Dried Fruit
Why Should I Eat Dried Fruit?
¼ cup of dried plums, dates, figs
and raisins are a good source of
dietary fiber and potassium.
What is Potassium?
A mineral that helps your brain tell your
muscles when to move.
Potassium helps keep a healthy blood
pressure and helps the body use the
energy found in carbohydrates.
More About Potassium
• Potassium is an electrolyte which is a substance that
conducts electrical impulses in the body.
• Potassium is critical for your heart to work properly.
• Many foods contain potassium like all meats, salmon,
many fruits, vegetables and legumes.
What About Dietary Fiber?
• Dietary fiber is only found in plants.
• It is the part of the plant that can’t be
digested by humans.
• Eating dietary fiber helps you feel full longer.
• Dried fruit is a good source of fiber.
Dietary Fiber……
• Soluble fiber (dissolves in water) helps control blood
sugar levels and carries cholesterol out of the body.
• Insoluble fiber (does not dissolve in water) helps move
food through the body.
Water soluble
Here are the dried fruit we
are going to learn about:
• Dates
• Figs
• Plums
• Raisins
Dates
• There are about 250,000 date palm trees in the United
States, most are in the Coachella Valley.
Iraq is slightly larger than California but
has nearly 22 million date palm trees.
Why do you think Iraq has more date palm trees
than California?
What is a Fig?
The fig is an inside out or inverted flower.
The seeds are the real fruit!
Figs are easy to grow in areas with hot,
dry summers and cool, wet winters.
Here are
areas in
California
that grow fig
trees.
There are four varieties of figs
grown in California.
Kadota
Mission
Calimyrna
Adriatic
Prunes or Plums?
• Did you know that prunes are plums that have been
dried?
• California is the world’s leader of dried plums, producing
about 65% of the world’s supply.
• About 99% of the supply for the United States comes
from California.
Fun Fact
In 1905 there were not enough workers to
pick the prune plums so one farmer thought
he had the answer: He brought 500 monkeys to his field
from Panama to pick the plums.
Organized into crews of 50 with a human foreman
overseeing them, the monkeys hit the fields and
scampered up the trees to their pickings. But while they
proved good at harvesting the fruit, they were also good
at gobbling up every prune plum they picked!
• Today machines harvest the fruit.
http://www.californiadriedplums.org/
Raisins
California grape growers discovered raisins accidentally
when an early heat wave dried the grapes on the vine.
Ninety percent of raisins are made from the Thompson
Seedless variety.
How Do Fruits Dry?
Fruit becomes dry when their water
content is below 20 percent. Fresh
grapes are 80 percent water.
Dried fruit is the result of either
natural (sun) or mechanical
processes (dehydrators).
How Do Fruits Dry?
Dried fruit is often treated with chemicals such as:
• Potassium sorbate, to keep mold from growing on
the fruit and,
• Sulfur dioxide which preserves the color.
Before being sent to market, most dried fruit is boiled
or steamed to add moisture to make the fruit plump
and tasty.
Plums and dates are mechanically dried. Figs
partially dry on the tree.
Grapes are laid onto trays and dry
by the heat of the sun.
Visit www.calraisins.org to learn how to dry
your own raisins.
• Farmers lay the grapes out to dry
beginning late August through September.
• If it rains, the drying grapes will get moldy.
• This is an example of why a farmer needs
to add potassium sorbate.
Here we go!
Q and A time
1. Name the four dried fruits you learned about.
Figs, Plums, Raisins, Dates
2. Potassium is critical for your _________.
Heart
3. What country grows more dates than California?
Iraq
4. Fruit becomes dry when the water content is below_____.
20 percent
5. Explain what water soluble means.
Anything that can dissolve in water.
Tasting Trio
Do-It-Yourself Trail Mix
Ingredients
1.Two packages toasted oat cereal.
2.One package dried blueberries.
3.One package dried cherries.
What other ingredients could you
add to make a healthy trail mix?
Thanks to our sponsors.
For CalFresh information, call 1-877-847-3663. Funded by
USDA SNAP, an equal opportunity provider and employer.
Visit www.cachampionsforchange.net for healthy tips.
•California Department of Public Health