Lychee fruit is healthy as is. Storeroom of valuable substances
Looking at the lychee fruit, you will not immediately understand that these bumpy-spiky cones can generally be eaten. The fruit looks unusual and not quite appetizing. In fact, it is not just edible, but very tasty and healthy. The taste of lychee will certainly surprise you, as it does not look like any fruit or berry familiar to our area, but has notes of many of them. Interestingly, in the homeland of the plant, lychee fruits are considered an aphrodisiac. No wonder they are called the fruits of love. In ancient times, lychee was used to make love potions that enhance sexual desire.
What does a lychee look like?
Lychee is a fruit that can hardly be confused with anything else. A number of characteristic external features make it recognizable among hundreds of exotic fruits. First of all, it is his skin. It has a pinkish-brown, reddish-orange color (depending on the variety and ripeness of the fruit). The skin is dense and bumpy, which is why the lychee looks like a bump. If you press on the fruit, you can feel that there is soft pulp under the skin. At the same time, the skin itself remains dense. The size of the fruit varies from 2.5 to 4 centimeters in length, and the weight can reach 20 - 25 grams.
Lychee fruits are called "dragon eyes" because of their appearance. Under the dense pinkish skin is a layer of white jelly-like pulp. Inside it is one large bone of a dark brown color. The pulp is tightly connected to the bone, it is not easy to separate it. Looking at the photo of the fruits in the section, you can understand why they got such a name. Litchi really looks like the eye of a mystical creature.
In addition to "dragon eyes", lychee has several other common names. The fruit is known as Chinese plum, lychee, fox. If the last two options can be explained by the specifics of the translation, then the name “Chinese plum” was given to the fruit because of its small size and the prevalence of trees in China.
Features of tree growth
Chinese lychees grow on tall trees (up to 30 m in height) belonging to the Sapindov family. The crown of the tree is formed by dense paired leaves. During flowering, the tree is covered with "candles", reminiscent of the inflorescences of the well-known chestnut tree. By the way, these trees are distant relatives.
After the inflorescences fade, fruits form in their place. They are located on the branches in clusters of 3 to 10 pieces. At first, the fruits are green, and when ripe they turn red. When fruit ripens, the lychee tree looks especially beautiful. We invite you to look at a photo of a lychee tree strewn with ripe fruits.
The fact that the birthplace of the plant is China can be guessed from its name alone. But in addition to China, litchi grows in Thailand, India, Israel, South Africa, the Philippines, where a subtropical climate prevails. Here giant trees are bred on an industrial scale for their fruits, which are exported all over the world.
Important! Only a mild subtropical climate with warm summers and cool winters is suitable for plant growth and fruiting. The contrast of temperatures in the summer and winter seasons is needed for abundant flowering and ovary formation.Planting can be done using cuttings and seeds. It is easy to germinate a lychee stone at home by deepening it into the ground and watering it regularly. But the plant, , will develop more slowly and, even with good care, will be able to bear fruit no earlier than 10 years from planting, while trees grown from cuttings bear fruit by the 4th year of growth. Lychee has been growing for several decades. It becomes the most productive by the 20th year of growth.
fruit taste
When trying to describe what the lychee fruit looks like, many compare it to grapes. According to the consistency, the pulp of the Chinese plum is dense and juicy, like that of grapes. It has a rich sweet taste and is slightly tart. But the aroma of lychee is completely different, vaguely reminiscent of rose jam. Someone thinks that the exotic lychee fruit tastes like a mixture of strawberries and kiwi, someone manages to track notes of apple, pineapple or raspberry in it.
Whatever the taste of lychee looks like, it is definitely pleasant and appeals to almost everyone who has tried an exotic fruit. The main thing is to choose ripe and fresh fruits when buying.
Composition and useful properties
The health benefits of lychee are hard to overestimate. With regular use of the fruit, the general state of health improves, mood rises, the body tolerates stress better, and is less likely to suffer from diseases. When the fruit is included in the diet, it is possible to normalize blood sugar levels.
Interestingly, lychee has a beneficial effect on male potency and female libido. Lychee has been known since ancient times to be a powerful aphrodisiac. Fruits improve blood circulation, add energy, increase body tone.
