Study Claims 'Umeboshi' Pickled Plums Suppress COVID

An inter-prefectural research group recently announced that Japanese "umeboshi" pickled plums may help reduce coronavirus reproduction, Yukihiro Takeuchi reported for Mainichi Japan.

Photo Insert: "Umeboshi" pickled plums

During a June 1 news conference at Minabe Town Hall in Wakayama, a team of researchers from Tokai University School of Medicine in Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Osaka Kawasaki Rehabilitation University in Kaizuka, Osaka Prefecture, and the National Institute of Technology, Wakayama College in Wakayama Prefecture's Gobo announced the findings.

After being commissioned by the town of Minabe, the organization began the research in October 2020.

The researchers evaluated viral replication in cultured cell samples treated with coronavirus particles alone versus coronavirus combined with umeboshi extract. When studying the umeboshi-infused samples, they also altered the extract concentration levels.

They discovered that umeboshi extract inhibited viral multiplication in cell samples and that the higher the extract concentration, the stronger the effect.

The group also says that the same conclusion was validated for the alpha, delta, and omicron forms of the coronavirus, in addition to the original strain. The team is currently working to discover the component that prevents reproduction.

When asked if eating umeboshi could prevent coronavirus infection during the news conference, Tokai University School of Medicine experimental pathology professor Susumu Takekoshi, who was involved in the study, said, "We can't know for sure without an epidemiological study."

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