The Chinese call them "dragon's eye" and treat them with otolaryngological and cardiovascular diseases, and the Indians revere them as a powerful aphrodisiac.
What does lychee fruit look like and where does it grow
Preventive and medicinal properties lychees are manifested by the use of fresh pulp of fruits and seeds. In some recipes, lychee peel is found, its use can be both internal and external.
Chinese lychee plant range
Lychee is native to southern and southeastern China. Fruits grow in clusters on trees. In Europe, fruits appeared in the 17th century thanks to Spanish travelers.
Chinese researcher Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza decided that the lychee was a Chinese plum, which the Spaniard wrote about in his annals. He argued that "plums" are easily perceived by the body and do not cause heaviness in the stomach.
Later exotic spread to other continents. He prefers the subtropics. Cultivated in Japan, China, southern US states and countries South America.
The largest plantations are in Madagascar. Massive fruits ripen from May to June. Collect them from a tree, cutting off whole brushes. Harvested one at a time, the fruit does not store well and ferment quickly.
What do lychee fruits look like?
The fruits are similar in appearance to large strawberries: slightly elongated shape, diameter - 2 ... 5 cm, weight - 10 ... 25 g. The flesh is white, sometimes slightly creamy.
The taste of the lychee fruit is more like a slightly astringent grape. Inside there is a bone (seed in a shell). The skin has small spines. After ripening, it becomes crusty, easily removed.
Lychee is a fruit or berry
In biology, there is no concept of a fruit. According to the botanical classification, the lychee fruit is called a single-seeded berry. In cooking and everyday life, there is a different terminology.
It is believed that fruits grow on trees and shrubs, and on herbaceous plants- berries. Based on this, litchi - exotic fruit(in everyday and culinary meaning), and at the same time a berry (in the understanding of biologists).
The composition of the edible part of the fruit
Exot is one of the ten most useful fruits in Southeast Asia. Low calorie fruits energy value of 100 g - 60 ... 75 kcal(depending on where the lychee grows and on the plant variety).
Lychee Composition
The pulp is 75–82% liquid. All nutrients (biologically active elements) are well balanced, which is why beneficial features lychee berries.
100 g of fresh product contains:
- 0.8 g of proteins;
- 0.4 g fat;
- 16.5 g carbohydrates;
- 0.3 g of dietary fiber.
Glycemic index fresh litchi - 50 , dried - 55 units. Ratio BJU - 1: 0.5: 20.6. Carbohydrates are represented by mono- and disaccharides. Of the essential acids identified lysine, tryptophan and methionine. It contains omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
The fruit is rich in pectins. It contains a lot of micro and macro elements: potassium (171 mg), calcium (5 mg), magnesium (10 mg), sodium (1 mg), phosphorus (31 mg), iron (0.31 mg), copper (148 mcg ). Manganese, selenium and zinc are present.
What vitamins are in lychee
The most significant vitamins of lychee fruit for human health (per 100 g of product):
- thiamine (B1) - 0.011 mg;
- riboflavin (B2) - 0.065 mg;
- choline (B4) - 7.1 mg;
- pyridoxine (B6) - 0.1 mg;
- folates (B9) - 14 mcg;
- vitamin C(C) - 71.5 mg;
- alpha tocopherol (E) - 0.07 mg;
- phylloquinone (K) - 0.4 mcg;
- nicotinic acid (PP) - 0.603 mg.
Lychee fruit - health benefits and harms
Russian pharmacy does not use the plant for medicinal purposes. And in the East, its fruits are part of many active additives.
A low molecular weight polyphenol Oligomer was isolated from the fruit - a substance that became the basis of the Japanese drug "Oligonol" for the elasticity of blood vessels and the elimination of "cold syndrome in the limbs". The additive is also used in cosmetology and dietology.