One hundred grams of fruit pulp can fill the daily need for vitamin C. Its systematic use protects against cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Exot contains nicotinic acid and is therefore actively used in Chinese folk medicine for atherosclerosis to lower blood cholesterol.
The pulp of the fruit contains pure water, which, in combination with vitamins and minerals, has a general strengthening effect on the human body. Eating lychee, in the absence of individual intolerance and other contraindications, is useful for both adults and children.
vitamins
- vitamin C - supports immunity, increases the body's resistance to viruses and bacteria, improves the absorption of iron in the body;
- B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B4) - necessary for the normal functioning of the nervous system and the flow of metabolic processes, help the body fight stress;
- vitamin K - needed for normal blood clotting, reduces the likelihood of developing osteoporosis, strengthens bones;
- vitamin E - protects cells from the damaging effects of free radicals, prevents early aging of the body, increases visual acuity, improves skin condition;
- vitamin PP (nicotinic acid) - necessary for the conversion of carbohydrates and fats into energy, body growth, maintaining a normal level of cholesterol in the blood;
- vitamin P (rutin) - improves immunity and helps the body fight viruses and bacterial infections, has anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory properties;
Minerals
- potassium - necessary for muscle strength, heart and vascular health, maintaining normal blood pressure, brain activity, helps to eliminate poisons and toxins from the body;
- phosphorus - necessary for growth, without it the formation of strong teeth and bones is impossible, it is involved in the transport of ATP, the formation of DNA and RNA, regulates the production of hormones, and ensures the normal course of the digestion process;
- magnesium - is needed for the normal functioning of the nervous, muscular system, brain, regulates the production of enzymes in the body;
- calcium - ensures the health of the teeth and the strength of the bone apparatus, the excitability of the nervous system and muscle contractility, activates some enzymes and hormones in the body;
- sodium - participates in enzymatic processes, promotes digestion, conducts glucose, anions, carbon dioxide through cell membranes, prevents sun and heat stroke, improves kidney function, prevents dehydration;
- zinc - improves metabolism, helps reduce fatigue, removes toxins and heavy metals, prevents cell aging, has a positive effect on the condition of the skin and hair;
- selenium - prolongs youth, prevents the formation of tumors, improves the functioning of the cardiovascular system and the thyroid gland;
- manganese - is necessary for the normal functioning of the brain, the functioning of the nervous system and the thyroid gland, controls blood sugar levels, participates in metabolic processes and in the formation of connective tissues.
Nutrients
- Proanthocyanidin - helps to reduce harmful cholesterol, prevents the development of type 2 diabetes, promotes weight loss, prevents oncological diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and other internal organs of a person.
- Quercetin is used in alternative medicine as an antioxidant.
- Epicatechin - This powerful flavanol maintains vascular elasticity and improves blood circulation, reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and cancer.
- Kaempferol - reduces inflammation, is necessary for the cardiovascular system.
Is it possible for pregnant women to lychee?
Like any fruit in the diet, lychee should not be the only one. If the expectant mother is not allergic to substances found in lychee and other contraindications, then the optimal number of fruits should not exceed 10 berries. This is enough to saturate the body with essential vitamins and minerals.
Since the fruit has diuretic properties, eating lychee during pregnancy helps reduce swelling, especially in the hands and feet. Its sour taste can reduce bouts of nausea with toxicosis.
Lychee while breastfeeding
Not many people know that the nicotinic acid contained in an exotic fruit has lactogenic properties. This happens due to an increase in prolactin, the hormone responsible for lactation. Therefore, the fruit can be useful in case of insufficient production of breast milk. It is best to eat it 30-40 minutes before feeding the baby. It is important to remember that you should not exceed the daily intake.
Is it possible for children to have litchi?
Starting from the age of three, you can gradually introduce the child to lychee, limiting yourself to small portions at first. Previously, it is not recommended to give exotic to babies due to the high risk of allergies and eating disorders.
Contraindications and harm
Speaking about the beneficial properties and contraindications, it should be noted that lychee improves the digestion process and speeds up the metabolism, but if the product is used improperly, it can be harmful.
