Simple Plum Jam Processing Technology

National Agriculture Extension Center
2 Ngoc Ha - Ba Dinh - Hanoi - Vietnam
Tel: (84 4) 8233485
Fax: (84 4) 7342554
E-mail: tthl_knqg@yahoo.com, 2004-08-01

In Vietnam, ethnic minorities in the northern mountainous areas grow plum using the variety Prunus trifolium. The methodology of plum jam processing (Fig. 1) at the household level was developed to help farmers produce good quality plum jam that could be used for the whole year or can be sold in the market for additional income.

Method

Selection and Cleaning

Select soft ripened fruit, eliminating the diseased and rotten ones (Fig. 2). Clean and dry thoroughly (Fig. 3).

Ratio of Plum and Sugar

Plum and sugar ratio is 5 kg of plum: 4 kg of sugar.

Boiling

Pour plum into boiling pot for 15-20 minutes, then transfer boiled plum into a basket (Fig. 4).

Crushing

Put the basket full of plum on top of the pot. Carefully crush the plum so that the meat could be filtered onto the bottom of the pot (Fig. 5).

Cooking

Mix sugar with plum meat, boiling under low fire and stirring until the mixture is lucid (Fig. 6). Good quality plum jam must taste sweet and smell good, while poor quality plum jam does not dissolve when dropped into water.

Packing

Pour plum jam into heatproof bottle with lid (Fig. 7). Use spoon to fill up bottle with plum jam (leave 1 cm from top of bottle), then cover. Boil bottle with lid for 15 minutes.

Storing

Put the plum jam bottles inside a pot with leaves or rice husk at the bottom (Fig. 8). Store in a dry and well ventilated place. Expiration is 6 months to 1 year; plum jam must be consumed within 5-7 days after opening the bottle's lid.

Index of Images

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  Figure 1 Plum Jam Processing

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  Figure 2 Plum Selection

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  Figure 3 Cleaning

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  Figure 4 Boiling

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  Figure 5 Crushing

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  Figure 6 Cooking and Quality Testing

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  Figure 7 Packing

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  Figure 8 Storing

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