Useful properties of lychee berries
When fresh, the product helps to prevent and improve the condition in the presence of diseases such as:
- anemia and anemia- contains iron and copper, which contribute to the production of red blood cells;
- oncological formations– antioxidants bind and neutralize free radicals, improve metabolic processes;
- diseases of the heart and blood vessels- there is a lot of potassium in the pulp, which has a positive effect on the heart muscle;
- atherosclerosis- nicotinic acid promotes vasodilation, improves blood flow, it removes even dense deposits of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels;
- dyspepsia, constipation, liver disease– fruits improve digestion of food;
- bronchitis, asthma, tuberculosis, colds- the pulp has expectorant properties;
- kidney and urinary tract diseases- the product has a diuretic effect.
Here is the video recipe:
Lychee - sweet and fragrant tropical fruit, which we usually have available from May to June. Few people know about this fruit. Meanwhile, this exotic fruit contains an impressive array of vitamins, fiber and antioxidants. It contains more vitamin C than oranges or lemons, and as much potassium and dietary fiber as apples. All this may indicate that lychee can bring a lot of benefits to our body, although it has nothing to do with the usual fruits and vegetables.
How and where does lychee grow
China is considered the birthplace of the lychee fruit, but today it grows in many southeastern countries Asia and belongs to the Sapindus family.
Lychee fruits are evergreen trees that grow in the tropics and subtropics. Their life expectancy is at least a thousand years. In height, such trees reach up to 30 meters (although 15 meters is considered the standard).
As a tropical plant, lychee is frost tolerant and prefers moderately moist fertile soils. Can easily grow in hot dry climates, but when high humidity it just doesn't bear fruit.
The bark of the tree is smooth and grey. The lychee tree has a wide, spreading crown with large, complex, dense, shiny leaves, consisting of 4–8 elongated narrow leaves with wavy edges. They are dark green above and grayish green below.
True, one of the the most beautiful plants slowly, gradually. It begins to bear fruit only for 4–6 years, and reaches a good yield for 20 years.
The tree blooms without petals, only with yellowish or greenish panicle inflorescences, 70 centimeters long. From each such panicle, a bunch of 3–15 fruits is formed. The fruits ripen 140 days after flowering.
For the first time they learned about such a fruit in South China as early as the 2nd century BC (documentary sources testify to this). And only then a plant from the vast Sapind family (includes 150 genera and 2 thousand species) spread to Japan, America (mainly in the southern regions), Vietnam, Thailand, Southeast Asia, Australia and Africa.
Europeans learned about such a fruit thanks to the Spanish writer Gonzalez de Menoz, who described it in the middle of the 17th century.
Today, this fruit is known by many names - Chinese plum, fox, liji, Chinese lychee, laixi, "dragon's eye" (the so-called fruit in China because of the combination of a dark stone and white pulp).
By external form lidzhi is very similar to an egg that has oval view. There are round varieties. A heart-shaped fruit is considered a symbol of love. At the same time, the dense skin is pimply. Its color varies from bright red to brick red. Under the outer skin of the lychee (it separates easily), there is a jelly-like pulp of pure white or cream color. In the middle of the fruit is a large brown seed-bone.
The weight of one fruit reaches up to 15-20 grams, and the diameter of the fruit does not exceed 3-3.5 centimeters. The fruits are harvested by cutting whole seedlings in May-June, and the total yield of one adult tree is about 140 kg per year.
What does lychee taste like
Lychee or Chinese plum is oval or round in shape, about the size of a large plum. The appearance of this exotic fruit is not at all appetizing due to the rough skin with small tubercles. But under this, at first glance, rough skin, there is a very fragrant, tender, juicy and appetizing pulp. Its taste is at the same time similar to the taste of currants, raspberries, grapes and rose petal jam. To others, it tastes like a mixture of grapes, honey, kiwi and sweet and sour strawberries, or pineapple and strawberries.
There are fruits (it all depends on the variety) with a pronounced acidity of the pulp, there are sweeter ones. So describe the taste in more detail" dragon eye" difficult. We all have different taste buds. But one thing can be said that it is a very tasty fruit, juicy and perfectly refreshing.