First of all, people suffering from gastritis, especially the erosive form of the disease, need to stop eating Chinese plums. This is the case when the health benefits and harms may not be comparable. The pulp of the fruit contains substances that irritate the gastric mucosa, which, in the presence of inflammation, is fraught with a deterioration in health.
Also, the fruit can be harmful if consumed in combination with meat and starchy foods. In this combination, lychee is difficult to digest, leading to bloating, intestinal cramps, heartburn, nausea, and heaviness.
We must not forget that allergic reactions to exotic fruits are possible, especially in people prone to allergies. “Acquaintance” with the product should begin with small portions. First, you should eat one berry and observe the reaction of the body. If neither skin manifestations nor digestive problems appear, you can next time increase the serving to 2-3 fruits. By the same principle, it is worth introducing an exotic fruit into the diet of children.
Important! So that the fruits of the lychee do not harm, but bring only benefits to the body, they must be consumed in limited quantities. The daily maximum for adults is 150 - 200 g, for children - 100 g of lychee. The beneficial properties of the product, when consumed in moderation, will manifest themselves more strongly than when overeating.As for the use of lychee during pregnancy, the product is not classified as prohibited, but experts warn that it can cause allergies. Even if the expectant mother really wants to eat lychee, you should limit yourself to the minimum amount of the product. When including fruits in the diet of pregnant women, it is important to pay special attention to their choice.
Calorie content and nutritional value
Fruit is 79% water. It perfectly quenches thirst, which increases its popularity among tourists in hot countries.
But still, you need to eat exotic fruits in moderation due to the high sugar content in the juicy pulp of lychee. This should be taken into account by those who follow the figure or seek to lose weight.
Lychee calorie content per 100 g - from 65 kcal (276 kJ) to 76 kcal (318 kJ):
- carbohydrates - 16.52 g
- fats - 0.43 g
- proteins - 0.82 g
- water - 81.74 g
- disaccharides - 15.22 g
- dietary fiber - 1.5 g
In the growing countries, the crop is harvested from July to September. To try the most delicious and healthy fruits, it is better to go to China during this period. During the harvest, local markets are strewn with red fruits, and you will have to pay mere pennies for the fruit.
In our supermarkets, lychee appears in the last months of winter. As for the exotic, their price is not so high. A kilogram of lychee will cost about 260 rubles.
When buying a lychee in a store, you should focus on the following criteria:
- appearance of the skin: its color should be rich pink or reddish, without breaking the integrity and traces of rot;
- the presence of a “tail”: it is better if the fruit has a petiole, even if it is very short, because it is stored longer with it;
- a dull sound when shaking: if you shake a ripe fruit, you can hear a characteristic ringing;
- Aroma: Ripe fruits have an interesting floral aroma, while spoiled ones can smell like mold or rot.
As a rule, for export, fruits are plucked from trees that are not fully ripe. They ripen in boxes during transportation to the country of sale. It is clear that such cultivation and subsequent storage does not allow the fruits to become as tasty as lychee ripened under the sun. The benefits of eating prematurely plucked fruit are also less.
How to eat lychee
Looking at an outlandish fruit, many do not understand how to eat it correctly, and which parts of the fruit are edible. Lychee preserves the maximum of useful properties if the fruit is consumed fresh. Before cleaning the lychee, it does not hurt to wash it under running water. Then the skin is pry off with a fingernail or the tip of a knife and removed like a film. The peel is not used for food. The exposed flesh can be eaten immediately, but the fruit should be bitten carefully, as there is a hard bone inside. You can cut the fruit into pieces, thus cutting out the seed, or gnaw the pulp with your teeth and spit out the bone.
It is best to use the fruit as a dessert after the main meal, as there is a possibility of irritation of the gastric mucosa when eating the fruit on an empty stomach.
Litchi in cooking
Fruit salads are prepared from fresh lychees, combining them with pineapples, oranges, bananas, coconut pulp and other fruits or berries. This is a product that has a subtle pleasant aftertaste, so it successfully complements the taste of other fruits.
The pulp of the fruit is used to make cakes and pastries, added to pies, muffins and buns, and jelly is made from it. The pulp is used to make a sauce that goes well with meat, chicken and fish, giving the flavor bouquet of the dish sweet and sour notes. Chinese plum can be preserved in its own juice or in sugar syrup. In this form, it can be stored for 2-3 years. It can also be frozen to increase shelf life.
