Eating 3 pieces of this fruit is enough for a day's vitamin C! Here are 5 ways to eat it, saving money and making it delicious

In the hot summer, eating a lychee is sweet and refreshing, which makes people feel good. my country is the world's largest lychee planting and production country, among which Guangdong has the largest output. There is a saying that "the world's lychees look to China, and China's lychees look to Guangdong".

However, the news of the reduction in lychee production in Guangdong this year has been frequently searched. The previous winter was a warm winter, and the high temperature was not conducive to the flowering of lychees, so the lychee production was not high. This year, Guangdong has also encountered continuous heavy rainfall and frequent strong convective weather, which has caused the lychee to bloom less, fruit to fall, and branches to break, resulting in a significant reduction in lychee production. The price of lychees this year is significantly higher than in previous years.

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This makes those who love to eat lychees start to worry whether they can achieve lychee freedom this year. If lychees are more expensive this year, how can you make the lychees you buy more valuable? In this article, we will teach you how to make your money on lychees more valuable and eat lychees more delicious, from the selection of lychees, how to eat them to the storage. Let's eat them together!

The flavor and nutrition of lychee

Although lychees are sometimes very expensive, people who like lychees will not miss them. Ancient literati and poets have praised lychees many times. For example, Du Mu once said: "A horseman in red dust makes the concubine smile, but no one knows that it is lychees coming." Su Shi once said: "If I can eat 300 lychees a day, I will be willing to live in Lingnan forever."

It can be seen that people have loved lychees since ancient times. Lychees are about the same size as plums, with a dry and loose skin like armor, mostly reddish in color, white flesh, covered with a layer of aril, and taste sweet. Lychees also exude a unique floral fragrance, which comes from a variety of terpenes, such as rose oxide, aromatic alcohol, geraniol, etc. These flavor components are also found in grapes and wine.

Photo: Xue Qingxin

Lychees not only have good flavor, but also contain decent levels of two nutrients. 100 grams of lychee pulp contains 41 mg of vitamin C and 151 mg of potassium. The vitamin C content is higher than the oranges we usually eat, nearly 1.2 times that of oranges, and the potassium content is nearly 2 times that of apples.

However, the calorie content of lychee is not low, at 71 kcal/100 g, which is more than twice that of bayberry. Be careful not to gain weight if you eat too much!

How to choose lychees?

Lychees are delicious, and there are different varieties, each with different flavors and nutrients. Lychees are so expensive this year, so in order to get more value for our money, we have to put in some effort in selecting them from the beginning.

1. Choose lychees by variety

Different varieties of lychees have different nutritional content. At present, there are more than 200 varieties of lychees in my country, such as "Huaizhi", "Feizixiao", "Numici", "Guiwei", "Baitangpeng", "Baila", "Hongxiuqiu", "Lizhiwang" and so on.

Among them, literature data show that the vitamin C content of the commonly eaten Feizaixiao is 64 mg/100 g; the vitamin C content of red hydrangea is the highest, reaching 108.5 mg/100 g, and eating 3 to 4 can almost meet the daily vitamin C needs of the general population; the vitamin C content of Guiwei is relatively low, only 10.2 mg/100 g.

However, Guiwei has a higher total sugar content than most varieties of lychees, at 18.2%, while Niumici has a lower total sugar content of 11.6%. Among the many varieties of lychees, Niumici has a higher edible part (about 80%) and a lower percentage of pits (about 2.7%).

1 Feizixiao, the edible part is about 17 grams | Photo: Xue Qingxin

2. Choose lychees based on appearance

First, look at the skin of the lychee and choose those with bright colors. The color of the skin is an important indicator for judging the maturity of the lychee. The bright red color of the lychee skin is due to the accumulation of anthocyanins and degradation of chlorophyll in the skin during the ripening process. If the skin is obviously brown, it is not fresh.

Secondly, gently squeeze the lychees with your hands, and choose those that are elastic and slightly hard, as this means they are sufficiently moist and relatively fresh. Finally, smell the lychees, and they should have the fresh fragrance of lychees rather than the smell of fermented wine lees.

How to make the lychees you buy taste better?

For the lychees we have bought, besides washing and peeling them and eating them directly, can we develop more diverse and interesting ways to eat them so that these lychees are worth their price? The answer is yes.

1. Frozen Lychees

More than 70% of lychee pulp is water, and more than 10% is sugar, including fructose, glucose and sucrose, of which fructose accounts for the highest proportion. Fructose has the characteristic of cold sweetness. In an environment below 40℃, the lower the temperature, the higher the sweetness.

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Therefore, iced and frozen lychees taste sweeter. Put the lychees in the freezer with the shells on, take them out and let them cool down before eating, then peel them and put them in your mouth. They are icy and sweet, just like eating ice cream. You can also peel the frozen lychees and put them in soda water or other drinks for a unique flavor.

There is no need to worry about the loss of nutrients in quick-frozen lychees. Lychees frozen at -18℃ have little impact on vitamin C.

2. Boil lychees

After peeling and core the lychees, put them in clean water, add two or three jujubes or bayberries, and cook over low heat until the lychee flesh floats. Although vitamin C will be lost after heating, the overall taste is still good.

