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Prune
A prune is a dried plum, most commonly from the European plum (''Prunus domestica'') tree. Not all plum species or varieties can be dried into prunes. Use of the term ''prune'' for fresh plums is obsolete except when applied to varieties of plum grown for drying. In this usage, a prune is the firm-fleshed plum fruit of ''P. domestica'' varieties that have a high soluble solids content, and do not ferment during drying. Most prunes are ''freestone'' cultivars (i.e., the pit is easy to remove), whereas most plums grown for fresh consumption are ''clingstone'' (the pit is more difficult to remove). The sorbitol content of dietary fiber likely provides the laxative effect associated with consuming prunes. Prunes are 64% carbohydrates, including dietary fiber, 2% protein, a rich source of vitamin K, and a moderate source of B vitamins and dietary minerals. Production More than 1,000 plum cultivars are grown for drying. The main cultivar grown in the United States is the 'Improv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prune Juice
Prune juice is a fruit juice derived from prunes (dried plums) that have been rehydrated. It is mass-produced, usually via hot extraction, though juice concentrate is typically produced using a low-temperature method. It may be used as a dietary supplement to act as a laxative. It is also sometimes used as a flavor enhancer in tobacco products. It is an ingredient in many cocktails, such as the Purple Dragon, or Constipolitan. Composition Prune juice is 81% water, 17% carbohydrates, 0.6% protein, and contains negligible fat. In the United States, bottled or canned prune juice contains "not less than 18.5% by the weight of water-soluble solids extracted from dried plums". Nutrition In a reference amount of , canned prune juice supplies 71 calories, and is a moderate source of vitamin B6 (17% of the Daily Value), with no other micronutrients in significant content (table). Phytochemicals Prune juice and plums contain phytochemicals, including phenolic compounds (mainly as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plum
A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus''''.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are likely to have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans, with origins in Eastern Europe, East European and Caucasus Mountains, Caucasian mountains and China. They were brought to Great Britain, Britain from Asia, and their cultivation has been documented in Andalusia, southern Spain. Plums are a diverse group of species, with trees reaching a height of when pruned. The fruit is a drupe, with a firm and juicy flesh. China is the largest producer of plums, followed by Romania and Serbia. Japanese or Chinese plums dominate the fresh fruit market, while European plums are also common in some regions. Plums can be eaten fresh, dried to make prunes, used in Fruit preserves, jams, or fermented into fruit wine, wine and distilled into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dietary Fiber
Dietary fiber (fibre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical composition and can be grouped generally by their solubility, viscosity and Fermentation#Biological role, fermentability which affect how fibers are processed in the body. Dietary fiber has two main subtypes: soluble fiber and insoluble fiber which are components of plant-based foods such as legumes, whole grains, cereals, vegetables, fruits, and nut (fruit), nuts or seeds. A diet high in regular fiber consumption is generally associated with supporting health and lowering the risk of several diseases. Dietary fiber consists of non-starch polysaccharides and other plant components such as cellulose, resistant starch, resistant dextrins, inulins, lignins, chitins, pectins, beta-glucans, and oligosaccharides. Food sources of dietary fiber have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chlorogenic Acid
Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is the ester of caffeic acid and quinic acid, functioning as an intermediate in lignin biosynthesis. The term chlorogenic acids refers to a related polyphenol family of esters, including hydroxycinnamic acids ( caffeic acid, ferulic acid and ''p''-coumaric acid) with quinic acid. Despite the "chloro" of the name, chlorogenic acids contain no chlorine. Instead, the name comes from the Greek χλωρός (khloros, light green) and -γένος (genos, a suffix meaning "giving rise to"), pertaining to the green color produced when chlorogenic acids are oxidized. Structural properties Structurally, chlorogenic acid is the ester formed between caffeic acid and the 3-hydroxyl of L-quinic acid. Isomers of chlorogenic acid include the caffeoyl ester at other hydroxyl sites on the quinic acid ring: 4-''O''-caffeoylquinic acid (cryptochlorogenic acid or 4-CQA) and 5-''O''-caffeoylquinic acid (neochlorogenic acid or 5-CQA). The epimer at position 1 has not y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laxative
Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubricant, and saline laxatives are used to evacuate the colon for rectal and bowel examinations, and may be supplemented by enemas under certain circumstances. Sufficiently high doses of laxatives may cause diarrhea. Some laxatives combine more than one active ingredient, and may be administered orally or rectally. Types Bulk-forming agents Bulk-forming laxatives, also known as roughage, are substances, such as fiber in food and hydrophilic agents in over-the-counter drugs, that add bulk and water to stools so they can pass more easily through the intestines (lower part of the digestive tract). Properties * Site of action: small and large intestines * Onset of action: 12–72 hours * Examples: dietary fiber, Metamucil, Citrucel, Fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dried Fruit
Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating to the fourth millennium BC in Mesopotamia, and is valued for its sweet taste, nutritional content, and long shelf life. In the 21st century, dried fruit consumption is widespread worldwide. Nearly half of dried fruits sold are raisins, followed by dates, prunes, figs, apricots, peaches, apples, and pears. These are referred to as "conventional" or "traditional" dried fruits: fruits that have been dried in the sun or in commercial dryers. Many fruits, such as cranberries, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and mango are infused with a sweetener (e.g., sucrose syrup) prior to drying. Some products sold as dried fruit, like papaya, kiwifruit and pineapple, are most often candied fruit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') inside. Drupes do not split open to release the seed, i.e., they are dehiscence (botany), indehiscent. These fruits usually develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with Superior ovary, superior ovaries (polypyrenous drupes are exceptions). The definitive characteristic of a drupe is that the hard, woody (lignified) stone is derived from the Ovary (botany), ovary wall of the flower. In an aggregate fruit, which is composed of small, individual drupes (such as a raspberry), each individual is termed a drupelet, and may together form an aggregate fruit. Such fruits are often termed ''berries'', although botanists use a Berry (botany), different definition of ''berry''. Other fleshy fruits may have a stony enclosur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sorbitol
Sorbitol (), less commonly known as glucitol (), is a sugar alcohol with a sweet taste which the human body metabolizes slowly. It can be obtained by reduction of glucose, which changes the converted aldehyde group (−CHO) to a primary alcohol group (−CH2OH). Most sorbitol is made from potato starch, but it is also found in nature, for example in apples, pears, peaches, and prunes. It is converted to fructose by sorbitol-6-phosphate 2-dehydrogenase. Sorbitol is an isomer of mannitol, another sugar alcohol; the two differ only in the orientation of the hydroxyl group on carbon2.Kearsley, M. W.; Deis, R. C. Sorbitol and Mannitol. In Sweeteners and Sugar Alternatives in Food Technology; Ames: Oxford, 2006; pp 249-249-261. While similar, the two sugar alcohols have very different sources in nature, melting points, and uses. As an over-the-counter drug, sorbitol is used as a laxative to treat constipation. Synthesis Sorbitol may be synthesised via a glucose reduction r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dietary Minerals
In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element. Some "minerals" are essential for life, but most are not. ''Minerals'' are one of the four groups of essential nutrients; the others are vitamins, essential fatty acids, and essential amino acids. The five major minerals in the human body are calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and magnesium. The remaining minerals are called " trace elements". The generally accepted trace elements are iron, chlorine, cobalt, copper, zinc, manganese, molybdenum, iodine, selenium, and bromine; there is some evidence that there may be more. The four organogenic elements, namely carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen ( CHON), that comprise roughly 96% of the human body by weight, are usually not considered as minerals (nutrient). In fact, in nutrition, the term "mineral" refers more generally to all the other functional and structural elements found in living organisms. Plants obtain minerals from soil. Animals ingest plants ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Potassium In Biology
Potassium is the main intracellular ion for all types of cells, while having a major role in maintenance of fluid and electrolyte balance. Potassium is necessary for the function of all living cells and is thus present in all plant and animal tissues. It is found in especially high concentrations within plant cells, and in a mixed diet, it is most highly concentrated in fruits. The high concentration of potassium in plants, associated with comparatively very low amounts of sodium there, historically resulted in potassium first being isolated from the ashes of plants (potash), which in turn gave the element its modern name. The high concentration of potassium in plants means that heavy crop production rapidly depletes soils of potassium, and agricultural fertilizers consume 93% of the potassium chemical production of the modern world economy. The functions of potassium and sodium in living organisms are quite different. Animals, in particular, employ sodium and potassium different ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phytochemical
Phytochemicals are naturally-occurring chemicals present in or extracted from plants. Some phytochemicals are nutrients for the plant, while others are metabolites produced to enhance plant survivability and reproduction. The fields of extracting phytochemicals for manufactured products or applying scientific methods to study phytochemical properties are called ''phytochemistry''. An individual who uses phytochemicals in food chemistry manufacturing or research is a ''phytochemist''. Phytochemicals without a nutrient definition have no confirmed biological activities or proven health benefits when consumed in plant foods. Once phytochemicals in a food enter the digestion process, the fate of individual phytochemicals in the body is unknown due to extensive metabolism of the food in the gastrointestinal tract, producing phytochemical metabolites with different biological properties from those of the parent compound that may have been tested in vitro. Further, the bioavaila ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carbohydrate
A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' may differ). This formula does not imply direct covalent bonding between hydrogen and oxygen atoms; for example, in , hydrogen is covalently bonded to carbon, not oxygen. While the 2:1 hydrogen-to-oxygen ratio is characteristic of many carbohydrates, exceptions exist. For instance, uronic acids and deoxy-sugars like fucose deviate from this precise stoichiometric definition. Conversely, some compounds conforming to this definition, such as formaldehyde and acetic acid, are not classified as carbohydrates. The term is predominantly used in biochemistry, functioning as a synonym for saccharide (), a group that includes sugars, starch, and cellulose. The saccharides are divided into four chemical groups: monosaccharides, disaccharides, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