Interestingly, very tasty Chinese wine is prepared from lychee. It is aged in oak barrels, after which the drink acquires a beautiful golden color. The fruit gives the drink its rich sweet taste and memorable aroma.
Lychee is also used to make smoothies, alcoholic cocktails. One of them is easy to do yourself. To do this, you need to peel exotic fruits and squeeze juice out of them. Per liter of juice you need to take:
- 100 ml of vodka;
- half a lime;
- ice cubes.
The juice is mixed with vodka, lime slices and ice are added.
Few people doubt how great the benefits of lychee berries are, but everything is good only in moderation. The temptation to eat plenty of berries is great, but such “experiments” end in eating disorders and poisoning, and the aversion to berries that has arisen cannot always be overcome, although lychee is a unique and quite affordable product.
Lychee - health benefits and harms
The berry has a pleasant tart aroma and a pronounced sour-sweet taste. The bumpy dense peel hides juicy, tender, watery pulp underneath, which “melts” in the mouth and perfectly quenches thirst. The high content of minerals and vitamins convinces people by their own example how useful lychee is when they regularly add berries to food or prepare an independent dish from them. The fruits are capable of:
- cleanse the vessels of cholesterol plaques, restore blood circulation (in case of cardiovascular pathologies);
- normalize blood sugar levels (for diabetes);
- provide the body with a daily set of vitamins: A, B, C, PP, K, E and minerals: magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, fluorine, etc. (with exhaustion, weakened immunity, postoperative conditions);
- restore metabolism (with obesity, hormonal disorders);
- get rid of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (with constipation, diarrhea, and stomach, gastritis, reflux);
- cleanse the body of toxic and poisonous substances in a short time (with food poisoning, alcohol intoxication, congestion in the intestines).
Nothing is known about the harmful properties of exotic fruits, but they are not recommended for people who have an allergic reaction to lychee in the form of skin irritation or inflammation of the mucous membranes of the mouth. You can check the sensitivity to the product by eating 1-2 fruits and waiting a few hours. If this did not negatively affect physical well-being, lychee can be safely added to the daily menu.
Lychee bone - benefit and harm
In fresh, dried, frozen form, lychee fruit is used, while the benefit of the bone lies in the concentration of nutrients that enter the human body in the form of a powder. Oblong seeds are dried and finely crushed. The seed powder has analgesic properties and helps with:
- intestinal diseases;
- orchitis;
- neuralgia;
- violations of metabolic processes in the body.
However, the use of seeds in excess amounts threatens with serious poisoning. Medical experts are inclined to believe that they contain, in addition to useful, and toxic substances. Before using the seed powder for medicinal purposes, you need to consult a specialist. He will clarify in which cases litchi is beneficial, and in which it is harmful.
Lychee fruit - beneficial properties of the peel
Looking at the unsightly dry shell of berries, people are “puzzling over” how the lychee peel is useful if it quickly deteriorates from plucked fruits and does not have such a pleasant taste as the pulp. The peel is tough in appearance, but has a fragile shell that is damaged by finger pressure. It is rich in coarse fiber and contains diuretic components. On the basis of the peel, decoctions are prepared to help get rid of excess fluid.
What vitamins are in lychee?
The berries are a storehouse of nutrients. The number of kcal per 100 g of the product is 76. The water content in the pulp is 81%. In lychee fruits, vitamins are found in combination with a set of minerals. This:
- vitamin C (improves the condition of the skin, nails and hair, normalizes metabolic processes in the body);
- vitamin B (regulates the activity of the nervous system, restores cell metabolism);
- vitamin PP (participates in lipid metabolism);
- vitamin E (it is called the "vitamin of beauty" - it promotes rejuvenation, improves the condition of the skin and hair; fights free radicals, preventing them from affecting fatty acids).
The list is complemented by minerals:
- zinc;
- manganese;
- zinc.
The benefits of lychee for women
The use of fruits by women gives a stunning effect: in a few months, small wrinkles on the skin disappear, it becomes toned and elastic, cellulite disappears. Brittle, lifeless hair regains its former strength, stops falling out. Symptoms of diseases of the genitourinary sphere disappear: cystitis, urethritis, endometritis, candidiasis. Lychee berries are also used for weight loss (they normalize and regulate water-salt metabolism).
