Lychee

's drawing from Voyage aux Indes Orientales et à la Chine (1782) Litchi chinensis is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae. • 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 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 (sweet, caramel-like), methional (cooked-potato nuance), and sulfur volatiles such as dimethyl trisulfide. ==History ==

's Flora Sinensis (1657) Cultivation of lychee began in the region of southern China, going back to 1059 AD, Malaysia, and northern Vietnam. 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, 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 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 Michał Boym, a Polish Jesuit missionary (at that time Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth). 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. ==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 . 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. 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 (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 calories of food energy. The raw pulp is rich in vitamin C, having 72 mg per 100 grams – an amount representing 79% of the Daily Value – but contains no other micronutrients 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. Cyanidin-3-glucoside represented 92% of total anthocyanins. ==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. Since the end of the 1990s, unexplained outbreaks of encephalopathy had been documented, 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, ) or July. 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. Education campaigns aimed at reducing the prevalence of lychee-associated encephalopathy have been launched, some before the mechanism of toxicity was elucidated, for example beginning in 1995 in China. Earlier studies had incorrectly concluded that transmission may occur from direct contact with lychees contaminated by bat saliva, urine, or guano or with other vectors, such as insects found in lychee trees or sand flies, as in the case of Chandipura virus. ==Gallery==

File:Lichubagan3.JPG |China 3 cultivar of lychee fruit File:Plate of peeled lychee fruit 2019 10-32-11 PM.jpeg |Peeled lychee fruits File:Lychee Fruit.jpg |Lychee fruit File:Lychee at a market.jpg |Lychee at a market in Uttar Pradesh, India ==See also ==