Plums & Prunes

by The Food Coach

Plums are a great source of Vitamin C and also provide Vitamin K and fibre. Within their purple skin and lying just below it are antioxidants called anthocyanins which can help to maintain healthy blood vessels and reduce inflammation.

There are over 200 different varieties of plums grown in Australia, but you'll often see Japanese and European types in store as well. Japanese varieties are grown more extensively in Australia than European plums and usually have larger fruit with predominantly red skin. European plums, also grown in Australia tend to be smaller and their skin colour can range from yellowy green, to deep blue or purple. Most of them have a sweet yellow flesh, unlike the blood plums that introduce the season which are quite sour and are best suited in cooking. The d'Agen plum, known as the 'prune plum' is ideal for drying because of its high sugar content, and most prunes are made from this variety.

Some newer varieties have a pinky red flesh with red to purple and black skin. These have a sweet juicy flesh and low acid skin. What's particularly interesting about plums is that, just like human fingerprints, each stone is unique to a particular variety.

The sweetest eating plums are those with little white speckles over the skin as this indicates the presence of natural sugar.

Select fruit where the skin is intact with no signs of wrinkling. Brown patches are a sign of sunburn which can also affect the quality of the fruit.

Plums are picked when they are nearly ripe and will ripen at room temperature over a few days. You can test for ripeness when the fruit gives to gentle pressure. A ripe plum will also have a fragrant aroma. Generally the fruit will become dull once ready to eat. Once ripe they can be stored in the fridge for up to five days. Plums are in season from November to May.

Prunes are simply dried plums, and are favoured by nutritionists due to their high fibre content. Adding a few chopped prunes to your morning muesli benefits bowel health and aids digestion. Prunes are also a concentrated source of antioxidants.

Buy prunes that are plump and shiny, and store in a cool dark place where they will keep for several months. Alternatively store in the fridge to extend their shelf life, but make sure the container is sealed tightly to prevent drying out.

Prunes have a very high ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) rating, a score that reflects the antioxidant power of foods and chemical substances per 100 grams. They rank high with a rating of 5770 for approximately 10 prunes, so with 4 prunes per day that's a score of 2308. This is in comparison to plums, at 949, strawberries at 1540 and apples at 218 per 100 grams.

Recipe for Stewed Fruit Compote