Lychee for weight loss
Excessive consumption of fatty, salty, spicy, rich foods; erratic eating leads to problems of the gastrointestinal tract, to obesity. You can emerge victorious from this situation by starting to eat at the same time, using as many vegetables and fruits as possible for cooking. Reasoning about the usefulness of the lychee berry, it is easy to understand its advantages:
- Contains a large amount of coarse fiber and pectin - creates a quick feeling of fullness, suppresses appetite.
- Restores metabolism.
- In combination with physical exercises, it accelerates the process of burning fat cells.
- Up to 250 g of berries are recommended for daily use for adults. This amount of fruit is enough to achieve a gradual disposal of excess fat.
- The berry contains a sufficient amount of fructose to convert it into glucose, on which the work of the brain depends.
Lychee damage
Like other exotic fruits, litchi has contraindications, ignoring which leads to dangerous health consequences:
- The berry should not be consumed by people with kidney failure, severe liver disease.
- Lychee is not recommended for children under 3 years of age.
- The fruits are forbidden to people who are allergic to substances contained in the pulp and peel of the fruit.
- With great care, lychee can be added to the menu for pregnant women - the activation of metabolic processes in rare cases provokes miscarriages.
The Celestial Empire is famous not only for its delicious dishes, but also for exotic fruits, which we are gradually introducing into the diet. One such mysterious fruit is lychee. Why is it useful? How do you eat lychee? Let's discuss these questions.
Meet the lychee from China!
The Chinese call this fruit "dragon's eye". Lychee is also known as Chinese plum. Apparently, it is called so because of the similarity of tastes. Lychee, like plum, has a refreshing sweet and sour taste. Just look at this handsome man!
It is not only beautiful, but also incredibly tasty and healthy. Lychee has tender flesh, so it is mostly eaten fresh. And only thanks to the hard skin of the fruit, similar to the shell, it is possible to transport it over long distances.
Lychee can be safely called a vitamin bomb. Fresh, this fruit contains a huge amount of vitamins B and C. So, after eating nine pieces of lychee, you will saturate your body with a daily dose of vitamin C.
Also, this fruit is rich in the following components:
- nicotinic acid;
- potassium;
- calcium;
- magnesium;
- sodium;
- phosphorus;
- iron;
- selenium;
- zinc;
- fluorine.
And there are many components of plant origin in lychee that protect our heart from diseases. Moreover, this fruit is able to increase potency, as well as activate metabolic processes in the body and improve digestive function. And lychee helps to get rid of extra pounds.
The Chinese serve lychee along with savory meat dishes, as it is considered a natural source of enzymes. The only contraindication to its use is an allergic reaction to the fruit.
Advice! Pay special attention to the choice of litchi. Ripe fruits in length reach 3-4 cm, their peel is slightly prickly and has a rich red color. Press your finger on the skin of the fetus, it should quickly return to its previous shape and not burst.
How to eat lychee?
For those who first met with lychee, it is interesting to know how to eat it correctly. Mostly this fruit is consumed fresh, but there are several interesting recipes for dishes with it.
Important! Can I eat lychee bone? Under no circumstances should this be done! It contains toxic ingredients. It is not for nothing that the Chinese call the fruit bone the "pupil of the dragon."
So, you bought a lychee fruit. How to eat it? Follow this algorithm of actions:
- We take a sharp knife, but always with a thin blade, so as not to deform the lychee and not release all the juice from it.
- We pierce with a knife, and then we cut the skin of the fetus, making a straight line.
- Half of the rind should come off easily if the lychee is ripe.
- Now you need to take out the bone. To do this, carefully cut off half the pulp and take it out with a knife. If you are going to cook lychee, and the integrity of the pulp is not important to you, just squeeze out the bone.
- Remove the remaining skin and scoop out the pulp with a spoon.
- Refrigerate the lychee before serving.
On a note! Lychee is served with wine, and also complements meat dishes with it.
Lychee is sold not only fresh. You can find fruits canned in their own juice. They are used as a topping for a variety of desserts, as well as a filling for cakes and pies, casseroles.
