Lychee
Lychee is a monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae.
The fruit is edible and has a sweet, mildly tart flavor and a distinctive floral aroma often described as rose-like.
There are three distinct subspecies of lychee. The most common is the Indochinese lychee found in South China, Malaysia, and northern Vietnam. The other two are the Philippine lychee found only in the Philippines and the Javanese lychee cultivated in Indonesia and Malaysia. The tree has been introduced throughout Southeast Asia and South Asia. Cultivation in China is documented from the 11th century. China is the main producer of lychees, followed by India, Vietnam, other countries in Southeast Asia, other countries in South Asia, Madagascar, and South Africa. A tall evergreen tree, it bears small fleshy sweet fruits. The outside of the fruit is a pink-red, rough-textured soft shell.
Lychee seeds contain methylene cyclopropyl glycine which has caused hypoglycemia associated with outbreaks of encephalopathy in undernourished Indian and Vietnamese children who consumed lychee fruit.
Taxonomy
Litchi chinensis is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae.It was described and named by French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat in his account "Voyage aux Indes Orientales et à la Chine, fait depuis 1774 jusqu'à 1781", which was published in 1782. There are three subspecies, determined by flower arrangement, twig thickness, fruit, and a number of stamens.
- 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 Leenh. It is common in the wild in the Philippines and rarely cultivated. Locally called alupag, mata-mata, or matamata 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.
- 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, 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, likely due to convergent evolution. They are adapted by developing leaves that repel water, and are called laurophyll or lauroid leaves.
Flowers grow on a terminal inflorescence with many panicles 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 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, 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 flesh 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, surrounding one dark brown inedible seed that is 1 to 3.3 cm long and 0.6 to 1.2 cm wide. 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.
Flavor and aroma
The edible aril of the lychee is juicy and translucent, with a sweet, mildly tart flavor and a distinctive floral aroma often described as rose-like.Its sweetness is primarily due to sucrose, glucose, and fructose, while malic and citric acids provide acidity. Aroma-active compounds in the flesh include the monoterpenes linalool, geraniol, nerol, limonene, and cis-rose oxide, which contribute rose-like and citrus-like notes, as well as furaneol, methional, and sulfur volatiles such as dimethyl trisulfide.
History
Cultivation of lychee began in the region of southern China, going back to 1059 AD, Malaysia, and northern Vietnam. Unofficial records in China 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, according to Cai Xiang, in his Li chi pu. It was also the favorite fruit of Emperor Li Longji 's favored concubine Yang Yuhuan. The emperor had the fruit delivered at great expense to the capital.
The lychee attracted the attention of European travelers, such as the Spanish bishop, explorer, and sinologist Juan González de Mendoza in his History of the great and mighty kingdom of China, 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 Michał Boym, a Polish Jesuit missionary.
Lychee trees were introduced to Jamaica by Chinese immigrants in the 18th century, where the fruit is associated with the Chinese Jamaican community. The fruit is featured in a popular Jamaican cake, called lychee cake, which is made of a light sponge cake, cream, and fruit, which has been one of the most popular cakes in Jamaica since its creation by baker Selena Wong in 1988.
Lychee was introduced in the north-western parts of Indian subcontinent in 1932 and remained an exotic plant until the 1960s when commercial production began. The crop's production expanded from Begum Kot in Punjab to Hazara, Haripur, Sialkot and Mirpur Khas.
Double domestication
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. In China, eight cultivars are mainly used for commerce. Lychees are also grown as an ornamental tree. 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 as peat or sphagnum moss, then wrapping the medium with polyethylene film and allowing the cut to root. Once significant rooting has occurred, the layer is cut from the branch and potted.
According to folklore, a lychee tree that is not producing much fruit can be girdled, 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.
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 Kwai Mai, 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. India grows more than a dozen named cultivars, including Shahi, Dehradun, Early Large Red, Kalkattia and Rose Scented.