Lychee (Litchi chinensis): Biochemistry, Panacea, and Nutritional Value
Lychee is an evergreen tree of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, mostly grown in China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, and the rest of tropical Southeast Asia, and commercially propagated through air layering by vegetative propagation. Lychee can succe
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Jasra Anjum, Rafiq Lone, and Khursheed Ahmad Wani
Abstract
Lychee is an evergreen tree of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, mostly grown in China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, and the rest of tropical Southeast Asia, and commercially propagated through air layering by vegetative propagation. Lychee can successfully grow at higher altitudes with sufficient moisture and in an acidic soil environment but is prone to severe frost. Lychee has the ability to spread and produce good foliage growth in the presence of sufficient organic matter including nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the soil. The lychee contains a good amount of polyphenolic compounds, pigments such as cyanidin 3-rutinoside, cyanidin glucoside, quercetin 3-rutinoside (rutin), and quercetin glucoside, and tannins that include polymeric proanthocyanidins. The consumption of lychee in adequate amounts may help in fighting different types of body ailments as it protects from heart diseases, normalizes blood pressure and heart rate, prevents cancer, improves digestive system health, etc. Lychee is also provided with minerals (potassium and copper) that help in maintaining body fluid balance and heartbeat control and maintaining blood pressure. However, studies have also shown that it may also cause adverse effects such as hypoglycemia and encephalopathy.
J. Anjum School of Studies in Botany, Jiwaji University, Gwalior, India e-mail: [email protected] R. Lone Department of Botany, Sant Baba Bhag Singh University, Khiala, Jalandhar, Punjab 144030, India e-mail: [email protected] K.A. Wani (*) Department of Environmental Science, ITM University, Gwalior, India e-mail: [email protected] # Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 M. Kumar et al. (eds.), Lychee Disease Management, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4247-8_14
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Keywords
Lychee • Ecology • Nutrients • Health • Minerals
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Introduction
Lychee (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is one of the most popular fruits, belonging to the family Sapindaceae, and is a very delicate fruit commercially valued for its exotic aroma, juicy arils, and nutritional benefits and cultivated in many countries. The major lychee production areas in the world are China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, India, South Africa, and the Malagasy Republic (Menzel et al. 1988). The juicy fruit is eaten directly, and juice, vinegar, jelly, and wine are also manufactured from the fruit (Salunke and Desai 1984). Lychee flowers are an important nectar source, and bees can turn the nectar into honey (Baltrusˇaityte et al. 2007) that contains phenolic compounds with antioxidant activity (Aljadi and Kamaruddin 2004). Lychee has received much attention for its pharmacological activities against various diseases as it displays different biological activities which justify its ethnopharmacological utilization in different cultures. It contains 80% water, 0.4–0.9 g kg1 of vitamin C, 0.2–1.1% acidity, and 11.8–20.6% total soluble solids (Paull et al. 1984). Different varieties of lychee with diverse colors are av
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