Lychee Dishes
Lychee can be eaten not only fresh. It makes amazing desserts. Consider a few successful recipes.
Unusual tiramisu
Tiramisu with lychee and pineapple is truly a confectionery masterpiece! And it's easy to make in your home kitchen. We will use canned fruit, but you can substitute fresh fruit as well.
Compound:
- 20-24 pcs. Cookies "Savoyardi";
- eggs - 3 pcs.;
- 60-70 g of granulated sugar;
- 250 g canned litchi;
- 250 g canned pineapples (rings);
- 400 g of Mascarpone cheese;
- 250 ml of lychee liqueur;
- 6 art. l. coconut flakes;
- 2-3 pcs. fresh lychee fruit.
Advice! If you haven't found a lychee liqueur, no problem. Replace it with a mixture of 200 ml lychee syrup and 4 tbsp. l. Limoncello liqueur.
Cooking:
exotic dessert soup
Dessert soup with lychee and kulfi ice cream is just a combination! It will cool you on a hot summer day and saturate you with vitamins.
On a note! Kulfi is a frozen dessert from India. You can add pistachios to it, only unsalted, as well as hazelnuts. And the taste of kulfi can be supplemented with grated berries, such as strawberries, apricots and raspberries.
Compound:
- 800 g canned litchi;
- coconut milk - 450 ml;
- freshly squeezed juice of one lemon;
- dessert fruit wine - 0.5 tbsp.;
- raw almonds - 60 g;
- condensed milk - 400 ml;
- cream - 190 ml;
- cardamom - 5 pcs.;
- salt (preferably sea).
Advice! Choose any wine that is fruity, such as plum, strawberry, or lychee.
Cooking:
- Place the cream in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
- Pour boiling water over the almonds and leave for five minutes, then pour over it with cold water and clean it.
- Dry the almonds and put them on a baking sheet. We dry it in the oven for 8-10 minutes at a temperature mark of 170 degrees. We cool the almonds.
- We take out the seeds from the cardamom and grind it with any kitchen gadget to the consistency of flour.
- We introduce almonds and a little sea salt. We grind the resulting mass.
- Whip the chilled cream until firm foam. Without ceasing to work with a blender or mixer, we introduce condensed milk in a thin stream.
- Add almond flour and stir the mixture until smooth.
- We lay kulfi in large ice molds, cover with cling film and send to the refrigerator for four hours.
- Put the lychee in a colander to drain the juice. We need 1 tbsp. his syrup.
- We combine the syrup with coconut milk, introduce freshly squeezed juice from half a lemon and wine.
- Add half of the lychees. Beat the mass until smooth and place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
- Sprinkle the remaining whole lychee fruit with the juice of the second half of the lemon and send it to the refrigerator.
- Pour the lychee soup into glasses, add a few fresh fruits and 1-2 kulfi. We insist literally two minutes and we can enjoy the dessert!
An overview of the exotic lychee fruit: what kind of fruit, where does it grow and when is it harvested, how to eat, taste, useful properties, calorie content, chemical composition, contraindications.
The content of the article:
Chinese lychee fruit is the fruit of an evergreen tree growing in the tropics: Thailand, Cambodia, China, Vietnam, Africa, America. It has a wide spreading crown, and the trunk grows to a height of 15-30 meters. The botanical name is Litchi chinensis of the Sapindaceae family, the dicotyledonous class, the angiosperm division. There are also names: liji, lizhi, linchi, fox, lasi and Chinese plum. The branches of the tree are covered with beautiful shiny dark green leaves (complex, paired) lanceolate in shape, pointed at the tip. Curiously, lychee flowers do not have petals, it is a yellowish calyx on umbellate inflorescences about 70 cm long. The fruit crop also ripens in clusters and is harvested from May to June.
Pictured is a lychee tree
The fruit of the Chinese plum is red, covered with a peel with pointed tubercles, oval, from 2.5 to 4 centimeters long. Inside, under the skin of the lychee, there is a jelly-like light pulp with a pleasant grape sweet taste. A hard oval brown bone is “hidden” in the pulp.
How to choose and eat lychee
Fresh fruits have a bright color. The darker the color of the skin of this tropical fruit, the longer it has lain and the worse its taste. Those litchi are used for food that are not pressed through with fingers, dense, elastic, without holes and dents.
