There are three distinct subspecies of lychee. The most common is the Indochinese lychee found inSouth China,Malaysia, and northernVietnam. The other two are the Philippine lychee (locally calledalupag ormatamata) found only in thePhilippines and the Javanese lychee cultivated inIndonesia andMalaysia.[4][5] The tree has been introduced throughout Southeast Asia andSouth Asia.[5] Cultivation in China is documented from the 11th century.[4] China is the main producer of lychees, followed byIndia, Vietnam, other countries in Southeast Asia, other countries inSouth Asia,Madagascar, andSouth Africa. A tallevergreen tree, it bears small fleshy sweetfruits. The outside of the fruit is a pink-red, rough-textured soft shell.
It was described and named by French naturalistPierre Sonnerat in his account "Voyage aux Indes Orientales et à la Chine, fait depuis 1774 jusqu'à 1781" (translation: "Voyage to the East Indies and China, made between 1774 and 1781"), which was published in 1782.[8] There are three subspecies, determined by flower arrangement, twig thickness, fruit, and a number ofstamens.
Litchi chinensis subsp.chinensis is the only commercialized lychee. It grows wild insouthern China, northernVietnam, andCambodia. It has thin twigs, flowers typically have six stamens, fruit are smooth or with protuberances up to 2 mm (0.079 in).
Litchi chinensis subsp.philippinensis (Radlk.) Leenh. It is common in the wild in thePhilippines and rarely cultivated. Locally calledalupag,mata-mata, ormatamata due to its eye-like appearance when the fruit is opened, it has thin twigs, six to seven stamens, long oval fruit with spiky protuberances up to 3 mm (0.12 in).[9]
Litchi chinensis subsp.javensis. It is only known in cultivation, inMalaysia andIndonesia. It has thick twigs, flowers with seven to eleven stamens in sessile clusters, smooth fruit with protuberances up to 1 mm (0.039 in).[4][10]
Litchi chinensis is an evergreen tree that is frequently less than 15 m (49 ft) tall, sometimes reaching 28 m (92 ft).[11] Its evergreen leaves, 12.5 to 20 cm (4.9 to 7.9 in) long, are pinnate, having 4 to 8 alternate, elliptic-oblong to lanceolate, abruptly pointed, leaflets,
The bark is grey-black, the branches a brownish-red. Itsevergreen leaves are 12.5 to 20 cm (4.9 to 7.9 in) long, with leaflets in two to four pairs.[4] Lychee are similar in foliage to the familyLauraceae, likely due toconvergent evolution. They are adapted by developing leaves that repel water, and are called laurophyll orlauroid leaves.
Flowers grow on a terminalinflorescence with manypanicles on the current season's growth. The panicles grow in clusters of ten or more, reaching 10 to 40 cm (3.9 to 15.7 in) or longer, holding hundreds of small white, yellow, or green flowers that are distinctively fragrant.[10]
The lychee bears fleshyfruits that mature in 80–112 days depending on climate, location, and cultivar. Fruits vary in shape from round to ovoid to heart-shaped, up to 5 cm long and 4 cm wide (2.0 in × 1.6 in), weighing approximately 20 g.[11][12]
The thin, tough skin is green when immature, ripening to red or pink-red, and is smooth or covered with small sharp protuberances roughly textured. Therind is inedible but easily removed to expose a layer of translucent white flesh with a floral smell and a sweet flavor.[11] The skin turns brown and dry when left out after harvesting.
The fleshy, edible portion of the fruit is anaril, surrounding one dark brown inedible seed that is 1 to 3.3 cm long and 0.6 to 1.2 cm wide (0.39–1.30 by 0.24–0.47 in). Some cultivars produce a high percentage of fruits with shriveled aborted seeds known as 'chicken tongues'. These fruits typically have a higher price, due to having more edible flesh.[10] Since the floral flavor is lost in the process of canning, the fruit is usually eaten fresh.[11]
Cultivation of lychee began in the region ofsouthern China, going back to 1059 AD,Malaysia, and northernVietnam.[4] Unofficial records inChina refer to lychee as far back as 2000 BC.[13] Wild trees still grow in parts of southern China and onHainan Island. The fruit was used as a delicacy in the Chinese Imperial Court.[14]
In the 1st century during theHan dynasty, fresh lychees were a populartribute item, and in such demand at the Imperial Court that a special courier service with fast horses would bring the fresh fruit from Guangdong.[15] There was great demand for lychee in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), according toCai Xiang, in hisLi chi pu (Treatise on Lychees). It was also the favorite fruit ofEmperorLi Longji (Xuanzong)'s favored concubineYang Yuhuan (Yang Guifei). The emperor had the fruit delivered at great expense to the capital.[11]
The lychee attracted the attention ofEuropean travelers, such as the Spanish bishop, explorer, and sinologistJuan González de Mendoza in hisHistory of the great and mighty kingdom of China (1585; English translation 1588), based on the reports of Spanishfriars who had visited China in the 1570s gave the fruit high praise:[16]
[T]hey haue a kinde of plummes, that they doo calllechias, that are of an exceeding gallant tast, and neuer hurteth any body, although they shoulde eate a great number of them.