Lychee fruit composition
At first glance, a small lychee fruit contains maximum amount useful nutrients which are extremely important for the human body. A fairly rich composition of Chinese plums includes:
- Water (up to 80 g);
- Protein fractions (approximately 1 g);
- Fats (very few of them - only 0.3 g);
- Carbohydrates (represented by mono- and disaccharides and amount to no more than 17 g);
- Dietary fiber (or fiber);
- B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic and folic acid, pyridoxine);
- Ascorbic acid (vitamin C);
- Alpha tocopherol (or vitamin E);
- Vitamin H (or biotin);
- Phylloquinone (known as vitamin K);
- Macronutrients represented by magnesium, potassium, calcium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine and phosphorus;
- Microelements contain iron, manganese, iodine, fluorine, zinc, copper.
With all the richness of nutrients, the total calorie content of lychee per 100 grams of its pulp is from 65 to 76 kilocalories (it all depends on the place of growth). 
Lychee fruit beneficial properties
Lychee is a healthy fruit rich in several nutrients. It has high antioxidant activity as it contains several compounds with antioxidant properties, including flavonoids.
Because of high content water it gives a lot of energy to the body.
100 grams of vitamin C pulp can provide almost 119 percent of the daily requirement for this vitamin for an adult. Vitamin C is needed by the immune system, protects against cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and helps to cope with many diseases.
The most important nutrients that are present in lychee are:
Rutin - protects against chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart and vascular diseases;
Quercetin - protects against cancer, restores damaged cells as a result of oxidative processes;
Kaempferol - has anti-inflammatory properties, is necessary for the heart;
Epicatechin - antioxidant, improves heart health, protects against diabetes and cancer;
Proanthocyanidin - found in lychee seeds, has a greater antiviral effect than vitamin C, protects against Coxsackie virus and herpes simplex.
Lychee is good source substances that are necessary for the production and circulation of blood. Iron carries oxygen throughout the body, supplying cells with it. Folic acid is an essential part of hemoglobin.
Magnesium plays an important role in the formation of blood clots. Without normal blood clotting, even the most small cut could bleed for a long time.
Copper is involved in the metabolism of iron and the formation of red blood cells. Vitamin C is needed for the absorption of iron. Without it, no matter how much iron-rich foods you eat, it will not be absorbed.
All these substances and elements are present in lychee.
Fiber and B vitamins improve metabolic processes. Without dietary fiber, there is no normal digestion. In addition, this fruit contains a large amount of water, which also has a beneficial effect on work. intestinal tract. Regular bowel movements help prevent many diseases, especially colon cancer.
Antioxidants also have an effect on the condition of the skin, preventing premature aging and the appearance of wrinkles.
No wonder lychee in traditional Chinese medicine is not just a food product, but also medicine. This fruit contains a healthy mix of nutrients with many benefits for our body and health.
Lychee fruit benefits for the body
Despite the small amount of refreshing pulp, its use can bring significant benefits to the human body. For example, in this useful list can be attributed:
In cosmetology, a variety of products for dry and sensitive skin are widely used (moisturizing occurs, irritation is removed and healing skin due to the presence of mineral salts and antioxidants), created on the basis of Chinese plum extract. True, it is virtually impossible to obtain such an extract at home.
This fruit has found application in the so-called anti-aging cosmetics, designed to prevent withering and aging of the skin, to cope with the harmful effects of the environment.
How to choose a lychee
To the territory Russian Federation lychee fruit comes from Vietnam. Therefore, when choosing, you should pay attention to:
- Skin color (it should be red, not particularly soft and without any spots; dark skin indicates stale and “old” product);
- To the information in the quality certificate (after all, the fruit is foreign, exotic, and therefore the buyer should know as much information as possible about it).
From the quality certificate you can find out what kind of lychee they sell. The most common are China, Desi, Muzaffarpur, Huayi, Bayla, Baitangen, Sweet Osmantu. It is worth noting that some of them do not have a red peel. It may be light brown.
And one more small nuance- fresh fruits are not transportable and are stored for no more than three days.
How to eat lychee
As you know, this fruit has a sweet and sour tasty pulp. Of course, where the fruit does not grow, dishes and drinks are not prepared from it, but they try to eat it fresh, separating the skin (before that, it should be washed well).
