By definition, a prune is a dried
plum. All prunes are plums, but
not all plums are prunes. Prune
plum varieties can be dried without
fermenting while still containing
the pits. This is not true of all
varieties of plums. The California
prune is an offshoot of La Petite
d'Agen, a prune plum native of Southwest
France. Traditionally the fruit
was harvested and sun dried.
Today, most of the prunes out on
the market are dried through natural
gas heated dehydrators. The typical
modern process is to harvest the
fruit, wash and dehydrate. The fruit
is then graded for size and sorted.
The fruit is then stored in wooden
bins until further processed. Fruit
at this stage is referred to in
the prune industry as "Natural
Condition Fruit".
How did
they come to be?
It is believed that the ancient
peoples of the Middle East were
the first to dry plums to make prunes.
Prunes have been prepared for centuries
in France, and the prunes from the
region around Agen are still considered
by many to be the best in the world.
The original prune graft stock was
brought to California in 1856 by
Louis Pellier a French nurseryman
who came to California in 1848 in
search of gold. By 1900 prune orchards
covered approximately 90,000 acres.
Today, there are more than 75,000
"high production" acres
concentrated in the Sacramento,
Santa Clara, Sonoma, Napa and San
Joaquin Valleys. These acres produce
approximately 99% of the United
States production and an average
of 70% of the world supply. Today
the D'Agen prune coming from California
is known as the California French
Prune.
Prunes are especially high in antioxidant
activity.
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