they keep it for 20 to 25 years. The fruit production varies between per tree and year, depending on the variety and age. Grafting on medlar seedlings is not recommended because of the slow growth of the grafts. Irrigation and fertilization can stimulate growth in plantations. If the fruit-bearing shoots are cut back after the harvest, the formation of new fertile short shoots is encouraged. Uses The fruits are hard and acidic even when ripe, but become edible after being softened, "bletted", by frost, or naturally in storage if given sufficient time by reducing tannin content and fruit acids, increasing sugar content, and changes in the content of minerals. Once softening begins, the skin rapidly takes on a wrinkled texture and turns dark brown, and the inside reduces to the consistency and flavour reminiscent of apple sauce. This process can confuse those new to medlars, as its softened fruit looks as if it has spoiled. Product use Once bletted, the fruit can be eaten raw, sometimes with sugar and cream—it has been described as being an "acquired taste"—or used to make medlar jelly. It is used in "medlar cheese", which is similar to lemon curd, made with the fruit pulp, eggs, and butter. Unripe fruits have a relatively high tannin content of about 2.6% and are therefore used for tanning. The tannin causes flocculation of proteins, enabling its use to reduce the turbidity of wine. In Saarland, Germany, a schnapps is made from the fruit of the medlar, which is refined with hawthorn. "Medlar tea" usually is not made from M. germanica, but from wolfberry or goji, which is sometimes inaccurately translated as "red medlar." Mespilus germanica kernel oil was used for the first time to produce biodiesel, whereby linoleic acid and oleic acid with about 40% are main constituents of the extracted oil. The physical properties of the produced biodiesel allows an alternative for diesel fuels without any modification to the conventional engines. Leaves of medlar fruit were used to produce activated carbon to remove heavy metals like Ni2+ from aqueous solutions. Phytosynthesized silver nanoparticles could be fabricated from M. germanica extract and show antibacterial, antibiofilm activities against multidrug resistance of Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical strains. Nutrients and phytochemicals In general, the medlar fruits were found to be rich in potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and iron. M. germanica contains various phytochemicals varying between genotypes, fruit ripeness, harvest time and storage