Plums are a delicacy in the market these days and they don’t come cheap. The price for premium plums ranges from 15,000 to 20,000 VND per tael, which means a kilogram of these plums will cost you between 150,000 and 200,000 VND. Despite the high price tag, these plums are highly sought after.
Plums are a versatile ingredient in the hands of creative homemakers, who use them in dishes such as sour plum soup, plum summer rolls, and plum salads.
Apart from being a delicious fruit, plums possess medicinal properties and are used to treat various ailments.
Doctor and herbalist Nguyen Huu Trong, from the Vietnamese Association of Oriental Medicine, shared that plums are also known as lot or ho doi tu in Vietnamese. Their scientific name is Elaeagnus latifolia L, and they belong to the Elaeagnaceae family. Plum trees thrive in moist, humus-rich soil and are often planted along ditches and hedges.
The fruits, leaves, and roots of the plum tree are all used for medicinal purposes.
According to Mr. Trong, plum fruits contain protid, glucid, organic acids, and essential elements like calcium, phosphorus, and iron. The leaves contain tannins, saponins, and polyphenols.
In traditional medicine, plums are believed to have a sour and astringent taste and a neutral nature. They are used to treat dysentery and diarrhea. Plum leaves have antibacterial, cooling, and expectorant properties, while the roots possess antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects.
“In addition to using plums for sour soup, people also use them to treat fever, cough, asthma with excessive phlegm, diarrhea, and dysentery,” said Mr. Trong.
Effective Remedies with Plums
Here are some medicinal recipes using plums, as introduced by Doctor Trong:
– Treating fever and cough: Use 30g of dried plum leaves and 12g of honey-fried mulberry root bark. Add 300ml of water, boil it down to 100ml, and drink this decoction twice a day. One decoction is for daily consumption.
– Treating dysentery and diarrhea: Boil 7-8 plums and drink the decoction once or twice a day.
– Treating boils: Cook plum roots to make a bath solution. The dosage may vary.
– Treating cough and asthma with excessive phlegm: Use 16g of dried plum leaves and roots, 12g of dried apple leaves and roots, 6g of la bac tu (mustard seed), and 6g of bach gioi tu (white mustard seed). Add 400ml of water, boil it down to 200ml, and drink this decoction twice a day. One decoction is for daily consumption.
Precautions when eating plums
+ When eating plums, make sure to scrape off the white scales on the surface to avoid throat irritation.
+ Avoid eating plums on an empty stomach as the sourness may irritate the stomach lining. It is best to consume plums about 30 minutes after a meal.
+ When you’re feeling unwell or experiencing chills, refrain from eating plums or other sour fruits like mangoes or apricots.
+ Plum leaves and roots should not be used by pregnant women.
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