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Plums are a type of fruit from species within the Prunus subg. Prunus genus, commonly eaten fresh or dried as prunes. Believed to be among the first domesticated fruits, plums originated in regions like East Europe, the Caucasus Mountains, and China, which remains the top producer today. Cultivation spread to places such as Britain and Andalusia. Plums are drupe fruits with juicy flesh and are used in jams, wine, and brandy. Nutritionally, raw plums provide moderate vitamin C, mostly water, and carbohydrates. Despite containing cyanogenic glycosides, plum kernel oil is not commercially produced.

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History

Plums are likely to have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans.3 Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found in the wild, only around human settlements: Prunus domestica has been traced to East European and Caucasian mountains, while Prunus salicina and Prunus simonii originated in China. Plum remains have been found in Neolithic age archaeological sites along with olives, grapes and figs.45 According to Ken Albala, plums originated in Iran.6 They were brought to Britain from Asia.7

An article on plum tree cultivation in Andalusia (southern Spain) appears in Ibn al-'Awwam's 12th-century agricultural work, Book on Agriculture.8

Plum cultivation is recorded in medieval monasteries in England. A garden with 'ploumes' and 'bulaces' is referred to by Chaucer.9

The cultivation of plums increased during the 17th and 18th centuries. During this period greengages were given their English name and the Mirabelle plum became firmly established.10 Advances in the development of new varieties in England were made by Thomas Rivers. Two examples of River's work are the varieties Early Rivers and Czar. Both are still esteemed. The fame of the Victoria plum, first sold in 1844, has been put down to good marketing rather than any inherent quality.11

Etymology and names

The name plum derived from Old English plume "plum, plum tree", borrowed from Germanic or Middle Dutch, derived from Latin prūnum12 and ultimately from Ancient Greek προῦμνον proumnon,13 itself believed to be a loanword from an unknown language of Asia Minor.1415 In the late 18th century, the word plum was used to indicate "something sweet or agreeable", probably in reference to tasty fruit pieces in desserts, as in the word sugar-plum.16

Description

Plums are a diverse group of species. The commercially important plum trees are medium-sized, usually pruned to 5–6 metres (16–20 ft) height. The tree is of medium hardiness.17 Without pruning, the trees can reach 12 metres (39 ft) in height and spread across 10 metres (33 ft). They blossom in different months in different parts of the world; for example, in about January in Taiwan and early April in the United Kingdom.18

Fruits are usually of medium size, between 2–7 centimetres (0.79–2.76 in) in diameter, globose to oval. The flesh is firm and juicy. The fruit's peel is smooth, with a natural waxy surface that adheres to the flesh. The plum is a drupe, meaning its fleshy fruit surrounds a single hard fruitstone which encloses the fruit's seed.

Cultivation and uses

Plum (and sloe) production, 2020millions of tonnes
CountryProduction
 China6.47
 Romania0.76
 Serbia0.58
 Chile0.42
 Iran0.38
 Turkey0.33
World12.23
Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization19

Japanese or Chinese plums are large and juicy with a long shelf life and therefore dominate the fresh fruit market. They are usually clingstone and not suitable for making prunes.20 They are cultivars of Prunus salicina or its hybrids. The cultivars developed in the US are mostly hybrids of P. salicina with P. simonii and P. cerasifera. Although these cultivars are often called Japanese plums, two of the three parents (P. salicina and P. simonii) originated from China and one (P. cerasifera) from Eurasia.21

In some parts of Europe, European plum (Prunus domestica) is also common in fresh fruit market. It has both dessert (eating) or culinary (cooking) cultivars, which include:

  • Damson (purple or black skin, green flesh, clingstone, astringent)
  • Prune plum (usually oval, freestone, sweet, fresh eaten or used to make prunes)
  • Greengage (firm, green flesh and skin even when ripe)
  • Mirabelle (dark yellow, predominantly grown in northeast France)
  • Victoria (yellow flesh with a red or mottled skin)
  • Yellowgage or golden plum (similar to greengage, but yellow)

In West Asia, myrobalan plum or cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) is also widely cultivated. In Russia, apart from these three commonly cultivated species, there are also many cultivars resulting from hybridization between Japanese plum and myrobalan plum, known as Russian plum (Prunus × rossica).22

When it flowers in the early spring, a plum tree will be covered in blossoms, and in a good year approximately 50% of the flowers will be pollinated and become plums. Flowering starts after 80 growing degree days.23

