TWO fruit and five veg is the saying people are often told to abide by in the pursuit of health, and now that may have been made a bit easier.

It is all thanks to the new super fruit, the Queen Garnet plum, which has made its home on the Granite Belt.

Queen Garnet plums were developed by researchers at the Applethorpe Research Facility and are now grown at Bim Goodrich's property at Warroo, west of Stanthorpe.

The plums, like all fruits of blue-purple colourings, contain anthocyanins, which are a type of antioxidants.

However these Queen Garnet plums contain these anthocyanins at a much higher level than other fruits and vegetables containing similar pigments, such as blueberries and purple carrots.

"They have different levels depending on the variety and that sort of thing, but the Queen Garnet has very high levels," Mr Goodrich said.

The health benefits were first discovered by government researchers during tests on the variety of fruit after development.

Orchard owner Bim Goodrich said the Queensland Government, which was instrumental in the development of the fruit, tested to find any potential benefits of the fruit, apart from the great taste.

"They were testing the variety as they had developed it and one of the things they had tested for was a number of the components of the fruit, which are known to give health benefits and the main one in this one was the anthocyanin," he said.

Trials were conducted by the University of Southern Queensland into the fruit's major health benefits.

Rats were used as the test subject and showed positive responses to the fruit.

The study showed the plum benefited the rats who were fed an unhealthy diet, due to anti-inflammatory properties in the fruit.

Further research is being conducted to find out other health benefits and to find if the plums have the same effects on humans.

Aiding in blood circulation is predicted to be another benefit of the fruit during the human trials.

Further research and human tests are expected to begin soon, with more information on human benefits becoming available after tests.

The plums can be found at Sam's Fruit Shop in Cottonvale during the season.