What is Chinese Plum and its botanical name?Is it healthy to ingest?

Answer 1

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The term "Chinese plum" can refer to either of two different species of fruit-bearing tree:

The lǐ (李, Prunus salicina)
The méi (梅, Prunus mume)

Prunus salicina: Fruit - raw or cooked[46, 61, 105, 171]. The fruit ripens early[74]. A unique taste[74]. Sweet and juicy, it can be eaten out of hand, made into pies, preserves etc, or be dried for later use[183]. The fruit is very resistant to rotting[74]. The plum-shaped fruit is up to 7cm long and contains one large seed[200].

Prunus mume: Fruit - raw or cooked[2, 46, 61, 183]. Hard and sour even when fully ripe, it is scarcely edible[2, 11]. It is, however, widely used in the Orient where it is usually pickled and then used as a condiment and a vegetable[2, 11]. This is the umboshi plum that can be found in oriental stores. It is preserved in salt and used as a relish in rice dishes etc[183]. The fruit contains about 0.9% protein, 18.9% carbohydrate, 0.6% ash, no fat. The fruit is about 3cm in diameter and contains one large seed[200].

The Prunus mume, although referred to in Wikipedia as Japanese Plum, is also called Japanese Apricot, apparently.

Hope this answers your question.

Source(s):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_plu…
http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_…
http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_…