Plum Prunus domestica Evidence of plum-eating has been found in Switzerland at prehistoric lake-sites and it is thought to be native to a wide band from Anatolia, the Caucasus and northern Persia. Mesopotamian records mention that they were grown in the orchards there and an Assyrian herbal recommends that they are eaten with honey and butter. The Romans were fond of plums and experimented a great deal, as they did with all the fruit plants they liked, with grafting and cultivation techniques, to produce a great number of varieties. As Pliny the Elder, the 1st century encyclopaedist put it “a great throng”. Their genetic tinkering probably ensured that the plum reached the status of having more varieties than any other stone fruit today, with a staggering total of something over 2000. The Latin generic name is used elsewhere, in varying forms, such as the French prune, as the common name for the fruit but in England, this term has been used exclusively for the dried form since Medieval times. In the Middle Ages, the contrary English also used the word plum to mean almost any kind of dried fruit too, leading to quite a bit of confusion as to the original recipes for those British classics such as plum pudding and cake - Little Jack Horner could have pulled out a large raisin or cherry. Culpeper, the herbalist who mixed astrology in with his botany, assigned the plum to Venus, reasoning that the fruits were very much like women - “some better and some worse.” Nutritionally, plums are a good source of Vitamin E, an antioxidant which helps to protect body cells from the damage caused by ‘free radicals’, and may help to combat the effects of ageing. Umeboshi, brine-pickled plums are used in traditional far-Eastern medicine to treat digestive problems. When dried, as prunes, plums are a concentrated source of fruit sugars, an ideal energy food and they also provide potassium, iron and Vitamin B6. They are also a useful source of dietary fibre with helps to avoid constipation and may help to combat certain cancers, like those of the colon and bowel. In addition, studies carried out in the United States are thought to indicate that the soluble fibre found in prunes may help to lower ‘bad’ or LDL cholesterol levels. Prunes also lower the levels of certain acids in the body, which may also help to protect against colon cancer. Prunes are also a good source of beta-carotene, iron, which is necessary in red blood cell manufacture, copper, which prevents blood clots, thus avoiding thrombosis and stroke, and boron, important in helping post-menopausal women retain the oestrogen that is needed for calcium absorption, so guarding against osteoporosis. A 100g serving of fresh plums, with skin = 36 kcalories, 8.8g carbodhydrate in the form of sugars, 1.6g fibre, 13mg calcium, 0.4mg iron, 2mg sodium, 49 µg Vitamin A, 0.05mg thiamin, 4mg vitamin C. 100g prunes =141 kcalories, 34g carbohydrate as sugar, 5.4g fibre, 34mg calcium, 2.6mg iron, 11mg sodium, 23 µg Vitamin A, 0.09mg thiamin, and no vitamin C.