But in other countries in cooking, fruits are used in various ways:
- It is dried (this way it is stored for about a month without losing its taste, and in appearance it resembles a nut, which is why it is often called a “lychee nut”);
- Lychee can be canned;
- The pulp is added to refreshing juices and cocktails;
- They make wine from it, very light in taste;
- Add to fish, chicken and meat dishes (especially appreciated with pâtés and fried meat) or make sauces (culinary specialists claim their perfect combination);
- Good fruit marinades;
- Of course, they are used to prepare dessert dishes (including ice cream);
- Used for filling puddings and pies;
- The fruit is always a good addition to salads.
Read
The exotic lychee fruit is a very healthy and tasty fruit, which can now be found not only in distant countries, but thanks to supermarkets, these fruits also come to us. But not everyone takes the risk of buying them, since it is not known what the taste of this fruit will be and what they can be used for. Let's find out what kind of fruit it is and what it is eaten with ...
Lychee fruit has several names: chinese lychee”, “liji”, “laisi”, “fox”, “Chinese plum” is a small fruit, oval-shaped, maximum size a ripe fruit can reach from 2.5 to 3.5 cm, and the maximum weight is 20 grams. It grows on evergreen trees that belong to the Sapindaceae family. Leaves pinnate with 4-8 leaf blades, shiny, leathery. In total, there are about one hundred and fifty genera and about two thousand species in the world. Lychee trees average 15 meters in height, but can grow up to 30 meters.
From some of the names of the fruit, you can guess where this delicious fruit came from, China is the birthplace of the lychee fruit, some documents dating back to the second century BC testify to this. Then the fruit began to spread throughout Southeast Asia. In Europe, they learned about the fruit only in the 17th century, it was first described in his book by the Spanish writer Gonzalez de Mendoza. He wrote that lychees were somewhat reminiscent of plums, with pulp in the middle and they can be eaten in any quantity, since they do not cause heaviness in the stomach at all. On the this moment Lychees are grown in China, Japan and most of Southeast Asia, many countries in Africa and South America, and the southern states of the United States.
Lychee fruits are red or pink shade and covered with a dense skin with small tubercles. Before you eat the fruit, you need to remove the peel, this is done easily, you should put a little pressure on the peel and help with the tips of your nails to clean the fruit, separating the peel from the pulp. The flesh of the lychee is very juicy, white color, reminiscent of plums or grapes in texture, having a pleasant sweet and sour taste reminiscent of currants and a little strawberries, and it also has a delicious aroma. In the middle of the fruit is an oblong dark brown seed. If you cut the lychee in half, you will notice that it will look like an eye, which is why the Chinese also call it the “dragon eye”.
The fruit not only has a wonderful taste, but it also has many useful properties, it quenches thirst well and tones the body, due to the fact that it contains a large amount of water, it normalizes work digestive system and is recommended for those who have ulcers, gastritis, diabetes, liver and pancreas diseases. The fruit is useful for atherosclerosis and other diseases of the cardiovascular system, due to the fact that lychee contains nicotinic acid and a complex of minerals consisting of potassium, magnesium, calcium, in an ideal proportion, which helps to cleanse the blood of cholesterol, dilates blood vessels. Due to its powerful tonic effect, the fruit in China is also considered an excellent natural aphrodisiac. And the inhabitants of India call lychee the fruit of love. Fleece also promotes weight loss.
The composition of lychee fruits contains a huge variety of vitamins, micro and macro elements due to which it has a very beneficial effect on the human body.
100 g of lychee contains:
Water - 79.5 g
Proteins - 0.9 g
Fats - 0.3 g
Carbohydrates - 17 g
Dietary fiber (fiber) -1.6 g
Vitamins:
Vitamin B1 (thiamine) - 0.05 mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) 0.05 mg
Niacin (vitamin B3 or vitamin PP) - 0.53 mg
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) - 0.25 mg
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) - 0.01 mg
Folic Acid (Vitamin B9) 25 mcg
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) - 39.2 mg
Vitamin E (tocopherol) - 0.5 mg
Biotin (vitamin H) - 0.5 mcg
Vitamin K (phylloquinone) - 10 mcg
Macronutrients:
Potassium - 180 mg
Calcium - 9 mg
Magnesium - 10 mg
Sodium - 3 mg
Sulfur - 19 mcg
Chlorine - 3 mg
Phosphorus - 33 mg
Trace elements:
Iron - 0.35 mg
Iodine - 1.6 mcg
Manganese - 55 mcg
Copper - 140 mcg
Zinc - 70 mcg
Fluorine - 10 mcg
calories
100 g of lychee contains on average about 60 kcal.