Lychee trees were introduced to Jamaica by Chinese immigrants in the 18th century, where the fruit is associated with theChinese Jamaican community.[18] The fruit is featured in a popular Jamaican cake, calledlychee cake, which is made of a lightsponge cake, cream, and fruit, which has been one of the most popular cakes in Jamaica since its creation by baker Selena Wong in 1988.[18]
Germinating lychee seed with its main root (about 3 months old)A normal-sized seed (left) and a small-sized (Chicken tongue) seed (right)
Lychees are extensively grown in southern China,Taiwan,Vietnam and the rest of tropicalSoutheast Asia, theIndian Subcontinent,[20] and intropical regions of many other countries.[4][20][21] They require a tropical climate that is frost-free and is not below the temperature of −4 °C (25 °F).[4][20] Lychees require a climate with high summer heat, rainfall, and humidity, growing optimally on well-drained, slightly acidicsoils rich in organic matter and mulch.[4][20]
Some 200cultivars exist, with early and late maturing forms suited to warmer and cooler climates, respectively.[4] In China, eight cultivars are mainly used for commerce.[20] Lychees are also grown as anornamental tree.[4] The most common propagation method for lychee is through air layering. Air-layers are made by cutting a branch of a mature tree, covering the cut with a rooting medium, such aspeat orsphagnum moss, then wrapping the medium withpolyethylene film and allowing the cut to root. Once significant rooting has occurred, the layer is cut from the branch and potted.[22]
According tofolklore, a lychee tree that is not producing much fruit can begirdled, leading to more fruit production. When the central opening of trees is carried out as part of training and pruning,stereo fruiting can be achieved for higher orchard productivity.[23]
Lychees are commonly sold fresh in Asian markets.[4][20] The red rind turns dark brown when the fruit is refrigerated, but the taste isn't affected. It is also sold canned year-round. The fruit can be dried with the rind intact, at which point the flesh shrinks and darkens.[11]
There are numerous lycheecultivars, with considerable confusion regarding their naming and identification. The same cultivar grown in different climates can produce very different fruit. Cultivars can also have different synonyms in various parts of the world. Southeast Asian countries, along with Australia, use the original Chinese names for the main cultivars. India grows more than a dozen different cultivars. South Africa grows mainly the "Mauritius" cultivar. Most cultivars grown in the United States were imported from China, except for the "Groff", which was developed in the state of Hawaii.[12]
Different cultivars of lychee are popular in various growing regions and countries. In China, popular cultivars include Sanyuehong, Baitangying, Baila, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Shuidong, Feizixiao, Dazou, Heiye, Nuomici, Guiwei, Huaizhi, Lanzhu, and Chenzi. In Vietnam, the most popular cultivar is Vai Thieu Hai Duong. In the US, production is based on several cultivars, including Mauritius, Brewster, and Hak Ip.[10][24] India grows more than a dozen named cultivars, including Shahi (Highest Pulp %), Dehradun, Early Large Red, Kalkattia and Rose Scented.[12][25]
Raw lychee fruit is 82% water, 17%carbohydrates, 1%protein, and contains negligiblefat (table). In a 100-gram (3.5 oz) reference amount, raw lychee fruit supplies 66calories of food energy. The raw pulp is rich invitamin C, having 72 mg per 100 grams – an amount representing 79% of theDaily Value – but contains no othermicronutrients in significant content (table).
In 1962, it was found that lychee seeds containedmethylenecyclopropylglycine (MCPG), ahomologue ofhypoglycin A, which causedhypoglycemia in human and animal studies.[30]Since the end of the 1990s, unexplained outbreaks ofencephalopathy occurred, appearing to affect only children in India[31] (where it is calledchamki bukhar),[32] and northernVietnam (where it was called Ac Mong encephalitis after the Vietnamese word fornightmare) during the lychee harvest season from May to June.[33][34]
The investigation linked the illness to hypoglycin A and MCPG toxicity, and tomalnourished children eating lychees (particularly unripe ones) on an empty stomach.[7]
The CDC report recommended that parents ensure their children limit lychee consumption and have an evening meal, elevating blood glucose levels that may be sufficient to deter illness.[35][36]
Earlier studies had incorrectly concluded that transmission may occur from direct contact with lychees contaminated bybatsaliva, urine, orguano or with othervectors, such as insects found in lychee trees orsand flies, as in the case ofChandipura virus.[33] A 2017 study found that pesticides used in the plantations could be responsible for the encephalitis and deaths of young children inBangladesh.[37][38]
^Also sometimes spelledlitchi,liechee,liche,lizhi,li zhi, orlichee.
^abcdefghijklMorton J (1987).Lychee. In: Fruits of Warm Climates. West Lafayette, Indiana, USA: Center for New Crops and Plant Products, Purdue University, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. pp. 249–259. Retrieved30 October 2013.
^Yu Y (2016).Chinese History and Culture. Volume 1, Sixth Century B.C.E. to Seventeenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 114.ISBN978-0-231-54201-2.OCLC933211532.
^abDonglin Zhang, Peter C. Quantick, John M. Grigor (2000). "Changes in phenolic compounds in Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) fruit during postharvest storage".Postharvest Biology and Technology.19 (2):165–172.doi:10.1016/S0925-5214(00)00084-3.
Boning CR (2006). "Lychee".Florida's Best Fruiting Plants: Native and Exotic Trees, Shrubs, and Vines. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc. pp. 130–133.
Hui YH (2008)."Lychee".Handbook of Fruits and Fruit Processing. New Delhi: Wiley India. pp. 606–611.ISBN978-81-265-1788-6.
Kadam SS, S. S. Deshpande (1995)."Lychee". In D. K. Salunkhe, S. S. Kadam (eds.).Handbook of Fruit Science and Technology: Production, Composition, Storage, and Processing. New York: M. Dekker. pp. 435–443.ISBN978-0-8247-9643-3.
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