wu mei            

By: Joe Hing Kwok Chu

The variety that has green calyx is called lu e mei, literally means plum with green calyx.

Japanese Pronunciation:  

Korean Pronunciation:

Cantonese Pronunciation:  mooi

Other name: wu mei, literally black prune. The fruit are collected before they are ripe and smoked to make into wu mei.

Where grown: Originated in China. Produced in Sichuan, Zhejiang, Fujian,  Guangdong, Hunan, Gizhou. Those produced in Changxin od Zhejiang are deemed best.

Pharmaceutical name: Fructus Pruni Mume

Latin botanical name: Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc

Common Name:  plum,  prune (dried plum)

Characteristics and channel (meridian) relation:  related to large intestine, liver, lung, spleen channels. Sour. Warm.

Chemical ingredients:

Vaporizing ingredient: n-hexanal, trans-2-hexenal, n-hexanol, trans-2-hexen-1-ol, cis-2-hexen-1-ol, linalool, a-terpineol, geraniol, trimethyltetrahydronaphthalene drivs, tetradecanoic acid, benzaldehyde, terpinen-4-ol, benzylalcohol, hexandecanoic acid (1). b-sitosterol. 

Lipids: neutral lipids, gycolipids, phospholipids, triglycerides, free sterols, sterol esters, 1, 2; 1,2 -glycerides, free fatty acid, ceryl alcohol, pectic acid.

Simple acids: citric acid, malic acid, succinic acid(5-7), oxalic acid, fumaric acid (2), hydrocyanic acid.

Amino acid: aspartic acid, asparagine, serine, glycine, alanine, glycinamide.

Others: lup-20-(29)-ene, 7b, 15a-diol-3b-palmitate, stearate, arahidate, behenate, lignocerate (7); rhamnocitrin-3-O-rhamnoside,  kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoside, quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside (7) ;  amygdalin, b-glucosidase (3), superoxide dismutase(9), gibberellin A32 .

Medical Functions: 

Bibliography

Last update: 12/20/99  writing in progress