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Lychee (US: ; UK: ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the soapberry family, ''
Sapindaceae The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The Sapindaceae occur in tempera ...
''. It is a tropical tree native to Southeast and Southwest
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(the Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan and Hainan provinces), Assam, Vietnam,
Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
,
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
, Thailand, Malaya, Jawa, Borneo, Philippines and New Guinea. The tree is introduced into Cambodia,
Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...
, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Mauritius and
Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
. The cultivation in China is documented from the 11th century. China is the main producer of lychees, followed by Vietnam, India, other countries in Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, Madagascar and South Africa. A tall evergreen tree, the lychee bears small fleshy
fruits In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particula ...
. The outside of the fruit is pink-red, roughly textured, and inedible, covering sweet flesh eaten in many different dessert dishes. Lychee seeds contain methylene cyclopropyl glycine which can cause hypoglycemia associated with outbreaks of encephalopathy in undernourished Indian and Vietnamese children who had consumed lychee fruit.


Taxonomy

''Litchi chinensis'' is the sole member of the genus ''Litchi'' in the soapberry family,
Sapindaceae The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The Sapindaceae occur in tempera ...
. It was described and named by French naturalist
Pierre Sonnerat Pierre Sonnerat (18 August 1748 – 31 March 1814) was a French natural history, naturalist, colonial administrator, writer and List of explorers, explorer. He described numerous species of plants and animals on his travels and is honoured in th ...
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. There are three subspecies, determined by flower arrangement, twig thickness, fruit, and a number of
stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...
s. * ''Litchi chinensis'' subsp. ''chinensis'' is the only commercialized lychee. It grows wild in southern China, northern Vietnam, and Cambodia. It has thin twigs, flowers typically have six stamens, fruit are smooth or with protuberances up to . * ''Litchi chinensis'' subsp. ''philippinensis'' (Radlk.) Leenh. It is common in the wild in the Philippines and rarely cultivated. It has thin twigs, six to seven stamens, long oval fruit with spiky protuberances up to . * ''Litchi chinensis'' subsp. ''javensis''. It is only known in cultivation, in Malaysia and Indonesia. It has thick twigs, flowers with seven to eleven stamens in sessile clusters, smooth fruit with protuberances up to .


Description


Tree

''Litchi chinensis'' is an evergreen tree that is frequently less than tall, sometimes reaching . Its evergreen leaves, 5 to 8 in (12.5–20 cm) 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. Its evergreen leaves are long, with leaflets in two to four pairs. Lychee are similar in foliage to the family
Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ). They are dicotyledons, and occur ma ...
, likely due to convergent evolution. They are adapted by developing leaves that repel water, and are called laurophyll or
lauroid This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...
leaves. Flowers grow on a terminal inflorescence with many
panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...
s on the current season's growth. The panicles grow in clusters of ten or more, reaching or longer, holding hundreds of small white, yellow, or green flowers that are distinctively fragrant.


Fruit

The lychee bears fleshy
fruits In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particula ...
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. 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. The rind is inedible but easily removed to expose a layer of translucent white fleshy
aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...
with a floral smell and a sweet flavor. The skin turns brown and dry when left out after harvesting. The fleshy, edible portion of the fruit is an
aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...
, 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. Since the floral flavor is lost in the process of canning, the fruit is usually eaten fresh.


History

Cultivation of lychee began in the region of southern China, going back to 1059 AD, Malaysia, and northern Vietnam. Unofficial records in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
refer to lychee as far back as 2000 BC. Wild trees still grow in parts of southern China and on Hainan Island. The fruit was used as a delicacy in the Chinese Imperial Court. In the 1st century during the Han dynasty, fresh lychees were a popular tribute item, and in such demand at the Imperial Court that a special courier service with fast horses would bring the fresh fruit from Guangdong. There was great demand for lychee in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), according to
Cai Xiang Cai Xiang () (1012–1067) was a Chinese calligrapher, politician, structural engineer, and poet.Ci hai bian ji wei yuan hui (辞海编辑委员会). Ci hai (辞海). Shanghai: Shanghai ci shu chu ban she (上海辞书出版社), 197 ...
, in his ''Li chi pu'' (Treatise on Lychees). It was also the favorite fruit of Emperor Li Longji (Xuanzong)'s favored concubine Yang Yuhuan (Yang Guifei). The emperor had the fruit delivered at great expense to the capital. The lychee attracted the attention of
European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
travelers, such as the Spanish bishop, explorer, and sinologist Juan González de Mendoza in his ''History of the great and mighty kingdom of China'' (1585; English translation 1588), based on the reports of Spanish friars who had visited China in the 1570s gave the fruit high praise: Later the lychee was described and introduced to the West in 1656 by
Michal Boym Michal (; he, מיכל , gr, Μιχάλ) was, according to the first Book of Samuel, a princess of the United Kingdom of Israel; the younger daughter of King Saul, she was the first wife of David (), who later became king, first of Judah, ...
, a Polish Jesuit missionary (at that time Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth).