There are several varieties of this tasty product, but for all the peel is not suitable for food. To get to the edible part, you need to get rid of the bumpy shell: it is easy to clean with your fingers, for convenience, you can bite it and then peel it off with your hands. What is eaten inside the lychee is a translucent whitish pulp, elastic, not creamy, it tastes like a berry sweet with a wine grape flavor, a large bone inside, which is easily separated from the pulp. It is said that those who have tried this tropical fruit at least once will fall in love with it forever. Not without reason, in our century, lychee is ahead of any fruit in its popularity in Southeast Asia and it is famous not only for its taste.
Lychees are tasty and nutritious fresh, they are dried whole (and it already becomes a nut), peeled (pitted) and preserved in sugar syrup, jelly, ice cream and other desserts are made from them. The Chinese add this fruit in the preparation of their traditional wine.
In Thailand, the price of one kilogram of lychee is about 40-70 baht ($1.3-2.2). They are always sold on a branch, since the fruit is poorly stored and after tearing off the berries, it quickly deteriorates.
The chemical composition and calorie content of lychee
Lychee is not a high-calorie fruit, and besides being very tasty, it is also very useful in dietary nutrition. For beauty, fruits are a very valuable product: a high content of B vitamins maintain healthy hair and nails. So:
The calorie content of lychee per 100 g is 66 kcal (276 kJ), and also this:
- Carbohydrates - 16.53 g
- Proteins - 0.83 g
- Fats - 0.44 g
- Water - 81.76 g
- Dietary fiber 1.5 g
- Disaccharides 15.23 g
- B1 (thiamine) - 0.011 mg
- (niacin) - 0.6 mg
- B6 (pyridoxine) - 0.1 mg
- E (tocopherol) - 0.07 mg
- C (ascorbic acid) - 71.5 mg
- K - 0.4 mcg
- Potassium - 171 mg
- Magnesium - 10 mg
- Phosphorus - 31 mg
- Calcium - 5 mg
- Iron - 0.31 mg
- Sodium - 1 mg
- Zinc - 0.07 mg
- Selenium - 0.6 mcg
- Manganese - 0.055 mg
Useful properties of litchi
The photo shows the shell, bones and pulp of lychee
A pleasant refreshing taste invigorates not only because of the juiciness. The pulp of the fruit is, of course, rich in pure water, vitamins and, in general, has a tonic and invigorating effect on a person. Depending on the variety of lychee, the percentage of sugar content ranges from 6 to 15 percent. The fruit also contains a lot of healthy dietary fiber, complex carbohydrates, proteins and some fats. A large amount of vitamin C, potassium and magnesium, support the cardiovascular system of the body. Due to the high content of nicotinic acid, in traditional Chinese medicine, lychee is used as a remedy for atherosclerosis and reduces blood cholesterol levels with it.
Lychee is also useful for maintaining the work of the intestinal tract, they are rich in fiber. Even with diabetes, the fetus is useful for gastritis, anemia and other diseases. For example, these berries are "prescribed" for coughing, with an increase in the glands in the throat, their seeds help with neuralgia, orchitis and in eliminating pain. And in India, for a long time, lychee seeds have been collected, ground into powder, and then taken as a medicine for intestinal problems.
Litchi fruit contraindications
Anyone who does not have an individual intolerance to the product can enjoy the taste of lychee.
And also, try to eat only fresh fruits, with a dark color of the lychee peel, they can cause indigestion.
In addition to the lychee fruit, there is a mammal of the same name from the genus of water goats - the African antelope Lychee.
The Chinese plum fruit began to be called in the middle of the 17th century, after the European Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza described it as a plum that can be eaten in large quantities without harm to the stomach.
The Chinese ate this fruit even before our era (around the 2nd century BC). One ancient Chinese emperor even executed his gardeners for failing to breed lychee trees in Northern China.
Lychee
Good afternoon, my dear readers! Lychee is a fruit of the Sapind family, not quite familiar to our area, well unknown. It is imported to us mainly from the African Republic, from America and from Asia.
On sale, this fruit can be found under various names, in particular, as Chinese plum, lasi, ligi, fox.
