Lychee

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Lychee
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Sapindaceae
Tribe:
Nephelieae
Genus: Litchi
Sonn.
Species:
L. chinensis
Binomial name
Litchi chinensis
Synonyms[2]
  • Corvinia litschi Stadtm. ex P.Willemet
  • Euphoria didyma Blanco
  • Euphoria punicea Lam.
  • Litchi sinensis J.F.Gmel.
  • Nephelium chinense (Sonn.) Druce
  • Nephelium didymum Craib
  • Scytalia chinensis Gaertn.
  • Scytalia squamosa Stokes
Lychee
Tâi-lô
Nāi/Lāi-tsi

Lychee[3] (US: /ˈl/ LEE-chee, UK: /ˈl/ LIE-chee; Litchi chinensis; Chinese: 荔枝; pinyin: lìzhī; Jyutping: lai6 zi1; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: nāi-chi) is a monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae.

It is a

tropical tree native to South China, Malaysia, and northern Vietnam.[4][5] The tree has been introduced throughout Southeast Asia and South Asia.[5] Cultivation in China is documented from the 11th century.[4] China is the main producer of lychees, followed by Vietnam, India, other countries in Southeast Asia, other countries in the 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.[6][7]

Taxonomy

Pierre Sonnerat's drawing from Voyage aux Indes Orientales et à la Chine (1782)[8]

Litchi chinensis is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae.[4]

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" (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 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 2 mm (0.079 in).
  • 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 3 mm (0.12 in).[9]
  • 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 1 mm (0.039 in).[4][10]

Description

L. chinensis tree at Parque Municipal Summit in Panama
L. chinensis flowers

Tree

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. Its

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 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]

Fruit

Whole and opened fruit with seed

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 (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. The rind is inedible but easily removed to expose a layer of translucent white fleshy aril 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 an aril, 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]

History

Michal Boym's Flora Sinensis
(1657)

Cultivation of lychee began in the region of

Hainan Island. The fruit was used as a delicacy in the Chinese Imperial Court.[14]

In the 1st century during the

Li Longji (Xuanzong)'s favored concubine Yang Yuhuan (Yang Guifei). The emperor had the fruit delivered at great expense to the capital.[11]

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 (1585; English translation 1588), based on the reports of Spanish friars who had visited China in the 1570s gave the fruit high praise:[16]

[T]hey haue a kinde of plummes, that they doo call lechias, that are of an exceeding gallant tast, and neuer hurteth any body, although they shoulde eate a great number of them.

Later the lychee was described and introduced to the West in 1656 by

Michal Boym, a Polish Jesuit missionary (at that time Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth).[17]

Lychee was introduced in the Pakistani region (then British Raj) in 1932 and remained an exotic plant until the 1960s when commercial production began. The crop's production expanded from Begum Kot (Lahore District) in Punjab to Hazara, Haripur, Sialkot and Mirpur Khas.

Double domestication

Genomic studies indicate that the lychee resulted from double domestication by independent cultivation in two different regions of ancient China.[18]

Cultivation and uses

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,

Indian Subcontinent,[19] and in tropical regions of many other countries.[4][19][20] They require a tropical climate that is frost-free and is not below the temperature of −4 °C (25 °F).[4][19] 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.[4][19]

Some 200

ornamental tree, as well as for their fruit.[4] 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, 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.[21]

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.[22]

Lychees are commonly sold fresh in Asian markets.[4][19] 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]

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.[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][23] India grows more than a dozen named cultivars, including Shahi (Highest Pulp %), Dehradun, Early Large Red, Kalkattia and Rose Scented.[12][24]

The Mauritius cultivar

Nutrients

Lychees, raw, 100 g
Peeled lychee fruits
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy276 kJ (66 kcal)
16.53 g
Sugars15.23 g
Dietary fiber1.3 g
0.44 g
0.83 g
Niacin (B3)
4%
0.603 mg
Vitamin B6
6%
0.1 mg
Folate (B9)
4%
14 μg
Vitamin C
79%
71.5 mg
MineralsQuantity
%DV
Calcium
0%
5 mg
Iron
1%
0.13 mg
Magnesium
2%
10 mg
Manganese
2%
0.055 mg
Phosphorus
2%
31 mg
Potassium
4%
171 mg
Sodium
0%
1 mg
Zinc
1%
0.07 mg
Other constituentsQuantity
Water81.8 g

Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults.[25]

Raw lychee fruit is 82% water, 17%

Daily Value – but contains no other micronutrients
in significant content (table).

