Umeboshi (Japanese: 梅干) are pickled ume fruits common in Japan. The word "umeboshi" is often translated into English as "Japanese salt plums," "salt plums" or "pickled plums." Ume (Prunus mume) is a species of fruit-bearing tree in the genus Prunus, which is often called a plum but is actually more closely related to the apricot. Umeboshi are a popular kind of tsukemono (pickles) and are extremely sour and salty. They are usually served as side dishes for rice or eaten on rice balls (often without removing the pit) for breakfast and lunch. They are occasionally served boiled or seasoned for dinner.
==Special Precautions of Umeboshi==
* They are commonly harvested green and unripe, when the flesh is very sour and laced with cyanide, making it potentially poisonous. But the fruit is edible when it’s smoked, boiled or cured with sugar, salt or alcohol, a lengthy process that can take months.* Since the pit of young, green, unripe ume contains the toxic substance amygdalin, which generates harmful hydrogen cyanide, avoid eating green ume.
==Benefits and uses of Umeboshi are==