Plum

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Biography

A plum or gage is a drupe|stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus , subgenus Prunus . The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera ( peach es, cherry|cherries , bird cherry (subgenus)|bird cherries , etc.) in the shoot s having a terminal bud and solitary side buds (not clustered), the flower s in groups of one to five together on short plant stem|stems , and the fruit having a groove running down one side and a smooth Pyrena|stone (or pit ).

Mature plum fruit may have a dusty-white coating that gives them a glaucous appearance; this is easily rubbed off. This is an epicuticular wax coating and is known as "wax bloom". Dried plum fruits are called dried plums or prunes , although prune s are a distinct type of plum, and may have antedated the fruits now commonly known as plums.

Species

The subgenus is divided into three sections:

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

* Cherry plum|P. cerasifera (cherry plum)

* Prunus cocomilia|P. cocomilia (Italian plum)

* P. consociiflora"

* Prunus domestica|P. domestica (species of most "plums" and " prune s" sold as such)

* Damson|P. insititia (damsons)

* P. simonii

* Prunus spinosa|P. spinosa (blackthorn or sloe)

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

* Prunus alleghaniensis|P. alleghaniensis (Allegheny plum)

* Prunus americana|P. americana (American plum)

* Prunus angustifolia|P. angustifolia (Chickasaw plum)

* P. hortulana

* Prunus maritima|P. maritima (beach plum)

* Prunus mexicana|P. mexicana _(Mexican plum)

* Prunus nigra|P. nigra (Canada plum, Black plum)

* P. × orthosepala ( P. americana × P. angustifolia)

* Prunus subcordata|P. subcordata (Klamath, Oregon, or Sierra plum)

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

* Apricot|P. armeniaca (apricot)

* P. brigantina

* Prunus mume|P. mume (Chinese plum, Japanese apricot)

* P. sibirica

Cultivation and uses

Plum fruit tastes sweet and/or tart; the skin 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 ; when distilled, this produces a brandy known in Eastern Europe as Slivovitz , Rakia , Tuica or Pálinka . In central England, a cider-like alcoholic beverage known as plum jerkum is made from plums.

Dried plums (or prunes) are also sweet and juicy and contain several antioxidant s. Plums and prunes are known for their laxative effect. This effect has been attributed to various compounds present in the fruits, such as dietary fiber , sorbitol , and isatin . Prunes and prune juice are often used to help regulate the functioning of the digestive system . Dried prune marketers in the United States have, in recent years, begun marketing their product as "dried plums". This is due to "prune" having negative connotations connected with elderly people suffering from constipation .

Dried, salted plums are used as a snack, sometimes known as saladitos|saladito or salao . Various flavors of dried plum are available at Chinese people|Chinese grocers and specialty stores worldwide. They tend to be much drier than the standard prune. Cream, ginsing, 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 slush (beverage)|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.

As with many other members of the rose family, plum seeds contain Glycosides#Cyanogenic_glycosides|cyanogenic glycosides , including amygdalin . These substances are capable of decomposing into a sugar molecule and cyanide|hydrogen cyanide gas. While plum seeds are not the most toxic within the rose family (the Almond#Sweet_and_bitter_almonds|bitter almond is the most toxic ), large doses of these chemicals from any source are hazardous to human health.

Prune kernel oil is made from the fleshy inner part of the pit of the plum.

Plums come in a wide variety of colors and sizes. Some are much firmer-fleshed than others, and some have yellow, white, green or red flesh, with equally varying skin color.

Plum cultivar s in use today include:

Damson or Damask plum

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

Mirabelle Plum|Mirabelle (dark yellow, predominantly grown in northeast France )

Satsuma plum (firm red flesh with a red skin)

Victoria (plum)|Victoria (yellow flesh with a red or mottled skin)

Yellowgage (plum)|Yellowgage or golden plum (similar to greengage, but yellow)

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

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 very small 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 e of some Lepidoptera , including November moth , willow beauty and short-cloaked moth .

The Serbian (plum)|Serbian plum ( Serbian language|Serbian : ????? / šljiva ) is the third most produced in the world and the alcoholic drink slivovitz (plum brandy) (Serbian: ????????? / šljivovica ) is the national drink of Serbia. The plum production averages 424,300 tons per year; FAO 1991–2001.
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 (a slivovitz -type liquor), plum dumplings, and other foods. The region of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County|Szabolcs-Szatmár , in the northeastern part of the country near the borders with Ukraine and Romania, is a major producer of plums.

The plum blossom or meihua (), along with the peony , are considered traditional floral emblems of China .

The plum is commonly used in China, Yunnan area, to produce a local plum wine with a smooth, sweet, fruity taste and approximately 12% alcohol by volume.

Etymology

The fruit Prunus armeniaca gained its name from the beliefs of Pliny the Elder , a Roman historian and scientist of the first century, who maintained the apricot was a kind of a plum, and had originally come from Armenia .Armenian Food: Fact, Fiction & Folklore By Irina Petrosian, David Underwood Armenia n sources support their claims by referring to a 6,000-year-old apricot pit found in an archaeological site near Yerevan . Other historians point to Mesopotamia as a clue to the Latin name. Apricots were cultivated in Mesopotamia, and it was known as armanu in the Akkadian language , but this did not refer to Armenia as that is not the name by which that geographic region was known in the Akkadian language. It is likely that Pliny's explanation is a folk etymology based on the similarity between the Mesopotamian name for the fruit and the Latin name for Armenia.

Production

Top ten plum producers in 2009
Country	Production ( ton s)	Note
flag>China
flag>Serbia
flag>USA
flag>Romania
flag>Turkey
flag>Spain
flag>Italy
flag>Bosnia and Herzegovina
flag>France
flag>Ukraine
noflag World
No symbol = official figure, E = FAO Estimate, A = may include official, semi-official or estimates.

Copyright Citations

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Undetermined Music Artists

Biography

Species

Cultivation and uses

Etymology

Production

See also

References

External links

Copyright Citations