Ingredient file // Fruit or vegetable
Persimmons
A sweet fruit garnish, not a vitamin source
Persimmon is an orange tree fruit, usually dried or powdered before it goes into a topper or kibble. It adds sweetness and a little fiber that dogs seem to like. At these amounts it supplies no vitamin a dog would miss.
- What it is
- The orange fruit of the persimmon tree, used fresh, dried or powdered in small amounts.
- Made from
- Ripe persimmon fruit, usually dried
- Main job
- Sweetness and a little fiber
- Typical amount
- Not published; the one dog trial used 1%
- Watch for
- Whole fruit eaten in quantity can form stomach bezoars
- Not the same as
- None common
Straight answer
Is Persimmons safe for dogs?
Read it as a flavor note, then move on
On a topper, persimmon usually sits low, after the meats and organs, and that is where it belongs. Treat it as flavor. Do not count it toward vitamins or fiber. If it appears near the top of the list, the product is carrying a lot of fruit sugar.
- Why it is in the food
- Sweetness and a little fiber
- How common
- Listed by 1 of the 3,205 foods we track
Our read // In our catalog
In 1 of every 3,205 foods we track
Share of foods that list it
<1%
1 of the 3,205 foods with an ingredient list on file, from 1 brand. All dog food topper.
Each square is 1% of the catalog
Where it sits on the label
Median position 17. In the top five of 0 foods, so it is usually a minor ingredient.
Above the salt
Almost always listed before the salt, so there is more of it than a pinch.
Price per lb
Median of the cheapest bag price across 1 priced foods, 420% above the catalog. The price is the food's, not the ingredient's.
Who leans on it
100%
of the foods that list it are from ZIWI. 1 brand use it in total.
What it is
How it is made
Persimmons are grown as a human food crop. Astringent varieties stay mouth-puckering with tannin until they are treated or dried, so the fruit that reaches pet food usually arrives dried.1,2,4
- 01 // Source Ripe persimmons Growers class the fruit as astringent or non-astringent by how puckery it is at harvest. Tannin causes it.
- 02 // Process Astringency removed Astringent fruit is held in over 80% carbon dioxide for 6 to 24 hours, which makes its tannins insoluble.
- 03 // Process Dried Sun drying, air drying or freeze drying also tames tannin. Air-dried fruit ends up less astringent than freeze-dried.
- 04 // Output Dried persimmon Pieces or powder at about 23% water, with roughly 4 times the fiber per 100 g of fresh fruit.
What is in it
Composition, dry matter
64
% sugar
Sugar's share of fresh persimmon on a dry basis. The fruit is mostly sugar and water, which is why it tastes sweet and adds little else.
Why it is in the bag
What the manufacturer gets
-
01
Sweetens the food
In a preference test, dogs chose a dry food with 1% dried persimmon over a wheat bran control, though they preferred a dried apple food to persimmon.3
-
02
Firms the stool, slightly
About 18% of its dry matter is fiber. In one thesis trial at 1% of the diet, feces held more dry matter than on wheat bran, and digestibility did not change.1,3
-
03
Fermentable fiber, in the lab
In the same thesis's in vitro test, not in live dogs, the persimmon diet produced more short chain fatty acids at 12, 24 and 48 hours than wheat bran.3
How much The only dog trial we found fed dried persimmon at 1% of a dry food to 6 dogs, against wheat bran and dried apple diets.3
Our read // The claims
What the evidence supports
Strong: controlled studies in dogs agree. Some: small or mixed dog data. Thin: mechanism or lab work only. None: nothing, or the evidence points the other way.
-
Brands say
Dogs love the taste of persimmon
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
The only test is one 18-dog thesis, not peer reviewed. Dogs preferred the 1% persimmon food over wheat bran but chose dried apple over persimmon (p=0.038). That shows a sweet food gets eaten, not that dogs love persimmon.3
-
Brands say
Persimmon adds fiber for healthy digestion
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
Persimmon is about 18 to 19% fiber on a dry basis, so 1% of a diet adds under 0.2% fiber. One thesis, not peer reviewed, saw drier feces than on wheat bran in 6 dogs per diet. That is the whole dog record.1,2,3
-
Brands say
Beta-carotene in persimmon supports a dog's immune system
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
A Beagle trial found higher CD4+ counts and CD4:CD8 ratios only at 20 and 50 mg of beta-carotene a day. Fresh persimmon holds about 2.5 mg per kg, so 20 mg would take roughly 7.9 kg of fruit daily.1,7
-
Brands say
Persimmon is a good source of vitamin C
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
Dogs make vitamin C from glucose in the liver and have no known dietary requirement for it. Dried persimmon, the form pet food uses, lists 0 mg of vitamin C in USDA data anyway.2,8
-
Owners say
Persimmons are toxic to dogs
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
No source we opened names a poisoning compound, and the ASPCA people foods list leaves persimmon out. The documented hazard is mechanical: tannin bezoars in 13 horses, donkeys and ponies that ate whole fruit, and in people.5,6,10
Straight answers
What owners ask
-
Q01
Is it just filler?
Mostly flavorAt the 1% tested in dogs it adds sweetness and a little fiber, and dogs ate it readily. It brings almost no protein, under 3% of its dry matter, so judge the food by the meat around it.1,3
-
Q02
Can my dog eat fresh persimmon?
Flesh onlyA vet-reviewed guide says small bites of the flesh are fine, but not the skin or seeds, which can block the gut. Persimmon tannins clump in stomach acid into hard bezoars that have needed surgery in horses and people.5,6,11
-
Q03
Is the sugar a problem?
Not in toppersAbout 64% of fresh persimmon's dry matter is sugar. The small share in a topper adds little. For a diabetic or overweight dog, count fruit toppers with the treats rather than ignore them.1
Who uses it
Brands, best sellers and the company it keeps
Top brands, by foods that list it
Foods that list it / all the brand's recipes we track.
Usually listed with, share of the foods that list it
- Chicken 100%
- Chicken Liver 100%
- Chicken Necks 100%
- Dried Egg Whites 100%
- Ground Chicken Bone 100%
- Dried Green Peas 100%
- Chicken Fat 100%
- Chicken Cartilage 100%
On the shelf
Foods that list Persimmons
1 food in our catalog lists it, highest on the label first.
Sources
What we read
Checked October 25, 2026.
- 1 Persimmons, raw, japanese: nutritional value (USDA Standard Reference data)
- 2 Persimmons, dried, japanese: nutritional value (USDA Standard Reference data)
- 3 Kuru köpek maması üretiminde lif kaynağı olarak farklı meyvelerin kullanılması (Use of different fruits as fiber sources in dry dog food production)
- 4 HS1483: Alleviating Astringency in Persimmon Fruit for Enhanced Palatability and Consumer Acceptability
- 5 Diospyrobezoar (Persimmon Bezoar)-Induced Intestinal Obstruction in an Older Patient: A Case Report
- 6 Gastric and enteric phytobezoars caused by ingestion of persimmon in equids
- 7 Dietary beta-carotene stimulates cell-mediated and humoral immune response in dogs
- 8 Vitamin C supplementation prevents Developmental Bone Disease in large and giant breed dogs (nutrition myths)
- 9 Removal of astringency in persimmon fruits (Diospyros kaki) subjected to different freezing temperature treatments
- 10 People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets
- 11 Can Dogs Eat Persimmons?