The fruit of the d’Agen variety, named after the French town of Agen, is used for drying plums. They reached the region thanks to Crusaders returning from expeditions from Persia and Turkey. French immigrants brought saplings of the trees to California, where they found excellent climatic conditions for cultivation. The main producers of dried plums today are Argentina, Chile, France, the USA, while the state of California has remained the symbol of this plum variety to this day, reflected in its common name. Eastern European crops, including, for example, the popular Hungarian plum, despite the appetizing and juicy fresh fruit, give way after drying
to the taste qualities of the d’Agen variety.