Double domestication

Genomic studies indicate that the lychee resulted from double domestication by independent cultivation in two different regions of ancient China.


Cultivation and uses

Lychees are extensively grown in southern China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the rest of tropical Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, and in tropical regions of many other countries. They require a tropical climate that is frost-free and is not below the temperature of . Lychees require a climate with high summer heat, rainfall, and humidity, growing optimally on well-drained, slightly acidic soils rich in organic matter and mulch. Some 200 cultivars exist, with early and late maturing forms suited to warmer and cooler climates, respectively, although mainly eight cultivars are used for commerce in China. They are also grown as an
ornamental tree Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...
, as well as for their fruit. The most common way of propagating lychee is through a method called air layering or marcotting. Air-layers, or marcotts, are made by cutting a branch of a mature tree, covering the cut with a rooting medium, such as peat or
sphagnum moss ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...
, then wrapping the medium with polyethylene film and allowing the cut to root. Once significant rooting has occurred, the marcott is cut from the branch and potted. According to folklore, a lychee tree that is not producing much fruit can be
girdled Girdled identifies various animal species: {{TOC right Girdled lizards Lizards from the genus ''Cordylus''. * Angolan girdled lizard (''Cordylus angolensis''), also known as the Angolan spiny-tailed lizard *Black girdled lizard (''Cordylus niger'' ...
, leading to more fruit production. When the central opening of trees is carried out as part of training and pruning,
stereo fruiting Stereo fruitingVishal Nath; Bikash Das; Mathura Rai; Rai, R. K., 2003: Center opening induces stereo fruiting in litchi cv. Shahi. Progressive Horticulture 35(2): 219-220. is a pattern of fruiting in which both the outer and inner canopy of a tree ...
can be achieved for higher orchard productivity. Lychees are commonly sold fresh in Asian markets. 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.


Cultivars

There are numerous lychee cultivars, 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. Different cultivars of lychee are popular in various growing regions and countries. In China, popular cultivars include Sanyuehong, Baitangying, Baila, 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. India grows more than a dozen named cultivars, including Shahi (Highest Pulp %), Dehradun, Early Large Red, Kalkattia and Rose Scented.


Nutrients

Raw lychee fruit is 82% water, 17% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and contains negligible fat (table). In a 100-gram (3.5 oz) reference amount, raw lychee fruit supplies 66
calorie The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of on ...
s of food energy. The raw pulp is rich in vitamin C, having 72 mg per 100 grams – an amount representing 86% of the Daily Value – but contains no other
micronutrient Micronutrients are nutrient, essential dietary elements required by organisms in varying quantities throughout life to orchestrate a range of physiological functions to maintain health. Micronutrient requirements differ between organisms; for exam ...
s in significant content (table).


Phytochemicals

Lychees have moderate amounts of polyphenols, including flavan-3-ol monomers and dimers as major compounds representing about 87% of total polyphenols, which declined in content during storage or browning. Lychees naturally produce
butylated hydroxytoluene Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), also known as dibutylhydroxytoluene, is a lipophilic organic compound, chemically a derivative of phenol, that is useful for its antioxidant properties. BHT is widely used to prevent free radical-mediated oxidatio ...
.
Cyanidin-3-glucoside Chrysanthemin is an anthocyanin. It is the 3-glucoside of cyanidin. Natural occurrences Chrysanthemin can be found in the roselle plant (''Hibiscus sabdariffa'', Malvaceae), different Japanese angiosperms, '' Rhaponticum'' (Asteraceae), The fr ...
represented 92% of total
anthocyanin Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart gave the name Anthokyan to a chemical compo ...
s.


