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Persimmon fruit cv. "Rojo brillante" were harvested at commercial maturity and kept in atmospheres with CO 2 or N 2 at 25 °C for 18 or 27 h and evaluated after a simulated retail stage of 3 d at 15 °C, 80% RH. Soluble solids and polyphenol oxidase activity were not affected by CO 2 -or N 2 -enriched atmospheres or length of treatment. Exposure time affected fruit firmness and color. Carbon dioxide treatment resulted in fruits that were lower in astringency. The greatest levels of ethanol and acetaldehyde were found in the fruits treated with CO 2 for 27 h.

The effect of gaseous ozone exposure on the quality of persimmon picked at 2 different harvest dates was evaluated. Fruit from both harvests were continuously exposed to 0.15 ppm (vol/vol) of ozone for 30 d at 15 °C, 90% relative humidity (RH). Then, fruit were submitted to astringency removal treatment (24 h at 20 °C, 98% CO2) and stored for 7 d at 20 °C (90% RH) in order to simulate shelf‐life period. The most important disorder was flesh softening, which took place when fruit were transferred from 15 °C to shelf‐life conditions. In the 2nd harvest, where the fruit were harvested with lower firmness, ozone maintained firmness over commercial limits even after 30 d at 15 °C plus shelf‐life. Ozone‐treated fruit showed the highest values of weight loss, coinciding with the maximum electrolyte leakage (EL) percentage. Ozone did not affect color index (CI), ethanol, total soluble solids (TSS), or pH. Unremarkable differences in acetaldehyde were observed between fruit submitted to ozone treatment and control fruit. No phytotoxic injuries in tissues were observed in ozone‐treated fruit.

Cold storage and removal of astringency effects on quality of persimmon fruit cv. Rojo brillante were determined. Persimmon fruit were stored at 1, 8, 11 and 15 ºC (85–90% RH) and after 6, 13, 20, 27 and 34 days of storage at these temperatures, astringency was removed. Fruit quality was assessed after the removal of the astringency and after a simulated retail storage period of 6 days at 20 ºC. Storage temperature affected fruit firmness, colour, appearance, acetaldehyde and ethanol production but not total soluble solids or flavour. Fruit stored at 15 ºC followed by 6 days at 20 ºC maintained the best commercial firmness and the lowest ethanol and acetaldehyde production. Chilling injury was observed after storage at 20 ºC on those fruits previously stored at 1 or 8 ºC.