Peak season: April to June

Nutritional value: High carbohydrate, protein. The Lychee is the most renowned of a group of edible fruits of the soapberry family, Sapindaceae.
It is botanically designated Litchi chinensis Sonn. (Nephelium litchi Cambess) and widely known as litchi and regionally as lichi, lichee, laichi, leechee or Lychee. Prime grade fresh lychees are large in size with a thicker bright red skin. Lychees with thick, succulent flesh surrounding a relatively small seed, such as in the "Hong Huai" and "Chakrapat" (Emperor lychees), are considered to be the best quality. These are predominantly sweet. However for those who prefer flavourful lychees with a sharper taste, look out for oval-shaped lychees with brittle skin. These are sweet and slightly sour. There was a time when this famous delicacy was mostly imported from China and thus sold at very high prices. Today, however, many Lychee orchards have been established in northern Thailand and local prices, while still above those of most other fruits, are not exorbitant. Several varieties of the fruit characterized by a sweet taste with a faint trace of tartness are currently grown, ranging from pinkish to dark red in colour.
There is tremendous worldwide demand for this exotic dessert fruit and Thai lychees are one of Thailand's leading economic crops ranking high on the list of top exports shipped to all corners of the globe in a variety of forms - fresh, dried, frozen, and canned, as well as Lychee juice or wine. Lychees are primarily grown in the Central Plains and in Northern Thailand.
The Lychee is native to low elevations of the provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien in Southern China. Cultivation spread over the years through neighbouring areas of south-eastern Asia and offshore islands. There are extensive plantings in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Queensland, Madagascar, Brazil and South Africa. The fruit is covered by a leathery rind or pedicarp which is pink to strawberry-red in colour and rough in texture. Fruit shape is oval, heart-shaped or nearly round, 1 to 1-1/2 inches in length. The edible portion or aril is white, translucent, firm and juicy. The flavour is sweet, fragrant and delicious. Inside the aril is a seed that varies considerably in size. The most desirable varieties contain atrophied seeds which are called "chicken tongue". They are very small, up to 1/2 inch in length. Larger seeds vary between 1/2 to 1 inch in length and are plumper than the chicken tongues. There is also a distinction between the Lychee that leaks juice when the skin is broken and the "dry and clean" varieties which are more desirable.

Varieties

Oh-Hia Heart-shaped, thick fleshDark red skin Sweet taste	Hohng-Hooway  Oval Shape, Pinkish red skin, Sweet and sour taste	Gim-Jeng Globular, small seed. Red skin, Sweet taste
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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 carbohydrate, protein

Fruiting season
April - June

Uses
Eating fresh and processing through canning

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

Medicinal uses: Ingested in moderate amounts, the Lychee is said to relieve coughing and to have a beneficial effect on gastralgia, tumours and enlargements of the glands. One stomach-ulcer patient in Florida, has reported that, after eating several fresh lychees he was able to enjoy a large meal that, ordinarily, would have caused great discomfort. Chinese people believe that excessive consumption of raw lychees causes fever and nosebleed. According to legends, ancient devotees have consumed from 300 to 1,000 per day.

In China, the seeds are credited with an analgesic action and they are given in neuralgia and orchitis. A tea of the fruit peel is taken to overcome smallpox eruptions and diarrhoea. In India, the seeds are powdered and, because of their astringency, administered in intestinal troubles, and they have the reputation there, as in China, of relieving neuralgic pains. Decoctions of the root, bark and flowers are gargled to alleviate ailments of the throat. Lychee roots have shown activity against one type of tumour in experimental animals in the United States Department of Agriculture/National Cancer Institute Cancer Chemotherapy Screening Program.