Prune d’Ente: best tasting fruit in America?

I came across this Raintree advertisement,but don’t know the age of the article.Here is most of what was printed by what looks to be the nursery’s owner,Sam Benowitz.
The Prune d’ Ente could be the best tasting fruit in America.

We acquired this wonderful variety from our friend Andy Mariani. In France it is called French Prune #777. This is because the French have tried hundreds of times to perfect the flavor of their prune plums and they consider the #777 to be the best in flavor.

It is a nondescript plum with purple/red skin and dull yellow flesh. It is self-fertile and its incredibly sweet, delicious flavor is beyond compare.

I’ve never heard of this one,but maybe Mrs.G or someone else may be familiar.
Presently,it doesn’t look to be in their inventory,but they do have #707 and is most likely a different Prune.
I added the question mark at the end of the topic title.The original article was a statement.Must taste good,even though there may be some subjective hype there. Brady

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I think the 777 is misprinted and it is really 707 number. Anyway I have this tree for four summers and I still waiting for the fruits to taste. It grows fine, but every year something happens with it. It seems more susceptible to diseases and defoliates often at the end of the season. This summer the Japanese beetles were bad, but out of all other trees they loved Prune d’Ente the most. When I caught it, they ate most of the leaves on it. I do not think it will be able to produce anything next season as well :unamused:

Thats interesting. I am a bit skeptical that it would be better than the standard one grown here (“French Improved”), the main thing I heard of the 707 is it is larger than the others. See the book “Prune Production Manual” for lots of info on the various clones. In any case its surely a great fruit, my French Improved is one of my very best European plums and all of the Prune d’Ente types are similar.

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Thanks for the information Maria.Hopefully,yours will produce sometime soon.Was the tree purchased from Raintree?
I may contact them and see what’s up with that.They also have Spring classes,which I might attend,that includes a lot of different scions.This one may be included.

That’s good to know Scott.I’m just starting to graft European types. Brady

I don’t have any experience with the fruit, but I can tell you when the post was published. The URL contains “2013/02”, so I think it is reasonable to say it was from February 2013.

http://www.raintreenursery.com/plantcare/2013/02/underappreciated-plants-the-prune-dente/

This document has more info on the French prune numbering system in section 4 on page 5.

During this post war period, Mr. Bernhard of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (I.N.R.A.), riding his bicycle, visited the whole of the production area to build a collection of all the varieties of prunes that were to be found there. He classified them by numbers then studied them so as to select the best. Through these studies the clone number 707 is the base of most of the French plantings today. Other clones are also very widespread like the 303 and the 626 for example. Mr. Bernhard’s collection is still used by INRA in their work on the evolution of the d’Ente prune tree under Mr. René Renaud’s responsibility.

http://www.ipaprunes.org/pdf/History%20of%20prunes%20in%20France.pdf

I checked the ARS repository and only see #707 (first from France in the 60’s, then more recently from Todd Kennedy). The only acquisitions listed by the IRNA website are 707, 303, 626, and 698. I suspect that the Raintree post was a typo and actually referred to 707, rather than 777.

Thanks Bob,that’s some good research. Brady

Hi! I have eaten both prune d’Agen and prune d’Ente in France. They are both very sweet and delicious and are sweet for eating fresh and excellent for cooking. I have never seen prune 777 in a market or supermarket in France. I can ask though.

The prune d’Agen makes a fine dried prune and is excellent for cooking; and d’Ente was more for eating fresh. They are both varieties of Quetches.

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Prunier Ente 707
Airpot 17,5 litres tige 4/6 37.5€ Arbre vigoueux et très productif. C’est la prune d’Agen, pourpre violacée, qui se transforme une fois séchée, en pruneau. Maturité fin août,début septembre avec sa chair jaune, juteuse et très sucrée. Autofertile. Porte greffe = Jaspy/Ferley.

Basically says, the prune 707 is the d’Ente prune. It is a very vigorous and productive tree. It is the prune of Agen, purple-violette, that becomes dry in taste over time and in pruneau (prunes in amangnac) It matures at the end of august beginning of september, with a yellow flesh, very juicy and very sweet. It is self fertizilizing and grafted on Jaspy or Ferley rootstock.40.00

Now there is a typical French oxymoron! These prune plums are grown in the southwest of France where I will live. I will speak with the growers, who when they take their produce to the local markets do not use numbers in the names of fruit. Also there are local nicknames for the same prune plums making them even more confusing to find an honest name!

