Peak season: June to August

Grown extensively in the north, especially in the Chiang Mai area, the Longan is much esteemed by Thai fruit lovers, who eagerly await the annual high season from June to August when piles of the small brown fruit can be found in markets throughout the country. The crisp skin is easy to remove and the white flesh has a texture and sweetness reminiscent of litchi. Thais generally eat Longan fresh at room temperature, but the canned fruit is often served over ice as a dessert.

Nutritional value: High calciumand phosphorus Longan has a thin brittle olive-brown outer shell that is easy to crack open. In the Bieow Keow variety commonly found in fruit stalls, markets and supermarkets, the smooth translucent flesh that surrounds the round black seed is juicier and exceptionally sweet. In the See Chompoo variety, the light champagne pink flesh is noticeably crisp.

Longan is usually eaten fresh but is also popular when served as a dessert called Khao Nieow Lam Yai - a fragrant rice pudding cooked in coconut milk. Dried Longan is double-boiled and served as a refreshing Chinese-style tea, hot or with crushed ice. Canned Longan is simply served with crushed ice.

Grown in the Northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Lamphun, The Longan is exported fresh, canned and dried to Europe, the United States and Asia.

Closely allied to the Lychee, the Longan has been referred to as the "little brother of the Lychee". Longan is slightly smaller than Lychee, and with a dull brown skin which is smoother than that of the Lychee. The fruit taste is similar, and the value of Longan on the market is due to the fact that its season follows that of the Lychee, extending the period when this type of fruit is available. According to the esteemed scholar, Prof. G. Weidman Groff, the Longan is less important to the Chinese as an edible fruit, it is more widely used than the Lychee in Oriental medicine.

The fruit grows in drooping clusters. Fruit is globose, 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter, with thin, brittle, yellow-brown to light reddish-brown rind. The flesh is whitish, translucent, somewhat musky, sweet, but not as sweet as that of the Lychee and with less "bouquet". The seed is round, jet-black, shining, with a circular white spot at the base, giving it the aspect of an eye.

Varieties
See-chohmpoo	Beo-keo	Daw

Preparation and eating

1. Slit the skin with a knife around the fruit from end.

2. Remove the skin.

3. Remove the seed.

Nutritional value
High calcium, phosphorus

Fruiting season
June - August

Uses
Eating fresh and canning

Storage
Keep the fresh fruit at room temperature (25-30 Celsius),
they can be kept for 2-3 days.

Medicinal Uses:   The flesh of the fruit is administered as a stomachic, febrifuge and vermifuge, and is regarded as an antidote for poison. A decoction of the dried flesh is taken as a tonic and treatment for insomnia and neurasthenic neurosis. In both North and South Vietnam, the "eye" of the Longan seed is pressed against a snakebite in the belief that it will absorb the venom. Leaves and flowers are sold in Chinese herb markets but are not a part of ancient traditional medicine. The leaves contain quercetin and quercitrin. Burkill says that the dried flowers are exported to Malaysia for medicinal purposes. The seeds are administered to counteract heavy sweating and the pulverized kernel, which contains saponin, tannin and fat, serves as a styptic.