If the weather is too dry, the plums will not develop past a certain stage, but will fall from the tree while still tiny, green buds, and if it is unseasonably wet or if the plums are not harvested as soon as they are ripe, the fruit may develop a fungal condition called brown rot. Brown rot is not toxic, and some affected areas can be cut out of the fruit, but unless the rot is caught immediately, the fruit will no longer be edible. Plum is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera, including November moth, willow beauty and short-cloaked moth.24

The taste of the plum fruit ranges from sweet to tart; the skin itself may be particularly tart. It is juicy and can be eaten fresh or used in jam-making or other recipes. Plum juice can be fermented into plum wine. In central England, a cider-like alcoholic beverage known as plum jerkum is made from plums. Dried, salted plums are used as a snack, sometimes known as saladito or salao. Various flavors of dried plum are available at Chinese grocers and specialty stores worldwide. They tend to be much drier than the standard prune. Cream, ginseng, spicy, and salty are among the common varieties. Licorice is generally used to intensify the flavor of these plums and is used to make salty plum drinks and toppings for shaved ice or baobing. Pickled plums are another type of preserve available in Asia and international specialty stores. The Japanese variety, called umeboshi, is often used for rice balls, called onigiri or omusubi. The ume, from which umeboshi are made, is more closely related, however, to the apricot than to the plum.

In the Balkans, plum is converted into an alcoholic drink named slivovitz (plum brandy, called in Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin or Serbian šljivovica).2526 A large number of plums, of the Damson variety, are also grown in Hungary, where they are called szilva and are used to make lekvar (a plum paste jam), palinka (traditional fruit brandy), plum dumplings, and other foods. In Romania, 80% of the plum production is used to create a similar brandy, called țuică.27

As with many other members of the rose family, plum kernels contain cyanogenic glycosides, including amygdalin.28 Prune kernel oil is made from the fleshy inner part of the pit of the plum. Though not available commercially, the wood of plum trees is used by hobbyists and other private woodworkers for musical instruments, knife handles, inlays, and similar small projects.29

Production

In 2019, global production of plums (data combined with sloes) was 12.6 million tonnes, led by China with 56% of the world total (table).30 Romania and Serbia were secondary producers.31

Nutrition

Raw plums are 87% water, 11% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and less than 1% fat (table). In a 100-gram (3+1⁄2-ounce) reference serving, raw plums supply 192 kilojoules (46 kilocalories) of food energy and are a moderate source only of vitamin C (12% Daily Value), with no other micronutrients in significant content (table).

Species

Main article: Prunus subg. Prunus

The numerous species of Prunus subg. Prunus are classified into many sections, but not all of them are called plums. Plums include species of sect. Prunus and sect. Prunocerasus,32 as well as P. mume of sect. Armeniaca. Only two plum species, the hexaploid European plum (Prunus domestica) and the diploid Japanese plum (Prunus salicina and hybrids), are of worldwide commercial significance. The origin of P. domestica is uncertain but may have involved P. cerasifera and possibly P. spinosa as ancestors. Other species of plum variously originated in Europe, Asia and America.33

Sect. Prunus (Old World plums) – leaves in bud rolled inwards; flowers 1–3 together; fruit smooth, often wax-bloomed

ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistributionCytology
P. brigantina34Briançon plum, Briançon apricot, marmot plumEurope
P. cerasiferacherry plum, myrobalan plumSoutheast Europe and Western Asia2n=16,(24)
P. cocomiliaItalian plumAlbania, Croatia, Greece, southern Italy (including Sicily), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and western Turkey
P. domestica (species of most "plums" and "prunes")Europe2n=16, 48
P. domestica ssp. insititiadamsons, bullacesAsia
P. salicinaChinese plumChina2n=16,(24)
P. simonii (widely cultivated in North China)35China2n=16
P. spinosablackthorn or sloeEurope, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa2n=4x=32
P. vachuschtiiAluchaCaucasus

Sect. Prunocerasus (New World plums) – leaves in bud folded inwards; flowers 3–5 together; fruit smooth, often wax-bloomed

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistributionCytology
P. alleghaniensisAllegheny plumthe Appalachian Mountains from New York to Kentucky and North Carolina, plus the Lower Peninsula of Michigan
P. americanaAmerican plumNorth America from Saskatchewan and Idaho south to New Mexico and east to Québec, Maine and Florida
P. angustifoliaChickasaw plumFlorida west as far as New Mexico and California
P. gracilisOklahoma plumAlabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas
P. hortulanaHortulan plumArkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia
P. maritimaBeach plumEast Coast of the United States, from Maine south to Maryland
P. mexicanaMexican plumcentral United States and Northern Mexico
P. murrayanaMurray's plumTexas
P. nigraCanada plum, Black plumeastern North America from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south as far as Connecticut, Illinois, and Iowa
P. × orthosepala (P. americana × P. angustifolia)southern and central United States
P. reverchoniiThicket plum
P. rivularisRiver plum, Creek plum,Wildgoose plumCalifornia, Arkansas, southern Illinois, south-eastern Kansas, Kentucky, northern Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, south-western Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas
P. subcordataKlamath, Oregon, or Sierra plumCalifornia and western and southern Oregon
P. texanaTexas plum, Sand plum, Peachbush plumcentral and western Texas
P. umbellataHog plum, Flatwoods plum, Sloe plumUnited States from Virginia, south to Florida, and west to Texas

