Fruits
Red Plum in gelato
Red plum is the pureed flesh of red-skinned Prunus cultivars, a high-water, mildly acidic stone fruit used to flavor and color fruit gelato and sorbetto. It contributes natural sugars, a lively tart-sweet profile, and a notable sorbitol content that boosts anti-freezing power.
Balancing parameters
Per 100 g of product, verified against independent food-science sources (listed below).
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Total Solids | 13% |
| Water | 87% |
| Sugars | 10% |
| Fat | 0% |
| MSNF | 0% |
| Protein | 1% |
| POD (sweetening power) | 11 |
| PAC (anti-freezing power) | 18 |
Typical use: 25-40% of the mix in a plum sorbetto; 15-25% in a dairy-based gelato
Balance red plum in a real recipe
Free balancer · no signup wall · watch PAC, POD and Total Solids update live as you add it.
Open the balancerHow to use it in gelato
Use red plum as the flavor base of a plum sorbetto or a fruit-forward dairy gelato. Its sugars are glucose- and fructose-dominant (both roughly 1.9x the anti-freezing power of sucrose) and it carries plum's characteristic sorbitol, so on a per-gram basis it depresses the freezing point more strongly than table sugar. Account for this higher PAC when balancing: too much fresh plum can leave the mix soft and slow to set, so trim added dextrose or invert sugar accordingly. Its POD sits close to its sugar mass, giving clean sweetness without cloying. The pectin and fruit acids also lend body and a bright finish; a touch of lemon sharpens the flavor while ripe fruit maximizes aroma.
Origin & background
Plums are among the oldest cultivated stone fruits, with European plum (Prunus domestica) grown around the Mediterranean for over two thousand years. Most modern red-fleshed and red-skinned dessert plums descend from the Japanese plum (Prunus salicina), which originated in China and was popularized in the West by breeder Luther Burbank, whose 'Santa Rosa' cultivar was released in 1906 and remains a benchmark red plum.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy Food #169949 'Plums, raw' (per 100g: water 87.23g, sugars total 9.92g, glucose 5.07g, fructose 3.07g, sucrose 1.57g, protein 0.70g, fat 0.28g) — https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/169949/nutrients (mirror: https://tools.myfooddata.com/nutrition-facts/169949/wt1)
- Matvaretabellen (Norwegian Food Composition Table), 'Plums, raw' ID 06.544 Prunus domestica (per 100g: water 88.0g, sugars 9.1g, starch 0.2g, protein 0.5g, fat 0.1g) — https://www.matvaretabellen.no/en/plums-raw/
- Nutritionvalue.org 'Plums, raw' (USDA-sourced, confirms glucose 5.1 / fructose 3.1 / sucrose 1.6 g per 100g) — https://www.nutritionvalue.org/Plums%2C_raw_nutritional_value.html
- Usenik et al., 'Sorbitol and sugar composition of plum fruit during ripening' (confirms glucose>fructose>sucrose plus sorbitol as the four principal soluble carbohydrates in Prunus, cultivar-dependent) — https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258286530