A plum is a

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus''''.'' Dried plums are often called

prune A prune is a dried plum, most commonly from the European plum (''Prunus domestica'') tree. Not all plum species or varieties can be dried into prunes. Use of the term ''prune'' for fresh plums is obsolete except when applied to varieties of ...

s, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plum blossom on the first day of spring - geograph

Plum blossom on the first day of spring - geograph

Plums are likely to have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans, with origins in

East European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, and i ...

and Caucasian mountains and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. They were brought to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

from Asia, and their cultivation has been documented in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, southern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Plums are a diverse group of species, with trees reaching a height of when pruned. The fruit is a

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

, with a firm and juicy flesh.

is the largest producer of plums, followed by

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. Japanese or Chinese plums dominate the fresh fruit market, while European plums are also common in some regions. Plums can be eaten fresh, dried to make prunes, used in jams, or fermented into

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

and distilled into

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

. Plum kernels contain

cyanogenic glycosides In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

, but the oil made from them is not commercially available. In terms of

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemistry, biochemical and physiology, physiological process by which an organism uses food and water to support its life. The intake of these substances provides organisms with nutrients (divided into Macronutrient, macro- ...

, raw plums are 87% water, 11%

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

s, 1% protein, and less than 1% fat. They are a moderate source of vitamin C but do not contain significant amounts of other

micronutrient Micronutrients are essential chemicals required by organisms in small quantities to perform various biogeochemical processes and regulate physiological functions of cells and organs. By enabling these processes, micronutrients support the heal ...

History

Plums are likely to have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found in the wild, only around human settlements: ''

Prunus domestica ''Prunus domestica'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. A deciduous tree, it includes many varieties of the fruit trees known as plums in English, though not all plums belong to this species. The greengages and damsons als ...

'' has been traced to East European and Caucasian mountains, while ''

Prunus salicina ''Prunus salicina'' ( syn. ''Prunus triflora'' or ''Prunus thibetica''), commonly called the Japanese plum or Chinese plum, is a small deciduous tree native to China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. It is an introduced species in Korea, Japan, the Un ...

'' and ''

Prunus simonii ''Prunus simonii'', called apricot plum and Simon plum, is a tree in the genus ''Prunus''. It was first described by Elie-Abel Carrière in 1872 and is native to Hebei province, China. The species is not known in a truly wild state. It has been ...

'' originated in China. Plum remains have been found in

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

age archaeological sites along with olives, grapes and figs. According to

Ken Albala Ken Albala is an American food historian, chef, author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating suc ...

, plums originated in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. They were brought to Britain from Asia. An article on plum tree cultivation in

(southern Spain) appears in

Ibn al-'Awwam Ibn al-'Awwam (), also called Abu Zakariya Ibn al-Awwam (), was an Al-Andalus agriculturist who flourished at Seville (modern-day southern Spain) in the later 12th century. He wrote a lengthy handbook on agriculture entitled in Arabic '' Kitāb al ...

's 12th-century agricultural work, ''Book on Agriculture''. Plum cultivation is recorded in medieval monasteries in England. A garden with 'ploumes' and 'bulaces' is referred to by

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He ...

. The cultivation of plums increased during the 17th and 18th centuries. During this period

greengages The greengages are a group of cultivars of the common Middle Eastern plum. The first true greengage came from a green-fruited wild plum which originated in Iran. Greengages are grown in temperate areas and are known for the rich, confectionery f ...

were given their English name and the Mirabelle plum became firmly established. 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.

Etymology and names

The name plum comes from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

"plum, plum tree", an evolution of , which was a common

West Germanic The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic languages, Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic languages, North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages, East Germ ...

loanword from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, which borrowed it from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

, itself believed to be a

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

from an unknown language of

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. In the late 18th century, the word ''plum'' was used to indicate "something sweet or agreeable", probably in reference to tasty fruit pieces in

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

s, as in the word ''

sugar plum Sugar plums are a type of dragée or other hard candy made into small round or oval shapes. The ''plum'' in the name of these confections does not always mean plum in the sense of the fruit, but rather their small size and spherical or oval shap ...

''.

Description

Plums are a diverse group of species. The commercially important plum trees are medium-sized, usually pruned to height. The tree is of medium hardiness. Without pruning, the trees can reach in height and spread across . 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. Fruits are usually of medium size, between 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

, meaning its fleshy fruit surrounds a single hard fruitstone which encloses the fruit's seed.

Cultivation and uses

File:16-09-17-WikiLovesCocktails-Zutaten-Img0163.jpg, Japanese or Chinese plum File:Damson plum fruit.jpg, Damsons (European plum) File:Slivka.JPG, Prune plums (European plum) File:Prunus domestica 'Reine Victoria'.jpg, Victoria plums (European plum) File:Greengages 0.jpg, Greengages (European plum) File:Mirabellen.jpg, Mirabelles (European plum) File:Cherry plums.jpg, Myrobalan or cherry plums 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. They are cultivars of ''

'' 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. Prune

In some parts of Europe, European plum (''

'') is also common in fresh fruit market. It has both dessert (eating) or culinary (cooking)

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s, which include: *

Damson The damson (), damson plum, or damasceneSamuel Johnson equates "damascene" and "damson" and for "damask plum" simply states "see Plum" (''A Dictionary of the English Language'', 1755, p. 532). Later expanded editions also distinguish between "da ...

(purple or black skin, green flesh, clingstone, astringent) * Prune plum (usually oval, freestone, sweet, fresh eaten or used to make prunes) *

Greengage The greengages are a group of cultivars of the common Middle Eastern plum. The first true greengage came from a green-fruited wild plum which originated in Iran. Greengages are grown in temperate areas and are known for the rich, confectionery f ...