Lychee fruits are consumed either fresh or added to sweet dishes, a variety of desserts, liqueurs, jellies, sauces, ice cream, tea, cocktails, and are also used as a filling for pies and puddings. Lychee pulp is even canned with sugar and exported in this form to many countries. And in China, traditional Chinese wine is produced from lychee fruits. It also goes well with fish, is used in the preparation of sweet and sour sauce, which is served with meat dishes.
The most delicious lychee is considered to be from Thailand, the lychee harvesting season lasts from May to early July, you cannot buy it at other times. When buying a lychee, you need to choose a fruit that is larger and that it is as red or pink as possible, since with this color it will be ripe and tasty, while the fruit must be very elastic so that it seems that it is about to burst. If you see that the peel of the fruit is dark in color, then this means that the fruit has long been removed from the branch and its taste will be unpleasant.
Exotic fruits are increasingly entering our lives. If earlier we were content with canned fruits (“tropical cocktail”, “pineapple in its own juice”, etc.), now in any supermarket you can easily buy fresh fruit from the other side of the planet. Eyes run wide - showcases with tropical goodies amaze with an abundance of colors, aroma, and various forms. However, buying an unfamiliar fruit can be puzzling (after all, not everyone has vacationed in Thailand or Bali) and raises many questions: what is a lychee fruit, how to eat such a fruit and what is edible in it, what does it taste like and whether it is healthy.
Did you know? The oldest mention of the lychee tree dates back to the year 59 (period Chinese dynasty Eastern Han) is a story about a nobleman who, having accidentally tasted the lychee fruit, hurried to notify Emperor Liu Zhuang about the discovered delicacy (although there are legends about Emperor Wu Di, who wanted to plant lychee in Northern China back in the 2nd century BC) . Most likely, the homeland of the lychee is southern China. It is known that in the 8th century, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang sent 600 warriors to collect these fruits for his beloved concubine Yang Yuhuan (a legendary woman of mystery in China and Japan), who loved them very much. The Vietnamese believe that the lychee ended up in China as a gift from the Vietnamese emperor of the Mai dynasty (although it is known that there was no such dynasty in Vietnam, there was a "black emperor Mai" - a poor man who rebelled against the Chinese and proclaimed himself emperor). A large mission with gifts (among which there were litchi) went to China under the founder of the Mak Dang Zung dynasty. But that was already in 1529.
What is lychee
Lychee (Litchi chinensis) - evergreen tree with a wide crown. Grows up to 30 meters in height. It grows in the tropics and subtropics of Eurasia, Africa and America. Lychee has many other names: "Chinese plum", "laise", "dragon's eye", "Chinese grape", "fox", "linchi". The leaves are paired, lanceolate, dark green.
When flowering, flowers without petals form umbellate inflorescences. Lychee is a wonderful honey plant (pollinated primarily by bees). The fruits grow in clusters (13-15 pieces each) and ripen in May-June. The yield ranges from 10 kg (in cool climates) to 150 kg (in optimal conditions).
Lychee fruits have an oval shape, size from 2 to 4 cm, weight up to 20 grams. Ripe red fruit with tuberculate skin. The peel of the lychee is easily separated (covered from the inside with a film) and reveals a delicate white jelly pulp. The pulp has a pleasant sweet with sour, slightly astringent flavors of plums and grapes. Inside the fruit is a hard dark brown bone (reminiscent of an acorn).
