{"id":4608,"date":"2025-09-25T10:13:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T08:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agrintesa.it\/plums-sweetness-and-health\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T12:31:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T10:31:15","slug":"plums-sweetness-and-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.agrintesa.it\/en\/plums-sweetness-and-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Plums: sweetness and health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Plums<\/strong> are summer fruits that combine <strong>freshness, taste and health benefits.<\/strong> They contain a high percentage of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Water<\/strong>, useful for hydration<\/li>\n<li><strong>dietary fiber<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Vitamins<\/strong>, particularly A, C and K<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mineral salts<\/strong> (including <strong>potassium<\/strong>, in high amounts)<\/li>\n<li>and, in the <strong>black- or blue-skinned varieties<\/strong>, also of <strong>anthocyanins<\/strong>, antioxidant pigments that protect the cardiovascular system, improve the elasticity of blood vessels, counteract the oxidation of LDL cholesterol and help <strong>keep blood pressure under control<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Sodium-potassium balance: why it is important<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>One of the nutritional advantages of plums is their <strong>high potassium content<\/strong> combined with <strong>very low sodium content<\/strong>.<br \/>\nThis helps <strong>balance the sodium-potassium balance<\/strong>, which is often unbalanced in the modern diet and is responsible for <strong>water retention<\/strong> and <strong>hypertension<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>How to use plums in cooking<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Plums are <strong>versatile<\/strong> and, in addition to being perfect eaten fresh, lend themselves to many preparations: <\/p>\n<p><strong>In sweet recipes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>ideal for <strong>muffins, tarts, cakes<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Excellent for making <strong>jams<\/strong> or <strong>preserves<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>In savory recipes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Their <strong>natural sweetness<\/strong> goes well with stronger flavors. Try them in: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Salads with <strong>taggiasca olives<\/strong>, <strong>vegetable feta<\/strong>, <strong>walnuts<\/strong> and <strong>balsamic vinegar<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Dishes made with <strong>barley<\/strong> or other whole grains<\/li>\n<li>Summer pairings with <strong>arugula, spinach or herbs.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Fresh or dried: good all year round<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Although their seasonality is summer, plums can be eaten:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Dried<\/strong> (the famous prunes)<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the form of a dehydrated snack<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These versions retain some of their <strong>nutritional properties<\/strong>, particularly fiber and minerals, making them <strong>useful year-round<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>In summary: why to choose plums<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Rich in <strong>water, fiber and sorbitol<\/strong> for the well-being of the body<\/li>\n<li>High <strong>potassium<\/strong> content, important for the heart<\/li>\n<li>Source of <strong>anthocyanins<\/strong> for vascular protection<\/li>\n<li><strong>Versatile in cooking<\/strong>, sweet or savory, fresh or dried.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Plums are <strong>a small natural ally for our well-being<\/strong>, combining <strong>taste, health and convenience<\/strong>. Take advantage of them when they are in season, but don&#8217;t forget them during the other months of the year either! <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>by dietitian Alessandra Zanini<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Sources:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bda-ieo.it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IEO &#8211; Food Composition Database (BDA).<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>&#8211; A Systematic Review on the Health Effects of Plums (Prunus domestica and Prunus salicina) &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/?term=Igwe+EO&amp;cauthor_id=26992121\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ezinne O Igwe<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/?term=Charlton+KE&amp;cauthor_id=26992121\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Karen E Charlton<\/a> &#8211; PMID: 26992121<\/h1>\n<h1>&#8211; The role of polyphenols in modern nutrition &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/?term=Williamson+G&amp;cauthor_id=28983192\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">G Williamson<\/a> &#8211; PMID: 28983192<\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Plums are summer fruits that combine freshness, taste and health benefits. They contain a high percentage of: Water, useful for hydration dietary fiber Vitamins, particularly A, C and K Mineral salts (including potassium, in high amounts) and, in the black- or blue-skinned varieties, also of anthocyanins, antioxidant pigments that protect the cardiovascular system, improve the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-and-wellness"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agrintesa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agrintesa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agrintesa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrintesa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrintesa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4608"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrintesa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5305,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrintesa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4608\/revisions\/5305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agrintesa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrintesa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrintesa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}