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french plum prunes are one of my two favored prunus fruits(the other being arctic jay/star).
only trouble with prunes is that have to eat on the sly, lest people ask whether or not am ‘regular’, lol
actually addicted to sunsweet’s prune/plum juices too

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Ah ha a closet nectarine fan. What you need is a really good Honey Royale and you’d swear off those tropical fruits, lol. Alan says his 26 brix Honey Royale tasted tropical.

i don’t have to be a closet nectarine fan, and could eat it in public without feeling like am being watched.
its only when i eat a whole box of prunes that people give me devious glances…

i have tried some of the honeys but don’t remember what. Those are good, but jays seem to be better. Of course, this is coming from one whose taste preference include munching on wrinkly prunes instead of fresh plums. The thing about yellow peaches and nectarines is that they are kind of similar to mangoes, and having tried many mangoes in their prime( in the tropics), i end up biased in favor of the tropical mccoy . Some of the unnamed mango varieties are actually superior to the fancy-named mangoes sold here.

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I also like prunes. The common ones in the store aren’t great but can be good. I don’t buy very much fresh or dried fruit. I’ve got so much dried fruit I made this summer I’m giving a good deal of it away. I can only eat so much.

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Last year I found Honey Royale at Stop and Shop (they often have the name stamped on the box). Most were OK, but a bit bland at ~16 brix. I think one or two of them was in the 20-22 brix range and those were pretty good. I’m sure 26 would be great.

I’m not sure if I like prune plums so much simply because of the high brix (something not often found in the store outside cherries and occasionally nectarines/mangos/lychees).

I’ve had them several times and thought that they were very good, but wouldn’t put them on a pedestal. Valor, President, and Empress are just as good and maybe a bit better. And maybe a bit larger too, based on the ones I’ve seen.

Here’s a pic of some President and Empress from earlier this summer:

This is the first year I’ve sampled a mango I really liked. The (huge) Keitt from Mexico are so tasty that I’ve been giving other mangoes another chance.

prunes have this rich, complex flavor couldn’t get enough of. And intrigued how that taste could possibly develop from the fresh fruit it came from.

as with other fruits, many drupes are of better quality better when home-grown, since could pick them at their prime.

may already have tried those, but not sure… will check the labels and boxes next time!

here, fruit-eating bugs/animals are sadly not as much a concern for many prunus species as sudden death/short-life syndromes are.
i believe i posted this picture last May in admiration of this tree in our neighborhood, as the size and estimated age indicate a good deal of hardiness


it changed its appearance just a couple of months ago, and one could tell by the leaves it was not because it slipped into early dormancy…

with mangoes, the bigger and plumper ones are typically the more mature ones. You could anticipate better quality/bigger mangoes as years go by. Mexican mangoes are getting incredibly cheap and abundant nowadays due to the increase in acreage.
the handling and shipping costs to CT should soon be offset with agreeable price points for both sellers and buyers…

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A little off topic, but as someone that enjoys prunes should I have a prune plum type? I’m assuming the french varieties mentioned are quite hard to find. Can anyone recommend one for the humid northeast?

Alan can if you can get his attention. Maybe his favorites aren’t prune plums but European plums which to me is about the same thing. I believe a true prune is a plum that can be dried with the seed in the fruit.

Here’s a good thread about that: Valor hits 27%!

Ross, I’m in humid RI and I have ‘Green Reine Claude de Bavay’, 'Bavay d’Oullins,
Two Nancy Mirabelle, one Metz mirabelle and one Italian plum prune. The mirabelles take a while to fruit, about six years and Italian prune plum is excellent, the Bavay’s are very slow growers, but the fruits is the sweetest I’ve ever eaten.

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@mrsg47 @SMC_zone6 @fruitnut

I’m assuming they are MUCH better than the prunes you’d get canned at the grocery store?

Yes. The thought of eating a canned plum is scary.

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