Despite the abundance of varieties (more than 100), the most popular are:
- green hanging - one of the most ancient and rare. Retains freshness without peel for three days;
- sticky rice balls. It has a honey flavor and a small seed (sometimes absent altogether);
- huaichi ("bunch of berries in hand");
- March red (earliest to ripen);
- smile Yang Yuhuan (early ripening, red juice in the peel);
- sweet osmanthus. They smell like osmanthus flower.
They collect lychee fruits in clusters (this way it is better to transport them, they are stored longer). Often, for better preservation during transportation, they are harvested unripe. Lychees retain their true taste for no more than three days after harvest.
Did you know? Lychee owes its appearance in Europe and distribution throughout the world to the French botanist Pierre Sonnera (1748-1814). The scientist traveled through Indochina, China and brought with him not only descriptions of unprecedented plants, but also their seedlings. The French liked the taste of lychee so much that in 1764 on about. In Reunion, the first plantation of this plant was planted (by engineer J.-F. Charpentier de Cossigny de Palma). The French landed litchi on about. Madagascar (became the world supplier of this fruit). Lychee has become widely grown in South Africa, Australia, the South Japanese Islands, Central America, Brazil and the United States.
Calorie content, nutritional value and composition of lychee
Lychee is distinguished by a low calorie content - 66 kcal, low content of fats and proteins. Fruits are especially rich in vitamins and minerals. Of the vitamins, ascorbic acid (71.5 mg) occupies a leading position. important place occupy B vitamins - niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, pantothenic and folic acids. There is also a rare vitamin K or phylloquinone (important for normal blood clotting), E (tocopherol), D (viosterol) and H (biotin).
The vitamin group is supplemented with micro and macro elements: phosphorus, potassium, calcium, copper, magnesium, sodium, zinc, selenium, iron, manganese, iodine.
Important! Lychee peel contains a lot essential oils. They give the fruit its aroma. The bones and peel are not used for food.
As a rule, lychees are eaten fresh or frozen (as they contain the most useful properties). In India, Indochina and China, you can find the so-called "litchi nuts" - dried fruits in a peel. The peel hardens during drying and, if shaken, a dry nucleolus rumbles inside (there are fewer vitamins, but mineral composition is preserved.)
What is useful lychee for the body
A unique combination of vitamins and minerals, low calorie content make lychee valuable nutritional and medicinal product.
Prevention of anemia
Regular consumption of lychee fruit effectively helps in preventing anemia. The high percentage of copper in lychee plays a big role in increasing the number of red blood cells.
Did you know? In Asia, Kongou tea is very popular. When brewed, it emits a rich grapefruit smell, while tasting, there is a specific aftertaste of lychee sweetness. The secret of this tea is in the addition of pieces of dried lychee peel. In Thailand, this tea is drunk with ice as a soft drink.
Help digestion
Lychees contain soluble fibers, free the stomach and intestines from toxic and harmful substances, normalize digestion (eliminate constipation). Lychee pulp has antacid properties, eliminates nausea, helps with mild diarrhea, stomach acidity and dyspepsia. Powder of crushed seeds traditional medicine Helped India and Vietnam get rid of helminths, cope with gastrointestinal disorders.
For skin beauty
The appearance of the skin of the face and body can be influenced by the pulp of the lychee. It is rich in many components that are beneficial for the skin, nourishes and moisturizes it, has antioxidant properties, helps restore collagen, improves appearance, smoothes out wrinkles. At home, it is easy to make a face mask from fresh fruits. Gels and creams containing lychee extract also widely used for skin care.
For bone strength
Minerals (phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, calcium, etc.) effectively maintain the condition of bones and teeth. Lychee pulp also contains vitamin D (which is important for the absorption of calcium by the body).
Did you know? Lychee is known as a powerful aphrodisiac. In China, it is believed that the fruit of the lychee concentrates the energy of “Yang” as much as possible - “equal to three torches of fire”, a symbol of love and manhood. Similar views on lychee exist in Indian folk medicine - before intercourse, a couple in love is recommended to eat lychee fruit, and its benefits will manifest itself in enhancing male sexual strength and mutual attraction.