(firm, green flesh and skin even when ripe) *

Mirabelle Mirabelle plum (''Prunus domestica'' subsp. ''syriaca'') is a cultivar group of plum trees of the genus ''Prunus''. It is believed that the plum was cultivated from a wild fruit grown in Anatolia. Description The mirabelle is identified by it ...

(dark yellow, predominantly grown in northeast

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) * 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 __NOTOC__ ''Prunus cerasifera'' is a species of plum known by the common names cherry plum and myrobalan plum.''Prunus'' × ''rossica''). When it flowers in the early spring, a plum tree will be covered in

blossom In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus ''Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring. Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such as w ...

s, and in a good year approximately 50% of the flowers will be pollinated and become plums. Flowering starts after 80 growing degree days. 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

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

, including November moth, willow beauty and short-cloaked moth. 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 Ginseng () is the root of plants in the genus ''Panax'', such as South China ginseng (''Panax notoginseng, P. notoginseng''), Korean ginseng (''Panax ginseng, P. ginseng''), and American ginseng (''American ginseng, P. quinquefol ...

, spicy, and salty are among the common varieties.

Licorice Liquorice (Commonwealth English) or licorice (American English; see spelling differences; ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring is ...

is generally used to intensify the flavor of these plums and is used to make salty plum drinks and toppings for

shaved ice Shaved ice is a large family of ice-based desserts made of fine shavings of ice and sweet condiments or syrups. Usually, the syrup is added after the ice has been frozen and shaved—typically at the point of sale; however, flavoring can also be ...

or '' baobing''. Pickled plums are another type of preserve available in Asia and international specialty stores. The Japanese variety, called ''

umeboshi ''Umeboshi'' (Japanese language, Japanese: wiktionary:梅, 梅干し, pronounced , ) are pickled (brined) ''ume'' fruits common in Japanese cuisine, Japan. The word ''umeboshi'' is often translated into English as 'salted Japanese plums', 'J ...

'', is often used for rice balls, called ''onigiri'' or ''omusubi''. The ''

ume ''Prunus mume'', the Chinese plum or Japanese apricot, is a tree species in the family Rosaceae. Along with bamboo, the plant is intimately associated with art, literature, and everyday life in China, from where it was then introduced to Kor ...

'', from which ''umeboshi'' are made, is more closely related, however, to the

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

than to the plum. In the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

, plum is converted into an alcoholic drink named ''

slivovitz Slivovitz is a fruit spirit (or fruit brandy) made from damson plums, often referred to as plum spirit (or plum brandy). If anyone else has a dictionary of some Slavic language that translates your word for slivovitz as "plum brandy", please ...

'' (plum brandy, called in Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin or Serbian '' šljivovica''). 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''.România e cel mai mare producător de prune din UE. Cele mai multe fructe folosesc la ţuică și palincă
/ref> As with many other members of the

rose family Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. The family includes herbs, shrubs, and trees. Most species are deciduous, but some ...

, plum kernels contain

, including

amygdalin Amygdalin (from Ancient Greek: ' 'almond') is a naturally occurring chemical compound found in many plants, most notably in the seeds (kernels, pips or stones) of apricots, bitter almonds, apples, peaches, cherries and plums, and in the roots ...

. 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.

Production

In 2019, global production of plums (data combined with

sloe ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Ba ...

s) was 12.6 million

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

s, led by China with 56% of the world total (table).

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

were secondary producers.

Nutrition

Raw plums are 87% water, 11%

carbohydrates A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ma ...

, 1%

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

, and less than 1%

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specif ...

(table). In a reference serving, raw plums supply of

food energy Food energy is chemical energy that animals and humans derive from food to sustain their metabolism and muscular activity. Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the carbohydrates, fats, and protein ...

and are a moderate source only of

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...

(12%

Daily Value In the U.S. and Canada, the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) is used in nutrition labeling on food and dietary supplement products to indicate the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97� ...

), with no other

s in significant content (table).

Species

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'', as well as '' P. mume'' of sect. ''Armeniaca''. Only two plum species, the hexaploid European plum (''

'') and the diploid Japanese plum (''

'' 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. Sect. ''Prunus'' (

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

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

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

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

s) – leaves in bud rolled inwards; flowers very short-stalked; fruit velvety; treated as a distinct subgenus by some authors 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''. Another example is the

loquat The loquat (''Eriobotrya japonica'', Chinese: 枇杷; Pinyin: pípá) is a large evergreen shrub or tree grown commercially for its orange fruit. It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant. The loquat is in the family Rosaceae, subfamily Spi ...

, also known as Japanese plum and Japanese medlar, as well as ''nispero'', ''bibassier'' and ''wollmispel'' elsewhere. In South Asia and Southeast Asia, Jambul, a fruit from tropical tree in family

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae (), the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All ...

, is similarly sometimes referred to 'damson plums', and it is different from damson plums found in Europe and Americas. Jambul is also called as ''Java plum'', ''Malabar plum'', ''Jaman'', ''Jamun'', ''Jamblang'', ''Jiwat'', ''Salam'', ''Duhat'', ''Koeli'', ''Jambuláo'' or ''Koriang''.

Gallery

File:Closeup of blackthorn aka sloe aka prunus spinosa sweden 20050924.jpg, Sloe or blackthorn, ''Prunus spinosa'' File:970718-DriedGoldenPlum-IMG 7527-2.jpg, Dried yellow plums File:Black Amber Plum DS.jpg, Black Amber Plum (Japanese or Chinese plum) File:Šljiva Stanley - zreli plodovi (2022).JPG, Stanley plum variety

References

External links

* * {{Cookbook-inline, Plum Plum

Plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...

Medicinal plants Laxatives Drupes