Health Professionals
The California Dried Plum Board sponsors nutrition and medical research that supports the role of dried plums in a balanced and health-promoting diet.
08-28-2007
Prune Juice Has a Mild Laxative Effect in Adults with Certain Gastrointestinal Symptoms
Nutrition Research 27 (2007): 511-513.
Piirainen, L., Peuhkuri, K., Bäckström, K., Korpela, R, and Salminen, S.
The study was undertaken to investigate whether prune juice affects gastrointestinal function in adults with certain gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. Subjects were otherwise healthy but had certain GI symptoms not as severe as a disorder. The study was for 4 weeks; 1 week baseline, 2 weeks prune juice, and 1 week follow up. Subjects drank 125 mL prune juice twice a day during the prune juice period. Results indicate that prune juice reduced the occurrence of difficulty in defecation in these subjects and the effect continued to the follow-up week. The authors concluded that regularly ingested prune juice had a mild laxative effect in adults with certain GI symptoms; however, prune juice also increased flatulence. Prune juice may offer a user-friendly alternative to laxatives, at least in cases of mild constipation.
08-28-2007
Plasma Antioxidant Capacity Changes Following a Meal as a Measure of the Ability of a Food to Alter In Vivo Antioxidant Status
Journal of the American College of Nutrition 26, no.2 (2007):170-181.
Prior, R. L., Gu, L., Wu, S., Jacob, R.A., Sotoudeh, G., Kader, A.A. and Cook, R.A.
This study was undertaken to determine if the consumption of meals of blueberries, grapes, kiwifruit, strawberry, cherry and dried plums increased plasma antioxidant capacity (AOC) measured as Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORACfl); whether macronutrient composition of the meal alters postprandial changes in AOC; and whether preliminary recommendations can be developed for antioxidant intake. Results suggest that certain berries and fruits increased postprandial AOC. Plasma AOC did not change after a meal with dried plums or prune juice. The authors comment that chlorogenic acid or its isomers which predominate in dried plums may be poorly absorbed. Low absorption of these compounds or metabolism into compounds with lower AOC may account for the limited in vivo antioxidant response to these phytochemicals.