by Dr. Robert Andersen

Hurd Orchards has been collaborating with Cornell University’s Geneva Experiment Station in growing a new array of interesting plums that bring great flavors and new culinary opportunities to their customers. Fortunately all plums are healthy foods.

This fact has been known for a long time, but only recently food scientists and medical researchers have revealed more about this. They’ve given us data that shows plums are full of antioxidants that help fight many forms of cancer. It wouldn’t be appropriate for a horticulturist like me to attempt to delve deeply into the human, biochemistry of this important medical research. Suffice it to say our ancestors have known for a long time that plums are healthy food, but now research is revealing why.

There is a lot more to this healthy story than just the laxative effect! The dried form of this was formerly known as prunes in the U.S.A. California’s dried plum marketers felt their was a negative connotation to “prune.” They worried that too many potential consumers of fresh plums and other non-dried plum products had the misperception that this fruit was just meant for older people with wrinkled faces and constipation problems. So, prune and prunes have become “no, no names” in the USA and “dried plums” is the new product terminology officially recognized by the Federal Food and Drug Administration. For fresh plums The California Tree Fruit Agreement has always recognized two kinds: Japanese plums that are larger, rounder and available from May through September in supermarkets, and European plums that are smaller and sweeter and are usually available later in the summer. In 2005 the CTFA renamed fresh European plums to now call them “sugar plums.” Why do you suppose California plum producers went to all the trouble to make these name changes? Clearly, they want to change any unfortunate image perception so that younger consumers would try more plums. Here’s a little more on why you ought to try them, too.

First, and foremost, plums are healthy! Yes, we are seeing healthy food claims used in marketing nearly every kind of food. Are my plum comments just hype? No! Tufts University food researchers published the following table that puts plums near the top of the kinds of fruits and vegetables that you could consume to help forestall memory loss.

Table 1*
 

Plums may forestall aging and aid memory!
TOP ANTIOXIDANT FOODS (ORAC** units per 100 grams***)
FRUITS			VEGETABLES
Prunes (European-type plums)	5,770		Kale	1,770
Raisins	2,830		Spinach	1,260
Blueberries	2,400		Brussels Sprouts	980
Blackberries	2,036		Alfalfa Sprouts	890
Strawberries	1,540		Broccoli Florets	840
Raspberries	1,220		Beets	710
Plums (Japanese-type)	949		Red Bell Peppers	450
Oranges	750		Onion	450
Grapes, red	739		Corn	400
Cherries (red sweet cherries)	670		Eggplant	390
*Tufts University results ** Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity ***About 3.5 ounces

Then in 2004 my food science colleagues at Cornell, Drs. C. Y. Lee, and Olga-Padilla-Zakour, published with their students the fact that many New York grown plums have high levels of natural, healthy metabolites like: phenolics and antioxidants. Quoting from their research publication published just last winter in the NY Fruit Quarterly journal , “Plums may be good sources of natural antioxidants due to their high levels of phenolic phytochemicals. The predominant phenolics in plums are dydrooxycinnamic acids and anthocyananin derivatives (red colored pigments). When comopared to other common fruits, plums have higher phenolic content and higher antioxidant capacity indicating that an increased consumption of plums through our diets is highly desirable for the associated health benefits.” A second quote about antioxidants says, “…many phenolic phytochemicals possess important biochemical properties including antioxidative , anticarcinogenic, antimicrobial, antiallergic, antimutagenic and anti-inflamatory activities.”

Plum are diverse! Plums belong to the same Rosaceae family as many other fruits. Apples, pears, cherries, peaches, apricots, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries all are in the rose family, too. That’s right; they are all closely related to roses. You may have noted the fleshy part of the rose flower that is left when the petals fall off. It's known as a rose “hip” and has seeds inside. These hips are edible, although not particularly flavorful, and they’re similar in morphological structure to the fleshy fruits like apples and their cousins noted above. Botanists break down the Rosaceae family into genera. The genus of fruits with stones or pits as their seeds is termed Prunus. It includes plums, apricots, peaches and cherries as well as almonds, the nut crop that is getting so much attention for its healthy food values.

There are so many kinds of plums, red, blue, purple, green, and yellow and they come in many sizes and shapes that Botanists have had to divide the Prunus genus so that there are various plum species. North America has several native plums species. Too many to describe here. But most of these are inferior in quality to European-style varieties that are grown at Hurd Orchards. The birds and other wild life use our native, wild plums but Amy and Sue Machamer have tested many varieties of European-style plums -- known to Botanists as Prunus domestica, and have chosen ones that are full of aroma and flavors. Not all of these were bred in Europe. In fact the European-style terminology isn’t really accurate because the wild ancestors of our plums were mostly in the Caucus mountains of western Asia. The Europeans simply imported and bred adapted types for England, France and Germany, etc..

Some of the best European-style plums at Hurds’ are from Cornell research or from our neighbors in Ontario, Canada, both of which have created varieties well suited to the weather moderating effects along the shores of Lake Ontario. These new plum varieties from Hurd Orchards can be used both fresh or cooked in tarts, or jams; and they even go great when roasted (as halves or quarters, depending on the fruit size) on the BBQ grill to compliment main course dishes like fish and , pork. Peoples’ preferences for foods differ. So, I won’t try to select one best variety of plum for you to try. Instead, I’d like to simply remind you that Hurd Orchards now has several varieties of plums that start about the middle of August and are available until the end of September. You’re in the middle of prime plum country along Lake Ontario’s shores. I’ll bet you went to Hurd Orchards thinking primarily that it’s time to go get some apples. Better not miss out on trying my idea of putting some fresh plum halves on the BBQ to roast with your salmon. Of course, you can let Hurds’ preserves chef make your plum jam and have plums for breakfast or you could put some on your ice cream instead of the chocolate sauce. Think healthy and remember that adventures in eating are an important spice of life!