Fruit

Lychee

Lychee (Litchi chinensis) is a subtropical Chinese fruit with a rough pink-red shell, translucent white aril, and single brown seed. Ripe flesh tastes intensely floral and grape-rose sweet, with juicy firmness that softens quickly after harvest. Shell colour and slight give indicate ripeness better than size; once picked, sugar does not increase much, so tree-ripe fruit is the goal. Fresh lychees are peeled and eaten chilled, muddled into drinks, paired with pork or seafood in Chinese banquet cookery, or canned in syrup for year-round desserts. Southern China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Madagascar, and South Africa supply export markets. Keep cool and humid; dried shells and fermented flesh signal age. The seed is not eaten; some people prefer seedless or small-seed cultivars for higher aril yield.