Why is plum jam useful, who should not use the dessert? Composition and calorie content, interesting facts about plum jam.
Plum Jam is a dessert made from the fruits of a plum tree boiled in sweet syrup. After cooking, it is laid out in pre-sterilized jars and rolled up for long-term storage. The jam turns out to be moderately sweet, but with a pronounced sourness - many love it for its lack of sugary taste. It perfectly complements everyday family teas, but it can also serve as an ingredient for making a beautiful cake for the holiday. Do not forget that this dessert is not only tasty, but also healthy, even though it is prepared with the addition of a considerable amount of sugar. However, the usefulness of plum jam is preserved only if the product is not overused.
How is plum jam made?
There are a huge number of plum jam recipes. This method of preparation is considered classic: the fruits are covered with sugar in equal proportions - 1 kg of sugar will be needed for 1 kg of plums - and they wait for the formation of juice, and when a sufficient amount appears, the future dessert is put on fire and boiled. This recipe for plum jam can be made with a stone, or you can remove the seeds first, this process, of course, takes time, but the resulting dessert will be much more pleasant to eat.
As for the cooking time, it all depends on what consistency you want to get, so, for example, a five-minute plum jam is cooked for only 5 minutes and immediately poured into cans, of course, there will be no thick syrup in it, but more benefits will remain. If you want to get a thicker jam, you can cook it several times for 5 minutes, pre-cooling it after each cooking, or you can cook it without cooling, but then it will take 30-50 minutes to cook in a row.
There is, however, an interesting way that allows you to prepare delicious thick plum jam in 5 minutes: at the time of boiling, a thickener is added to the dessert - pectin, agar or gelatin. It is worth noting that, of course, it will not thicken instantly, of course, but you can safely pour liquid jam into jars, as it cools, it will gain a good thickness.
If you have a lot of time left, be sure to try making pitted plum jam. To prepare it, the fruits are first freed from the seeds, then whipped in a blender, mixed with sugar and boiled until the desired thickness is achieved, a wonderful jam is obtained.
To achieve maximum usefulness, you can make "live" jam from plums, it is prepared in the same way as jam: the fruits are pitted and whipped with sugar, but instead of cooking, the dessert is laid out in plastic containers and put into the freezer.
You can also experiment with plum jam by combining it with other berries and fruits. The best combinations are obtained with pears, apples, apricots. It is also interesting to fantasize with "spices" - add vanillin, cinnamon, cloves, lemon zest to the jam, so it will not only be more original, but also healthier.
Finally, it is worth noting that if you cannot eat sugar for one reason or another, or you generally avoid it in your diet, it is quite possible to make jam on a substitute, but it is advisable to choose natural sweeteners - honey, stevia, erythritol, xylitol, coconut sugar etc.
Composition and calorie content of plum jam
In the photo plum jam
Plum jam is a low-calorie dessert, and therefore everyone can eat it in general, observing, of course, healthy limits. Also note that the less sugar you put in, the more dietary it will be.
The calorie content of classic plum jam, in which the ingredients are taken in a 1: 1 ratio, is 220 kcal per 100 g, of which:
- Proteins - 0.4 g;
- Fat - 0 g;
- Carbohydrates - 55 g.
It should be noted that the advantage of the dessert is not only low calorie content. Plum has a rich chemical composition, contains many vitamins and minerals we need every day.
Vitamins per 100 g:
- Vitamin A, RE - 17 mcg;
- Beta carotene - 0.1 mg;
- Vitamin B1, thiamine - 0.06 mg
- Vitamin B2, riboflavin - 0.04 mg;
- Vitamin B4, choline - 1.9 mg;
- Vitamin B5, pantothenic acid - 0.15 mg;
- Vitamin B6, pyridoxine - 0.08 mg;
- Vitamin B9, folates - 1.5 mcg;
- Vitamin C, ascorbic acid - 10 mg;
- Vitamin E, alpha-tocopherol - 0.6 mg;
- Vitamin K, phylloquinone - 6, 4 mcg;
- Vitamin PP, NE - 0.7 mg;
- Niacin - 0.6 mg.
Macronutrients per 100 g:
- Potassium - 214 mg;
- Calcium - 20 mg;
- Silicon - 4 mg;
- Magnesium - 9 mg;
- Sodium - 18 mg;
- Sulfur - 6 mg;
- Phosphorus - 20 mg;
- Chlorine - 1 mg
Microelements per 100 g:
- Aluminum - 223 mcg;
- Boron - 39 mcg;
- Vanadium - 0.6 mcg;
- Iron - 0.5 mg;
- Iodine - 4 mcg;
- Cobalt - 1 mcg;
- Manganese - 0, 11 mg;
- Copper - 87 mcg;
- Molybdenum - 8 mcg;
- Nickel - 15 mcg;
- Rubidium - 34 mcg;
- Selenium - 0.1 mcg;
- Fluorine - 2 μg;
- Chromium - 4 mcg;
- Zinc - 0.1 mg.
The fruits also contain such useful components as organic and fatty acids, dietary fiber, polysaccharides, pectin components, flavonoids, etc. Of course, many of the components are lost during cooking and storage, but a significant amount of them remains in the composition of plum jam.
Useful properties of plum jam
Due to its rich chemical composition, plum jam has a beneficial effect on the body. It has been proven to help with stool disorders. The fruit contains pectin and sorbitol, which have a pronounced laxative effect, and therefore eating a small amount of dessert daily, you can get rid of chronic constipation. However, this is not the only benefit of plum jam. Let's consider its useful properties in more detail:
- Normalization of the cardiovascular system … The product has a beneficial effect on the work of the heart and blood vessels, helps to normalize blood pressure, and strengthens the walls of the capillaries. In addition, it stabilizes blood cholesterol levels, prevents the development of thrombosis and acute cardiac conditions.
- Strengthening immunity … The product has a stimulating effect on the body's defenses, and therefore, during the cold season, plum jam can become not only a tasty addition to tea drinking, but also an assistant in the fight against viruses. The dessert has a complex - antipyretic, expectorant, diaphoretic - effect.
- Acceleration of metabolism … Plum jam has a positive effect on metabolism not only due to the presence of pectin, fiber and sorbitol, but also due to the presence of B vitamins in the composition. Thanks to this property, the dessert helps to remove toxins and toxins from the body, helps to lose weight with healthy use.
- Diuretic effect … The product has a mild diuretic effect, and therefore helps to prevent diseases of the genitourinary system and helps to avoid edema. The stimulating effect on the kidneys is another important step in protecting the body from the accumulation of toxins.
- Prevention of vitamin deficiency … Despite the fact that vitamins and minerals are not present in the dessert in record amounts, in general, the rich and wide vitamin-mineral composition saves from the development of vitamin deficiencies, which often develop in the autumn-winter period. In particular, the product saves from anemia, replenishing iron stores, prevents osteoporosis, fighting bone fragility.
- Antioxidant effect … Due to the content in the composition of a large amount of antioxidants, plum jam helps to fight excess levels of free radicals, which prevents early aging, which, in particular, improves complexion and smoothes wrinkles. Also, the antioxidant effect provides the prevention of cancer.
- Beneficial effect on the endocrine system … The dessert also has a positive effect on the endocrine gland. This is especially important given the fact that thyroid diseases - in particular, hypothyroidism - are very common today.
- Toning effect … The product has a positive effect on the nervous system. It tones, invigorates, lifts the mood, and with regular use helps to fight memory disorders, insomnia.
As you can see, the dessert is really very useful, and therefore it is simply necessary to close the jar of plum jam for the winter in order to save yourself not only from colds and vitamin deficiencies, but also to comprehensively improve the body.
