 2023, Skin Res Technol)
101 adults randomized; 88 (34 men, 54 women, average age about 39) in the per-protocol analysis.
At 24 weeks, hair density rose by 1.86 per cm2 on the blend and fell by 1.48 on placebo (p = 0.0015), and hair thickness rose by 5.14 vs fell by 0.86 micrometers (p = 0.0001); thickness did not differ at 8 weeks. Gloss improved slightly more on the blend, not significantly. Adverse events were similar (39% vs 44% of participants, p = 0.63). The persimmon leaf share of the effect cannot be separated.
Controlled feeding experiments, not described as randomized, comparing fresh persimmon with water and freeze-dried persimmon with a cookie matched for carbohydrate, protein, fat and water, with skin temperature, blood flow and blood pressure tracked for 1 hour (Hibino et al. 2003, Biosci Biotechnol Biochem)
Healthy Japanese female students aged 18 to 22: 8 women in the first two experiments and 10 in the third.
After 100 g of fresh fruit, or freeze-dried fruit equal to about 200 g fresh for a 60 kg adult, foot skin temperature stayed lower over 1 hour than after water or the cookie (p < 0.005 and p < 0.05); the wrist difference was significant only against the cookie. Finger rewarming after 20 minutes in ice water was slower after persimmon. Forehead, neck, armpit and ear temperatures did not differ.