Sect. Armeniaca (apricots) – leaves in bud rolled inwards; flowers very short-stalked; fruit velvety; treated as a distinct subgenus by some authors

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistributionCytology
P. mumeChinese plum, Japanese apricotWestern Asia

In certain parts of the world, some fruits are called plums and are quite different from fruits known as plums in Europe or the Americas. For example, marian plums are popular in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, otherwise also known as gandaria, plum mango, ma-praang, ma-yong, ramania, kundang, rembunia or setar.36 Another example is the loquat, also known as Japanese plum and Japanese medlar, as well as nispero, bibassier and wollmispel elsewhere.3738 In South Asia and Southeast Asia, Jambul, a fruit from tropical tree in family Myrtaceae, is similarly sometimes referred to 'damson plums', and it is different from damson plums found in Europe and Americas.39 Jambul is also called as Java plum, Malabar plum, Jaman, Jamun, Jamblang, Jiwat, Salam, Duhat, Koeli, Jambuláo or Koriang.

See also

Look up plum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • Media related to Plums at Wikimedia Commons
  • Plum at the Wikibooks Cookbook subproject

References

  1. "What is the Difference Between Prunes and Dried Plums?". Delighted Cooking. Retrieved 2023-04-01. http://www.delightedcooking.com/what-is-the-difference-between-prunes-and-dried-plums.htm ↩

  2. "Prune". Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press. 2018. Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20160925134919/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/prune ↩

  3. Jules Janick, ed. (1998). Horticultural Reviews (Volume 23). Wiley. ISBN 978-0471254454. 978-0471254454 ↩

  4. Jules Janick (2005). "The origins of fruits, fruit growing and fruit breeding" (PDF). Purdue University. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-05-21. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/NEWCROP/pdfs/origins-fruit-growing-breeding.pdf ↩

  5. Spangenberg; et al. (January 2006). "Chemical analyses of organic residues in archaeological pottery from Arbon Bleiche". Journal of Archaeological Science. 33 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2005.05.013. /wiki/Doi_(identifier) ↩

  6. Albala, Ken (2011). Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-313-37626-9. 978-0-313-37626-9 ↩

  7. Lyle, Katie Letcher (2010) [2004]. The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Mushrooms, Fruits, and Nuts: How to Find, Identify, and Cook Them (2nd ed.). Guilford, CN: FalconGuides. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-59921-887-8. OCLC 560560606. 978-1-59921-887-8 ↩

  8. Ibn al-'Awwam, Yaḥyá (1864). Le livre de l'agriculture d'Ibn-al-Awam (kitab-al-felahah) (in French). Translated by J.-J. Clement-Mullet. Paris: A. Franck. pp. 319–321 (ch. 7 - Article 42). OCLC 780050566. (pp. 319–321 (Article XLII) /wiki/Ibn_al-%27Awwam ↩

  9. Davidson, Alan (2014). Jaine, Tom (ed.). The Oxford companion to food (3. ed. / ed. by Tom Jaine ed.). Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-19-967733-7. 978-0-19-967733-7 ↩

  10. Davidson, Alan (2014). Jaine, Tom (ed.). The Oxford companion to food (3. ed. / ed. by Tom Jaine ed.). Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-19-967733-7. 978-0-19-967733-7 ↩

  11. Davidson, Alan (2014). Jaine, Tom (ed.). The Oxford companion to food (3. ed. / ed. by Tom Jaine ed.). Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-19-967733-7. 978-0-19-967733-7 ↩

  12. prūnum. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary on Perseus Project. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry=prunum ↩

  13. προῦμνον. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=prou=mnon ↩

  14. "Prune". Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press. 2018. Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20160925134919/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/prune ↩

  15. Harper, Douglas. "plum". Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/?term=plum ↩

  16. Harper, Douglas. "plum". Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/?term=plum ↩

  17. "Plum, prune, European type". Purdue University. 1999. Archived from the original on 2012-04-12. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/Crops/Plum_prune.html ↩

  18. "Prunus domestica Plum, European plum PFAF Plant Database". pfaf.org. Archived from the original on 2012-11-22. http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Prunus+domestica ↩