For weight loss
From the pulp of the lychee fruit, oligonol was developed, which is effective reduces fat mass and improves blood circulation. Lychee extract is included in various dietary preparations. Knowing how to eat lychee correctly (namely, consume fresh up to 250 g per day) will help those who wish to lose weight. excess weight. Lychee fruit is 82% water, low calorie, no cholesterol, contains useful fiber and pectin.
For heart
The abundance of polyphenols (15% higher than their content in grapes), the high content of nicotinic acid, potassium, copper and manganese in ideal proportions makes consumption Lychee is exceptionally useful for people with heart and vascular problems. Lychee removes excess cholesterol, dilates blood vessels, regulates the frequency of contractions of the heart muscle, regulates the level of pressure, etc.
Contraindications and restrictions in consumption
The use of litchi by adults has no special restrictions, and there are practically no contraindications for them (except for individual intolerance). Even with overuse lychee is the worst thing that can happen - irritation of the mucosa and gas formation in the intestines, therefore it is better to limit the consumption of six to seven fruits.
Important! Children under three years of age should not eat lychee fruit. . Those who are over three years old should limit the amount of litchi (two or three pieces) and, most importantly, do not give it on an empty stomach. In 2017, scientists uncovered the cause of the annual epidemics among children in India: for 25 years, from mid-May to June, there was a mass illness of babies with acute encephalopathy (40% of the sick died). The reason was that unripe lychee fruits contain hypoglycine and methylenecyclopropylglycine (blocking glucose synthesis). All these children ate unripe lychees on an empty stomach the day before the disease, and their glucose levels in the body dropped sharply.
Therefore, neglect what the lychee is useful for d for a child’s body, it’s not worth it, but you must adhere to simple rules: give fruits after meals, select ripe and fresh fruits, make sure that there are no allergic reactions.
Lychee in medicine and cosmetology
Unique chemical composition lychee fruit allows you to use the fruit and its beneficial properties both in pure form and in the form of an extract in dietary supplements, as part of medicines, for the treatment and prevention of many diseases(especially active in China, Korea, Japan).
Scientists have isolated polyphenol oligonol from lychee, which rids the body of free radicals. Lychee fruits are useful for vision- contain zeaxanthin.
Lychee is one of the symbols of the great people of China, where it has been cultivated for over a thousand years. Its red, pink or green skin hides a shiny sweet flesh with a slight bitterness.
The fruits of the evergreen lychee tree are oval in shape, hang in bunches and contain one brown stone.
Lychee fruits contain a lot of carbohydrates in the form of sugars, but very little protein and fat, which makes them very attractive in terms of diet.
Exotic...
Olig preparation...
For some time now, more and more products have appeared on the shelves of our supermarkets. exotic fruits. You will not surprise anyone with pineapple, kiwi, banana, fig or coconut. All this has already been felt and tried more than once. But some fruits from equatorial countries still cause some concern among Russians. Seeing something unusual red or yellow in a basket on the market, many avert their eyes and do not ask, so as not to seem ignorant.
Well, those, still a few, who have visited the Bahamas, the Maldives, Honduras, etc. sometimes, with the air of connoisseurs, they take these round and oblong and flat fruits, and when they come home they try to find out with the help of the Internet what it is and what it is eaten with.
To some extent, they are right, it is often useless to ask our sellers, because you can hear something completely different from what this fruit actually represents. For example, the lychee fruit. And what you just don’t hear about these reddish fruits in pimples, the ears wither. In fact, lychee is very tasty and useful fruit. Let's try to tell everything that we could learn about this fruit.
Where and how does it grow?
Lychee is sometimes called the Chinese plum, and for good reason. It really looks like a plum, and besides, it is in the south of China that this plant is quite widespread and from there it began its journey to other countries. Now they are found in various countries of Asia, America and Africa. This evergreen pretty tall plant, usually about 10 meters high, but sometimes higher. Grows in well-drained fertile soils. It grows quite slowly, begins to bear fruit only at 8-9 years. Fruits abundantly only in dry subtropics. This fruit tolerates a humid tropical climate, but does not give fruits, and it is not possible to grow a full-fledged fruit-bearing plant at home.
