The lychee (Litchi chinensis, and also
known as the leechi, litchi, laichi, lichu, lizhi) is the sole member of
the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae.
It is a tropical and subtropical fruit
tree native to southern China and Southeast Asia, and now cultivated in
many parts of the world.
The fresh fruit has a “delicate, whitish
pulp” with a “perfume” flavor. Since this perfumy flavor is lost in
canning, the fruit is usually eaten fresh. An evergreen tree reaching
10–28 meters tall, the lychee bears fleshy fruits that are up to 5 cm
(2.0 in) long and 4 cm (1.6 in) wide.
The outside of the fruit is covered by a
pink-red, roughly textured rind that is inedible but easily removed to
expose a layer of sweet, translucent white flesh.
Lychees are eaten in many different
dessert dishes, and are especially popular in China, throughout
Southeast Asia, along with South Asia and India.
The lychee is cultivated in China,
Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh and northern India (in particular
Muzaffarpur Bihar, which accounts for 75% of total Indian production).
South Africa and the United States (Hawaii and Florida) also have commercial lychee production.
The lychee has a history of cultivation
going back as far as 2000 BC according to records in China. Cultivation
began in the area of southern China, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
Wild trees still grow in parts of
southern China and on Hainan Island. There are many stories of the
fruit’s use as a delicacy in the Chinese Imperial Court. It was first
described and introduced to the west in 1782.
