Prunes, but not plums?

[CookingWithGas]

Why are prunes thought of as a natural laxative, but not plums? A prune is just a plum without as much water. Shouldn’t 1 prune = 1 plum for such purposes?

[toadspittle]

Yes, but you don’t usu. eat 1 prune alone to provide the laxative effect. Since it’s dried, it’s smaller, and you can eat more of them at a sitting, thus cramming more fiber, etc., down your digestive tract.

[Johnny_L.A]

Hijack:

I’ve been seeing “dried plums” instead of “prunes”. I read somewhere that calling a dried plum a “prune” is incorrect for some botanical reason, but I’m cynical. Is it just a marketing ploy to make prunes sound more attractive by calling them “plums”? Or is there really a botanical difference in the fruits that are dried to make prunes, and the average plum?

[toadspittle]

It’s a marketing ploy. A good one, it seems:

http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2001/09/03/daily8.html

Dried plums selling better than prunes

…But the fruits are identical – except for the name.

…the prune growers of California voted to change the name to dried plums. The industry was interested in changing the image of its product not only to appeal to a younger audience, but to broaden its market base by focusing on things that resonated with consumers – health, nutrition, convenience and taste.

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

http://www.californiadriedplums.org/consumer/nutrition_dd.asp

Currently, the exact substances in dried plums that helps promote bowel movement remain unsolved. It is common to think of fiber as responsible for the laxative effect. A serving of five dried plums provides three grams of dietary fiber, making dried plums a “good” source. Dried plums contain both soluble and insoluble fiber which together could act in a gentle way in the lower intestine to soften the stool, increase bulk and promote bowel motility.

Prune juice, which has less dietary fiber than dried plums, also promotes bowel function. Both dried plums and prune juice contain sorbitol, a sugar alcohol that can cause diarrhea in large doses — more than 50 grams at a time. A serving of five dried plums would provide about six grams of sorbitol. A four-ounce glass of prune juice would have about eight grams of sorbitol, well below the amount that could cause diarrhea. The laxative effect of dried plums is most likely due to a combined action of fiber, sorbitol and phenolic compounds that might effect electrolyte and water balance in the intestinal tract.

And if you have nothing else to do this afternoon, check out their 10-page “History” section. A prune grower once imported 500 monkeys to pick plums. Guess what? It didn’t work–they ate them as fast as they could pick them.

http://www.californiadriedplums.org/consumer/pgs_history4.asp

I love the Internet.

BTW, Johnny, the “dried plum growers” have special varieties of plums that produce better prunes, the way you have different kinds of apples, but they’re still all just “plums”, botanically speaking.