The leaves are oblong, dark green and shiny. It blooms yellowish, with stamens sticking out in all directions, whitish flowers exuding a strong aroma. The flowers are collected in large inflorescences similar to umbrellas, sometimes up to half a meter long.
The fruits ripen in June. Despite the fact that the inflorescences are quite large, the fruits are 4-5 times smaller, because most of the flowers crumble. And still the tree as a whole gives quite big harvest. When assembling, they pluck the whole fruit and store them on the branches, because separately plucked fruits quickly deteriorate.
The fruits themselves are relatively small size- an average of three to four centimeters in diameter. The shape can be both oval and ovoid, depending on the variety. Such a fruit weighs about twenty grams. Outside, they have a rather dense red peel in small pimples. The pulp is white or cream-colored and looks like jelly. Large core inside Brown. The taste of ripe fruits is sweet and sour, quite pleasant with a bright aroma. Probably because the core stands out brightly in the cut, the Chinese often call this fruit "dragon's eye".
Benefit and harm
By their composition, lychee fruits contain a large number of trace elements: iron, phosphorus, copper, zinc, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, iodine, manganese and fluorine. The sugar content is within 6-14% depending on the place of growth. There are also small amounts of fats, proteins, carbohydrates and alimentary fiber. They contain a sufficient amount of B vitamins, as well as vitamins C, E, H and K. The nutritional value product no more than 75 kcal per 100 grams. Low calorie content, in an inexplicable way, is combined with high satiety. You can eat them in almost unlimited quantities, while satisfying hunger well, but without getting a large number calories. This property is indispensable for people prone to fullness.
Given the high content of vitamin C and trace elements of potassium, lychee is acceptable in the diet of people suffering from diseases of the cardiovascular system. In China, it has long been practiced in folk medicine in the treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis. It is effective in lowering cholesterol levels. It is a good tonic for the whole body. It is probably not in vain that the inhabitants of India, Nepal, and Pakistan consider lychee the fruit of love. For this purpose, a decoction prepared from the skin of the fruit is used. Such a decoction is also effective in removing excess fluid from the body, it has a beneficial effect on kidney function.
This exotic fruit has a lot of useful properties. It perfectly quenches thirst, especially in the heat. Regulates the work of the stomach and intestines, helping to get rid of constipation. Very well can help people who want to lose weight. It is very useful to eat litchi for people with anemia, diabetes, gastritis, peptic ulcer, in diseases of the liver and pancreas. In Tibetan medicine, lychee with lemongrass is used in the treatment of oncology. It is also effective in lowering blood sugar in diabetics. It is quite enough 10 fruits a day to normalize the level of sugar. In pharmacies, the drug "oligonol" obtained from fruits appeared. It is a good antioxidant, it is recommended for a number of diseases. In addition, it is used to reduce weight and slow down aging.
Many Asian countries, given the increased interest in lychee fruits in Europe, they began to grow entire plantations of these trees. Harvested with branches can be stored for a long time, which allows it to be transported without problems. Useful properties are stored for a long time in dried and frozen form. Frozen fruits can be stored for more than a month, while they do not lose their taste and healing properties. But nevertheless, when buying, you need to carefully examine the appearance and condition of the fruit. Do not buy if their peel has darkened. Buy only those that do not have external defects and have a rich red color.
Contraindications
Hardly ever. They can be harmful only with individual intolerance. However, you need to know that you should not eat too much of them. Adults are quite enough 200-250 grams per day. For children, this rate is better to reduce to 100 grams. Otherwise, some may allergic reactions in the form of acne on the skin or on the oral mucosa.
How do you eat lychee?
Usually they are consumed fresh: wash, carefully remove the peel, remove the core, the pulp is ready to eat. In addition, it is very good to add the pulp to sauces and desserts. And if you add it to dry wine or champagne, you get an amazing taste drink. The Chinese make wine from lychee fruits alone, the taste is specific. Perfect for serving fish and meat dishes instead of olives. It goes well with roasted game, lamb, pork. Very good in salads. Bon appetit!
Video: Lychee fruit, description, ...
