Sharon Persimmon at the USDA

[loader]

Hi,

Driven by special offers at the local – a small tray of Sharon fruit is in my kitchen.

It was so cheap, I bought without checking values. A quick look online suggested ‘manageable’ carbs at 18%. Probably OK as an alternative to my morning apple a couple of times a week.

But some sites show figures almost double that. USDA is an example showing 34% carbs.

As always with a new (to me) food, I’ll need to do some testing.

Having spent my life mentally replacing U.S. with B.S. when reading documents – I want to do the same here but is there any chance they could be right? Am I being over sceptical to suggest it might be a fruit that is mostly imported to the US so is given a bad write up over there?

Generally speaking is USDA a valid organisation or a government mouth piece spouting commercially driven “facebook facts”?
I.E. should it only be read if you believe the moon landings didn’t happen and its not safe to go outside without your copper lined cap?

Tongue in cheek of course but genuinely interested in why the figures vary so much – have I simply misread or made a silly mistake?

Loady

 

[Robin]

Hi,

Driven by special offers at the local – a small tray of Sharon fruit is in my kitchen.

It was so cheap, I bought without checking values. A quick look online suggested ‘manageable’ carbs at 18%. Probably OK as an alternative to my morning apple a couple of times a week.

But some sites show figures almost double that. USDA is an example showing 34% carbs.

As always with a new (to me) food, I’ll need to do some testing.

Having spent my life mentally replacing U.S. with B.S. when reading documents – I want to do the same here but is there any chance they could be right? Am I being over sceptical to suggest it might be a fruit that is mostly imported to the US so is given a bad write up over there?

Generally speaking is USDA a valid organisation or a government mouth piece spouting commercially driven “facebook facts”?
I.E. should it only be read if you believe the moon landings didn’t happen and its not safe to go outside without your copper lined cap?

Tongue in cheek of course but genuinely interested in why the figures vary so much – have I simply misread or made a silly mistake?

Loady

It could be because in the UK, carb values are given net, whereas in the US, they include the fibre content as well, so you have to deduct the amount of fibre shown, to arrive at the net carb figure. Try doing that and see if the maths works out.

 

[loader]

Hi Robin,
Thanks for the lightning fast reply.
They are (listed as) high in fibre but not the 19% that would be needed to make up the difference.

The values seem to swing quite widely. Some sites quote the size of the fruit tested.

Is it feasible that a larger fruit is double (or half) the carbs of a smaller fruit?

Perhaps the discrepancy is 50% due to the fibre being excluded from the value and 50% due to the size of the fruit tested?

Do you know why the USDA includes fibre in the carb figure?

Thanks again,

Loady

 

[Robin]

I just googled the USDA out of interest. In the final column, it gives a 'fruit without refuse' portion, which equates to the total per 100g. So is the difference that the US site gives carbs per chunks of prepared fruit, and the U.K. gives carbs per whole fruit, not allowing for the fact that you'd throw away rind, seeds,etc. ( if that's what you do, must confess I've never bought or eaten one!)
I think I've now got way beyond the limits of my knowledge!

 

[loader]

Wow, perhaps I should be throwing part of it? I've been eating the entire thing except the "leaf" on top.
I didn't see that column - better have another look (and ask google about which parts I sould eat - just in case).
Thanks again

 

[Lilian]

Typically what I like always turns out to be bad for me. One of my favourite fruits is (sadly was) a sharon fruit (sweeter version of the persimmon). However on me I might as well eat pure sugar. My BG sky rockets just looking at them Like a tomato you just need to take the stalk bit off and can eat the rest skin and seeds. Like a banana they can also be eaten when they start to go a bit black.

 

[loader]

Sorry to hear you cant eat them.
First indications suggest they may not be for me either.
I am fairly tolerant of fruit generally so need to test in isolation. Will do so 3hr after tonights meal.

 

[trophywench]

I had to look up 'USDA' - personally I never ever trust nutritional info from the US - look what Ancel Keys had us all doing and the misrepresentations he made in order to do it - therefore I wouldn't trust it as far as I could throw it.

All the sites I've just had a look at reckon a 'medium' one - which one site identified as a 6.5cm fruit - is +/- 31g carb plus 6g fibre so I think I'll avoid it with a very wide berth thanks. If I want to stuff myself with fructose I think I'll stick to either pineapple of oranges - at least they are both full of fibre too, so they're good if I'm a bit bunged up! LOL

 

[loader]

'Poor' results
2 hours after tea = 5.8
1 hour after medium Sharon = 12.2
2 hour afer medium Sharon = 8

I had hoped to find an alterntive to the oranges and satsumas that I tolerate suprisingly well.
As the Sharon boasts way more fibre than my usual citrus - I had hoped to get away with it.

Does anyone find they can tolerate these or are they another’ Banana’?

 

[grovesy]

Never tried them but I seem to be ok with banana's.

 

[Matt Cycle]

I have had Sharon fruit on occasions when in season but they are very sweet indeed - as Lilian says the whole lot is eaten apart from the stalk. It's best to let them soften a bit but don't leave it too long. I have a banana a day. They're a great energy food when exercising or restocking glycogen.

 

[HOBIE]

I have had Sharon fruit on occasions when in season but they are very sweet indeed - as Lilian says the whole lot is eaten apart from the stalk. It's best to let them soften a bit but don't leave it too long. I have a banana a day. They're a great energy food when exercising or restocking glycogen.

All the Cheeky Monkeys eat them. Bananas that is, Marathon runners eat them after a run to replace energy levels 🙂🙂

 

[Wirrallass]

I thought bananas were off limits for diabetics because of the natural sugar content, but I am new to this so I still have a lot to learn. I'm all ears if anyone would like to enlighten me!

 

[grovesy]

You can only try and see how they affect you. Some say it depends on how ripe they are on how they affect. They also vary in size, so maybe try a small one.