Poisoning

In 1962, it was found that lychee seeds contained methylenecyclopropylglycine (MCPG), a homologue of
hypoglycin A Hypoglycin A is a naturally occurring amino acid derivative found in the unripened fruit of the Ackee tree ('' Blighia sapida'') and in the seeds of the box elder tree ('' Acer negundo''). It is toxic if ingested, and is the causative agent of Ja ...
, which caused hypoglycemia in animal studies. Since the end of the 1990s, unexplained outbreaks of encephalopathy occurred, appearing to affect only children in India (where it is called ''chamki bukhar''), and northern Vietnam (where it was called Ac Mong encephalitis after the Vietnamese word for
nightmare A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of d ...
) during the lychee harvest season from May to June. A 2013 investigation by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in India, showed that cases were linked to the consumption of lychee fruit, causing a noninflammatory encephalopathy that mimicked symptoms of
Jamaican vomiting sickness Jamaican vomiting sickness, also known as toxic hypoglycemic syndrome (THS), acute ackee fruit intoxication, or ackee poisoning, is an acute illness caused by the toxins hypoglycin A and hypoglycin B, which are present in fruit of the ackee tree ...
. Because low blood sugar ( hypoglycemia) of less than 70 mg/dL in the
undernourished Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues ...
children on admission was common, and associated with a poorer outcome (44% of all cases were fatal) the CDC identified the illness as a
hypoglycemic Hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's triad is used to properly identify hypoglycemic episodes. It is defined as blood glucose belo ...
encephalopathy. The investigation linked the illness to hypoglycin A and MCPG toxicity, and to malnourished children eating lychees (particularly unripe ones) on an empty stomach. 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. Earlier studies had incorrectly concluded that transmission may occur from direct contact with lychees contaminated by bat
saliva Saliva (commonly referred to as spit) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which DNA can be ...
, urine, or
guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
or with other vectors, such as insects found in lychee trees or
sand flies Sandfly (or sand fly) is a colloquial name for any species or genus of flying, biting, blood-sucking dipteran (fly) encountered in sandy areas. In the United States, ''sandfly'' may refer to certain horse flies that are also known as "greenhea ...
, as in the case of
Chandipura virus ''Chandipura vesiculovirus'' (CHPV) is a member of the ''Rhabdoviridae'' family that is associated with an encephalitic illness in humans. It was first identified in 1965 after isolation from the blood of two patients from Chandipura village in ...
. A 2017 study found that pesticides used in the plantations could be responsible for the encephalitis and deaths of young children in Bangladesh.


Gallery

File:Lichubagan3.JPG, China 3 cultivar of lychee fruit File:Lychee fruits at a market in West Bengal, India.jpg, Lychee fruits at a market in West Bengal, India File:Plate of peeled lychee fruit 2019 10-32-11 PM.jpeg, Peeled lychee fruits


See also

* Ackee *
China 3 lychee China 3 is a variety of lychee fruit, belonging to the family Sapindaceae and tribe ''Nepheleae''. This variety is one of the best grown in Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. The trees are only about 5 to 6 m tall wit ...
* Chinese food therapy * Guinep ('' Melicoccus bijugatus'') *
Korlan ''Nephelium hypoleucum'', the korlan, is a tree in the family Sapindaceae. It is in the same genus as the rambutan and also closely related to several other tropical fruits including the lychee, longan, and guinep. The fruit In botany, a ...
* Lanzones * Lichido liqueur *
List of culinary fruits This list contains the names of Fruit, fruits that are considered Eating, edible either raw or in some Cuisine, cuisines. The word "fruit" is used in several different ways. The definition of fruit for this list is a culinary fruit, that is, "Any ...
* Longan *
Lychee wine Lychee wine (Chinese: , ''lìzhījiǔ'') is a full-bodied Chinese dessert wine made of 100% lychee fruit. This wine has a golden colour and rich, sweet taste. It is usually served ice cold, either straight up or on the rocks with foo ...
* Muzaffarpur * Rambutan


References


Further reading

* * * * {{Authority control Sapindaceae Trees of China Trees of Indo-China Trees of Malesia Chinese fruit Edible fruits Fruit trees Tropical fruit Plants described in 1782