  19. "Plum (and sloe) production in 2019; Crops/Regions/World/Production Quantity by picklists". UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Statistics Division. 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2021. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC ↩

  20. Clark, Larry. "Plums". Washington State Magazine. Retrieved 2021-02-20. https://magazine.wsu.edu/2017/08/07/plums/ ↩

  21. Boonprakob, U.; Byrne, D.H. (2003). "Species composition of Japanese plum founding clones as revealed by RAPD markers". Acta Horticulturae (622): 473–476. doi:10.17660/actahortic.2003.622.51. ISSN 0567-7572. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2003.622.51 ↩

  22. Eremin, G.V. (2006). "Prunus rossica (Rosaceae), a new hybridogenous species". Botanicheskii Zhurnal. 91 (9): 1405–1410. https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=9274159 ↩

  23. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212003/http://www.bioed.org/ECOS/inquiries/inquiries/PhenologyofFlowers.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2024-02-21. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212003/http://www.bioed.org/ECOS/inquiries/inquiries/PhenologyofFlowers.pdf ↩

  24. Skinner (1984), Chinery (2007), and see references in Savela (2002) ↩

  25. Crowell and Guymon (1973). "Aroma Constituents of Plum Brandy". American Journal of Enology. 24 (4): 159–165. /wiki/American_Journal_of_Enology_and_Viticulture ↩

  26. Jan Velíšek; František Pudil; Jiří Davídek; Vladislav Kubelka (1982). "The neutral volatile components of Czechoslovak plum brandy". Zeitschrift für Lebensmittel-Untersuchung und -Forschung A. 174 (6): 463–466. doi:10.1007/BF01042726. S2CID 88247885. /wiki/Doi_(identifier) ↩

  27. România e cel mai mare producător de prune din UE. Cele mai multe fructe folosesc la ţuică și palincă https://observator.tv/social/romanii-cei-mai-mari-producatori-de-prune-din-europa-insa-recolta-nu-ajunge-in-borcanele-cu-magiun-ci-in-cazanele-de-tuica-233725.html ↩

  28. Burrows, G.E.; Tyrl, R.J. (2012). "Rosaceae Juss.". Toxic Plants of North America. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 1064–1094. ↩

  29. "Plum". The Wood Database. Archived from the original on 2014-10-25. http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/plum/ ↩

  30. "Plum (and sloe) production in 2019; Crops/Regions/World/Production Quantity by picklists". UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Statistics Division. 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2021. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC ↩

  31. "Plum (and sloe) production in 2019; Crops/Regions/World/Production Quantity by picklists". UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Statistics Division. 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2021. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC ↩

  32. Shi, Shuo; Li, Jinlu; Sun, Jiahui; Yu, Jing; Zhou, Shiliang (2013). "Phylogeny and classification of Prunus sensu lato (Rosaceae)". Journal of Integrative Plant Biology. 55 (11): 1069–1079. Bibcode:2013JIPB...55.1069S. doi:10.1111/jipb.12095. ISSN 1744-7909. PMID 23945216. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jipb.12095 ↩

  33. Bruce L. Topp; Dougal M. Russell; Michael Neumüller; Marco A. Dalbó; Weisheng Liu (2012). "Plum". Plum (Handbook of Plant Breeding). Vol. 8, part 3. Springer. pp. 571–621. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-0763-9_15. ISBN 9781441907639. 9781441907639 ↩

  34. Shi, Shuo; Li, Jinlu; Sun, Jiahui; Yu, Jing; Zhou, Shiliang (2013). "Phylogeny and classification of Prunus sensu lato (Rosaceae)". Journal of Integrative Plant Biology. 55 (11): 1069–1079. Bibcode:2013JIPB...55.1069S. doi:10.1111/jipb.12095. ISSN 1744-7909. PMID 23945216. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jipb.12095 ↩

  35. "Prunus simonii in Flora of China @ efloras.org". efloras.org. Archived from the original on 2013-11-03. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200011161 ↩

  36. "Under-Utilized Tropical Fruits of Thailand (see Part 1, section 3)". FAO, United Nations. 2001. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/ab777e/ab777e00.htm ↩

  37. "Japanese Plum - Loquat". University of Florida, Nassau County Extension, Horticulture. 2006. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080723230636/http://nassau.ifas.ufl.edu/horticulture/fruit/loquat.html ↩

  38. J. Morton (1987). "Loquat". University of Purdue. Archived from the original on 2013-06-24. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/loquat.html ↩

  39. "Jambolan". Purdue University. 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-09-10. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/jambolan.html ↩