The overseas fruit is distinguished by its small size, bumpy brick-colored dense peel and juicy sweet pulp resembling jelly in consistency.
Let's see if there is any benefit in lychee fruits, how to use them correctly, and where is the best place to store an exotic product.
Lychee calories
Lychee is an overseas fruit that belongs to low-calorie foods. The calorie content in this case will depend on the type (variety) and growing conditions of the fruit. On average, 100 grams of lychee pulp accounts for 65 to 75 Kcal.
How much can you eat lychee per day?
According to experts, the daily norm of litchi per day for adults is 10-12 pieces, and for children 3-5 pieces.
Lychee: useful properties Lychee: useful properties
Lychee is a product that has oriental roots, and therefore, for the most part, it is used in the preparation of various healing recipes by Asian healers. They recommend consuming 7-10 lychee fruits per day:
- to lower sugar;
- to cleanse the blood of cholesterol plaques;
- in diseases of the pancreas and liver;
- with constipation;
- with improper bowel function;
- for the prevention of diseases of the kidneys and lungs;
- for the treatment of tuberculosis;
- for weight loss;
- for the prevention of heart disease;
- for the prevention of atherosclerosis;
- to quench thirst;
- for the treatment of oncological diseases;
- to improve potency and sexual desire.
Lychee - bones
Lychee fruit: useful properties of the bone
As a rule, litchi is consumed fresh and only the pulp of the product. Few people know that the fruit bone is also of particular benefit.
Once in the body, the powdered composition (it must be mixed with other products), namely in this form, you can consume lychee seeds, has an analgesic effect, and also helps:
- with orchitis;
- with intestinal disorders and some other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
- with neuralgia;
- in violation of metabolism.
Among other things, Chinese healers prepare tea and decoctions from seeds ground into powder, adding some other ingredients to the powder, which they then consume for medicinal purposes, usually to prevent worms and treat diarrhea. However, there is still no evidence and evidence that these funds really help to cope with these diseases.
Attention! Representatives of traditional medicine claim that in addition to useful properties, lychee seeds also contain poison, which, consumed in large quantities, can lead to serious poisoning. Before you start using powder from the seeds of an exotic fruit, get professional advice from your doctor.
How to choose lychee fruit?
1. To choose a tasty and juicy, ripe lychee, you should first carefully examine the fruits. Fruits with deep red skin are considered good. At the same time, there should not be any dark or rotten spots on them. The color should be uniform throughout the fruit.
2. And the second rule, when choosing an exotic product, touch it to the touch. Ripe fruits are soft to the touch.
Lychee fruit. Photo. How it grows
Lychee fruit. Photo. How it grows.
How to store litchi at home?
1. At home, lychee is not difficult to store, in principle, like any other fruit. It is enough to put the food out of the bag on a plate and put it right in the room in the coolest place, that is, not near the stove or electric kettles. Keep in mind that mature lychees spoil very quickly.
2. If you are going to eat purchased fruits in 1-2 days, store them in the room.
3. If you purchased food in advance, and you want to serve it to guests in 3-5 days, then put the litchi without a bag in the refrigerator, in a special compartment for storing fresh vegetables and fruits.
4. Canned and dried lychees are stored for the longest time, and therefore, if you want to keep the product for several months, just make a sweet dessert in the form of jam from it or dry the fruit, after removing the peel from them.
How to clean lychee? How to eat lychee?
In Asia, lychee is typically used to make vinegar and wine. Europeans usually add the pulp of this fruit to various drinks and desserts.
Meanwhile, both of them eat fresh lychee, but in order to really appreciate the whole taste and juiciness of this fruit, it is important to know how to clean it properly, and this can be done in several ways.
1. Take the fruit, make a small incision with a knife in the stalk area, remove the skin from the product by picking up the skin with a fingernail, cut the pulp in half, remove the bone and eat the fruit.
2. Take one fruit in your hands, give it a little in the middle with your fingers and turn the peel with one hand clockwise and with the other counterclockwise, removing the skin, thus also remove the bone from the pulp and then consume the product. Do the same for each fruit.
3. Another option for cleaning and consuming lychee is to carefully cut off the shell of the fruit with a sharp knife, then cut the pulp, remove the stone and eat the whole pulp.
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