New research shows more health benefits of plums
NEW research shows the queen garnet plum may have a powerful anti-inflammatory effect that could provide relief to people with inflammatory bowel disease.
The University of Southern Queensland conducted research on the nectar of plums and found consumption of anthocyanins – powerful antioxidants – significantly reduced the effects of IBD in rats.
Queensland-based Nutrafruit, which holds the global licence to market the queen garnet, has invested heavily in research on the back of the discovery of the fruit’s lengthy list of health benefits.
“USQ researchers attribute this to the known anti-inflammatory responses of the plum’s properties (anthocyanins) which are also known to reverse inflammation of the heart and liver, blood pressure and fat levels in obese and hypertensive rats,” Nutrafruit CEO Luke Couch said.
“Crohn’s & Colitis Australia predicts the prevalence of IBD will increase by 25 per cent to 100,000 by 2022.
“The new research shows there may be dietary ways in which people can reduce inflammation of the bowel and symptoms of this debilitating condition.”
Mr Couch said the next step in the research would be testing the anti-inflammatory effects of the fruit on humans.
There are other fruits that contain anthocyanins, but Mr Couch said none were as good to eat as the plum.
“Anthocyanins as a compound are really quite bitter, so other foods with the antioxidant can be unpalatable,” he said.
“Whereas the queen garnet is really quite sweet and delicious to eat.”
The plum, which has only been commercially available since 2014, is in season until mid-March.
“We’re about halfway through the season right now,” Mr Couch said.
“It’s usually only around six or seven weeks a year.
“We have about 30 farmers around the country growing queen garnet.
❝ The queen garnet is really quite sweet and delicious to eat. — Luke Couch
“About a third of the fruit is grown in the Granite Belt region.
“This year we will sell about 1200 tonne. That is three times the amount of fruit we sold last year.
“We have a lot of trees that we planted two to three years ago that are only just coming into maturity now and are producing small amounts of fruit, but some of our trees are a bit older and are really starting to come online.
“We’ll be able to continue to grow our production over the next three years and soon we will be able to look at some export markets.”
The fruit was originally developed by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries at their Applethorpe Research Station in 2001.
Mr Couch said the fruit is sold whole and the fruit not fit for supermarkets is used to make value-add products including nectar and freeze fried products.
It’s available for purchase at Woolworths and Coles as well as independent grocers.