Plum Facts
All About Plum Facts
If you're craving a plum, facts say, you are in for a treat!
• The plum, facts confirm, was originally grown in western Asia, near the Caspian Sea. Spanish missionaries brought the fruit to the west coast of the United States, and English colonists brought it to the east coast of the U.S.
• China was the original home for the plum, and they cultivated it there for thousands of years. The plum is grown in the United States mainly in California, where the weather is favorable for bumper crops.
• Plums are grown for commerce in eighty-one countries, and the total average weight of plums, facts point out, produced yearly worldwide is about twenty one billion pounds. When plums are dried after ripening, they are called prunes.
• China totally blows away all other countries in plum growth, cultivating forty-five percent of the world's plums. In second place is the United States, with a total of only seven percent. The next three producers, in order, are Serbia (6%), Romania (6%) and Germany (5%).
• There are not many fruits like the plum, facts say, that come in as many different colors. Plum growing season generally runs from May through October. Varieties from Japan are the first to the supermarket, from May to a peak in August, and then the European types are harvested into the fall.
• Plums are a good source of vitamin C (providing about 10% of your daily recommended allowance), vitamin A (providing about 5% of your RDA) and dietary fiber, as well as vitamin B2 and potassium.
• Plums and prunes are both very healthy to snack on or eat as part of a meal. They provide antioxidants, plum facts state, and protection against macular degeneration.
• There are over two thousand varieties of plums, and over one hundred varieties are available here in the United States. Plums are related to peaches, nectarines and almonds.
• If you are looking to purchase plums that are ready to eat, select plums that respond to pressure just a bit, and are soft at the tip. You can buy plums firm and let them ripen for you at home, but avoid any plums that are very hard, because they probably will not ripen as well as those that are closer to ripeness.
• You can make a unique pizza by slicing plums and then broiling them, and adding them to walnuts, goat cheese and sage. Put this mixture on a pizza crust or pita bread for a great meal.
• You can liven up your cold breakfast cereal by adding some sliced plums.
• To make a tasty dessert, use a red wine to poach plums in, and then serve this with lemon zest.
• Plum facts say bake plum halves (pitted) at 200 degrees in an oven until they appear wrinkled. Mix these into a bread recipe for a sweet and useful bread. Plums have so many uses, try some today!