Photo: Xue Qingxin

3. Canned Lychees

Canning lychees not only prolongs the storage time, but also makes them taste special. First, prepare a glass bottle (heat-resistant) that has been sterilized with boiling water, dry it and set it aside. Peel and core the fresh lychees, rinse them with clean water, add a small amount of salt to the clean water, and then soak the lychees for 10 minutes before taking them out.

Put water and appropriate amount of rock sugar in the pot, pour in the soaked lychees, bring to a boil over high heat then simmer for 5 minutes on low heat. Turn off the heat and pour into a sterilized glass container while it is still hot, screw on the lid and refrigerate.

This homemade iced canned lychee is quite delicious!

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4. Dried lychees

Soak the lychees with shells in 90℃~100℃ water for 1~3 minutes. This can inactivate the activity of fruit and vegetable polyphenol oxidase to the greatest extent while retaining more nutrients, avoiding enzymatic browning of lychees as much as possible, and better maintaining the appearance and color of lychees.

After soaking, the lychees are spread out and dried in the sun, turning them over frequently. It takes 5 to 10 days to dry in the sun, but the time can also be shortened with the help of an oven or drying box.

Dried lychees are sweet and high in calories, but don’t eat too many at once, or you may gain weight!

5. Stir-fried lychee and shrimp

In addition to being eaten as a fruit, lychees can also be used in dishes. Cut the lychee flesh into pieces and stir-fry it with shrimps. The sweetness of lychees and the tenderness of shrimps create an excellent taste.

Although there are many ways to eat lychees and they all taste good, don't eat too much at once, otherwise you may experience the so-called "getting angry" symptoms, such as oral ulcers, toothaches, sore throats, etc. This may be because the sugar content of lychees is high, which remains in the mouth and induces an inflammatory response. To avoid this, you have to eat less and pay attention to rinsing your mouth and cleaning your mouth.

How to store leftover lychees?

Since lychees are so expensive this year, in order not to waste even a penny, it is a big question how to store the leftover lychees. (In fact, whether it is cheap or not, it is not advisable to waste food.)

Bai Juyi pointed out in his "Preface to the Lychee Picture" that after lychees are picked, "the color changes in one day, the fragrance changes in two days, the taste changes in three days, and after four or five days, the color, fragrance and taste are all gone." This means that if lychees are not stored properly, the skin will easily lose water and turn brown, which will affect the quality of the fruit and reduce its edible value.

An experiment compared six litchi varieties and observed the changes after they were placed in plastic packaging bags and stored at 3℃, 8℃, 13℃, and 24℃.

The results showed that the longest shelf life of litchi at 8℃ was up to 25 days; the shelf life of litchi at 13℃ was also longer, up to 20 days; but if the temperature was lower than 3℃, the litchi would be damaged by freezing. The shelf life of different varieties was significantly different, generally Dingxiang> Guiwei> Feizixiao> Sanyuehong> Heli> Jizuili.

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It should be noted that it is best to put some absorbent straw paper in the plastic bag used to pack lychees, or do not seal the bag too tightly, leaving some space.

Therefore, if you buy lychees and want to eat them in a short time, you can put them in the refrigerator to make them taste better. But if you buy a lot and need to store them for a long time, don't refrigerate them directly, because it may freeze the lychees. You can put them in a cool and ventilated place with low temperature, or put them directly in the freezer to make frozen lychees. Of course, the best advice is to buy as much as you can eat each time.

Summarize

Lychees are soft, sweet and delicious. Even the rising prices cannot stop the enthusiasm of foodies. Lychees are in season now, so take the opportunity to enjoy them! Lychees can replenish water and vitamin C, but they are high in calories and sugar, so don't be greedy and rinse your mouth after eating!

References

[1] Yang Yuexin. Chinese Food Composition Table 6th Edition Volume 1[M]. Peking University Medical Press, 2018

[2] Chen Hangjun, Cao Ying, Gao Haiyan, et al. Quality characteristics and cluster analysis of different litchi varieties[J]. Journal of Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology, 2013, 13(05): 198-210. DOI: 10.16429/j.1009-7848.2013.05.004.

[3] Zheng Jinjin, Liu Shuai, Chen Yan, Zhang Xin, Yang Hui, Liu Xiangxiang, Wang Fuhua. Quality evaluation and analysis of main litchi varieties in Lingnan region[J]. China Agricultural Science and Technology Herald, 2021, 23(4): 128-136

[4] Cai Changhe, Ou Liangxi, Chen Jiezhen, Wang Limin, Xiang Xu. Study on the changes of nutritional components and color of quick-frozen litchi pulp during frozen storage[J]. Modern Food Science and Technology, 2012, 28(11): 1434-14361483

[5] Gao Zhiqiang, Shen Xiayun, Lin Yuzhao, Zeng Lingzhen, Lin Hetong. Blanching and sulfur-free color protection technology for litchi fruit drying[J]. Journal of Tropical Crops, 2022, 43(3): 614-621

[6] Liao Renzhao, Wang Fengying, Li Liufeng, Liao Shichun. Experiment on low temperature preservation and storage of different litchi varieties[J]. Southern Horticulture, 2018, 29(6): 59-61

Review | Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center