Lychee, “the king of fruits” is a rare subtropical fruit, and is botanically designated as Litchi chinensis of the family Sapindaceae. Here are 10 facts about lychee fruit:
10 Facts About Lychee Fruit
This attractive fruit originated over two thousand years ago in the rainforests of South China. Thereafter, lychee spread to neighboring Southeast Asia, offshore islands, Africa, the West Indies, France, and England. It reached Hawaii in 1873 and from there it went to Florida and California.
While seasonal temperature is required for the best flowering and fruiting of lychee trees a certain amount of winter chilling is also required for budding flowers.
The lychee tree is usually tall, handsome, dense, round-topped, and slow-growing. In South Florida and other areas of the southern US, lychee trees are grown as a popular landscape tree. The trees look wonderful when they are full of ripe fruits. Leaves are leathery and pinnate and flowers are tiny yellowish-green.
Lychee fruit is 1.5 to 2 inches long, oval or round in shape, covered with bumpy red skin. The flesh is white or pinkish, full of sweet juice along with a small brown seed. The taste of lychee is hard to describe. It has wonderful freshness.
Freshly picked lychees can keep their color and quality at room temperature for 4-5 days. However, if the fruits are pre-treated with 0.5% copper sulfate they can remain fresh longer.
Another fact – lychees are best if eaten fresh. Just take off the peel as well as the inner seed and eat. They are also used in fruit salads or serve as toppings on cakes and puddings by being cut into slices.
Lychees are also canned as fresh juice and syrup. Lychee puree is used in making ice cream and jellies.
Lychee is also popular as a dried fruit.
China is the leader in drying lychees and exporting them to other countries. When dried, lychees retain their texture and flavor for as long as one year or more at room temperature.
The lychee is a rich source of the antioxidant vitamin C and the essential mineral potassium.
Hope you enjoy these 10 interesting and fun facts!
