PLUCKY PLUMS

A colleague of my husband’s gave him a load of plums the other day, and then my Mum (yes, that lady with all of the fruit trees!) gave me a whole load more. As a result, we have been eating quite a few recently. In general, plums tend to be relatively sweet and juicy, but they do have an astringent, drying kind of quality, especially when you leave the skins on. They can also be quite sour, depending on the variety you’re eating.

In Ayurveda, plums are considered to have cooling qualities, so if you’re someone who is yet to rid themselves of excess Pitta (heat!) from the Summer, or you are just a hot kind of person anyway (someone with Pitta-dominance), then plums are a great choice for you. If you already have a sluggish kind of digestion and tend to retain water, then plums aren’t the one as you are already cool and moist enough (Kapha-dominance).

Sweet, moist end-of-Summer/Autumn European plums are great for those with a Vata-dominance (air/space) as they help to soothe and nourish dryness, and are great for tempering anxious or nervous energy which can sometimes be whipped up by the wind and the change in the season or the realisation that we are nearing the end of this year already. The sweet, moist qualities can pacify excess heat and calm irritability and inflammation that can occur in Pitta-dominant people. Kapha-dominant people are better off with Asian plums that have more astringency and thus the ability to stimulate digestion and soak up excess moisture. We are all aware of the mild laxative effects that plums have, hence prune juice and stewed prunes are regularly recommended for children and old people who are finding it hard to go! As plums have a cooling quality, they are good for managing a fever if the person is in relatively good health otherwise, and for nourishing inflammation in the respiratory tract or indeed the gut.

I recently discovered that plums are the second most cultivated fruit in the world after apples, which I think is pretty incredible as they aren’t what I would consider to be ‘high profile’ here in the UK. They are definitely underrated in terms of both taste and texture, so if reading this has made you salivate a little bit, then go and get some quickly before the season runs out for the local ones!