Phytochemicals

Lychees have moderate amounts of

Cyanidin-3-glucoside represented 92% of total anthocyanins.[27]

Poisoning

In 1962, it was found that lychee seeds contained methylenecyclopropylglycine (MCPG), a homologue of hypoglycin A, which caused hypoglycemia in human and animal studies.[28] Since the end of the 1990s, unexplained outbreaks of encephalopathy occurred, appearing to affect only children in India[29] (where it is called chamki bukhar),[30] and northern Vietnam (where it was called Ac Mong encephalitis after the Vietnamese word for nightmare) during the lychee harvest season from May to June.[31][32]

A 2013 investigation by the U.S.

undernourished 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 encephalopathy.[33]

The investigation linked the illness to hypoglycin A and MCPG toxicity, and to malnourished 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.[33][34]

Earlier studies had incorrectly concluded that transmission may occur from direct contact with lychees contaminated by

Chandipura virus.[31] A 2017 study found that pesticides used in the plantations could be responsible for the encephalitis and deaths of young children in Bangladesh.[35][36]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ "Litchi chinensis". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  2. ^ "Litchi chinensis (Thunb.) H.Deane". World Flora Online. World Flora Consortium. 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  3. ^ Also sometimes spelled litchi, liechee, liche, lizhi, li zhi, or lichee.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Morton, J.F. (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. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Litchi chinensis Sonn. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science".
  6. PMID 28153516
    .
  7. ^ .
  8. ^ a b Sonnerat, P. (1782) Voyage aux Indes Orientales et à la Chine, fait par ordre du Roi, depuis 1774 jusqu'en 1781. Tome second, p. 230. Paris.
  9. ^ "Litchi chinensis subsp. philippinensis". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  10. ^ .
  11. ^ .
  12. ^ .
  13. .
  14. . Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  15. .
  16. ^ Juan González de Mendoza, The history of the great and mighty kingdom of China and the situation thereof. English translation by Robert Parke, 1588, in an 1853 reprint by Hakluyt Society. Page 14. The Spanish version (in a 1944 reprint) has lechías.
  17. .
  18. .
  19. ^ a b c d e f SK Mitra (2000). "Overview of lychee production in the Asia-Pacific region". Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Office for Asia and the Pacific. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  20. ^ Crane, Jonathan H.; Carlos F. Balerdi; Ian Maguire (2008) [1968]. "Lychee growing in the Florida home landscape". University of Florida. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  21. ISSN 0304-4238
    .
  22. ^ "Good management practices in litchi" (PDF). National Research Centre on Litchi, Bihar, India. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  23. ^ Boning, Charles R. (2006). Florida's Best Fruiting Plants: Native and Exotic Trees, Shrubs, and Vines. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc. p. 132.
  24. .
  25. ^ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  26. PMID 16920856
    .
  27. ^ .
  28. .
  29. ^ "Litchi virus kills 8 kids in Malda". Times of India. 8 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  30. ^ Agence France-Presse (13 June 2019). "At least 31 children in India killed by toxin in lychees". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  31. ^
    PMID 23092599
    .
  32. ^ Singh HP, Babita S. "Lychee production in India". Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  33. ^
    PMID 25632950
    . Retrieved 30 Jan 2015.
  34. ^ a b Barry, Ellen (31 January 2017). "Dangerous Fruit: Mystery of Deadly Outbreaks in India Is Solved". New York Times. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  35. ^ "Pesticides May Have Caused South Asian Children's Sudden Deaths". Voa news. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  36. PMID 28749763
    .

Further reading

External links

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