The fruits of P. mume were harvested at commercial maturity from a commercial orchard in the Sangju region of South Korea. The fruits were immediately transported to the laboratory and graded according to size and defects. Healthy fruits of uniform size2 1.2 g) were used in the following experiments. The sucrose used for osmotic extraction was obtained from CJ Cheiljedang Co. (Seoul, Korea). Standard agents for analyses, such as sucroseglucose, fructose, citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, and chlorogenic acid, were purchased from SigmaeAldrich Chemical Co. (SLouis, MO, USA). Other chemicals used for analyses were highpurity grade.