Brief introduction of litchi

Litchi and Litchi are fruits of Litchi of Sapindaceae, which are native to the south of China and most cultivated in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Sichuan, Taiwan Province and Yunnan. Harvest the fruits from June to July every year when they are ripe, peel off the shells, and take the aril (litchi meat) for fresh use or dry in the sun for later use.

The fruit is heart-shaped or spherical, and the peel is mostly scaly, bright red, purplish red, turquoise or bluish white. When the aril is fresh, it is translucent and fatty, juicy and sweet.

Litchi is rich in sugar, protein, vitamins, fat, citric acid, pectin, phosphorus, iron and so on, which is beneficial to human body.

[Edit this paragraph] Main producing areas

Maoming, Guangdong Province is the largest fruit production base in China and the world litchi production base. The city's fruit planting area is more than 4.3 million mu, of which litchi area is1765,700 mu, which is more than twice that of India (843,000 mu), the second largest litchi producer in the world, and about equal to the sum of litchi areas of other countries except China. The annual output of litchi accounts for 25% in China and 20% in the world.

Maoming has a long history of planting litchi, which has been more than two thousand years. In the Tang Dynasty, Maoming litchi became a tribute to the imperial court. There is an old litchi garden named Gong Yuan in Baiqiao Village, Genzi Town, Gaozhou. The litchi dedicated to Yang Guifei in the Tang Dynasty came from this garden. Besides Gong Yuan, there are many litchi forests in Maoming. Since ancient times, many villages have been named after "litchi", such as Lizhidong Village in Hejiang, Lizhigen Village, Lizhitang Village, Lizhilie Village in the Middle East of Huazhou, Zhenlong in Xinyi, Lizhidong Village in Xincheng, Lizhidong Village in Gaozhou and Changzhou.

Leiling Town is known as the "hometown of litchi", and it has a unique natural advantage in planting litchi, with an average annual temperature of 265,438 0.8. C, absolute low temperature in winter 5. C, the average frost days are less than 5 days, the average sunshine hours are 2000-2200 hours, the annual rainfall is 1800-2 100 mm, the rainfall is abundant, the water quality is excellent, and there is no pollution to factories, mines, water quality and soil; The soil belongs to sandy loam with granite development, containing various minerals and more than 3% organic matter. The litchi fruit produced is bright red in color. Litchi in Shantou is the most famous litchi producing area with high sugar content, crispy meat and excellent quality. It is highly respected by merchants in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and other places, as well as overseas Chinese in Hong Kong, Macao and other places.

In the development of litchi industry, Leiling Town mainly relies on scientific and technological progress, pays attention to scientific management, and increases investment in litchi production technology, capital, scientific research and infrastructure. 1998 Established Leiling Litchi Technology Association and established Liyuan Agricultural Technology Service Company in Chaonan District. The association hired the provincial litchi technology association to set up the agricultural technology service company of Liyuan in Chaonan District. The Association hired Professor Ni, President of Hunan Litchi Research Association and South China Agricultural University, as technical consultants. According to the requirements of "Agricultural Standard of the People's Republic of China" and "Litchi NY 5 104-2002", the technical specifications for litchi cultivation were formulated. In 2003, the quality of 23,000 mu litchi products in Leiling Town reached the national agricultural industry standard of "pollution-free food" and won the certificate of "pollution-free agricultural products" in Guangdong Province.

[Edit this paragraph] contains nutrition.

1. Litchi is rich in sugar, which can supplement energy and increase nutrition. Studies have proved that litchi can nourish brain tissue and obviously improve symptoms such as insomnia, forgetfulness and mental fatigue.

2. Litchi meat is rich in vitamin C and protein, which helps to enhance human immune function and improve disease resistance;

3. Litchi has the functions of detumescence and detoxification, hemostasis and pain relief;

Litchi is rich in vitamins, which can promote blood circulation of tiny blood vessels, prevent freckles and make skin smoother.

Litchi is sweet, sour and warm, and enters the heart, spleen and liver meridians;

The pulp has the effects of invigorating spleen, benefiting liver, regulating qi and blood, warming middle warmer, relieving pain, nourishing heart and tranquilizing mind. The cell nucleus has the effects of regulating qi, dispersing stagnation and relieving pain;

It can stop hiccups and diarrhea, and is a good diet therapy for patients with intractable hiccups and diarrhea. At the same time, it has the effects of strengthening the brain, strengthening the body, stimulating appetite and strengthening the spleen.

Each100g litchi contains the following nutrients

Calorie (70.00 kcal), protein (0.90 g), fat (0.20 g), carbohydrate (16.60 g), dietary fiber (0.50 g), vitamin A (2.00 μ g), carotene (10.00 μ g), etc. Nicotinic acid (1. 10 mg), vitamin C (4 1.00 mg), calcium (2.00 mg), phosphorus (24.00 mg), sodium (1.70 mg) and magnesium (/kloc-).

[Edit this paragraph] Varieties and characteristics of litchi

There are more than 200 varieties of litchi in the world, including some varieties with the same thing and different names. In addition, litchi producing areas are rich in germplasm resources, which are suitable for seedling propagation. After preliminary sorting, there are more than 140 litchi varieties in China Among them, there are more than 70 varieties in Guangdong, and nearly 27 varieties are commercially produced, including glutinous rice, Guiwei, Hu Aizhi, Sanyuehong, Baiying, Bai La, rhinoceros horn, Feizixiao, black leaf, Zhuangyuanhong, Chikeng plum, Qingpi sweet, Zengcheng Gualv, Xuehuaizi, Jianjiang Hongnuo, Guahong and so on. In addition to Hu Aizhi, Li Xiang, jujube and bird leaves, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region also has glutinous rice olives, Sophora alopecuroides, candy bars, chicken-billed lychees, Jiangkou lychees, pointed lychees, Luo Zhang lychees and four sorghum fruits. Besides Zaohong and bird leaves, there are also Lanzhu, brother, …

Guiwei: The fruit is spherical, medium-sized, light red, with thin and brittle shell, sharp and stinging skin and sweet-scented osmanthus.

Glutinous rice cake: the fruit is flat and heart-shaped, large and bright red, with smooth surface peaks, obvious bulge on one side of the fruit shoulder, thick meat and small core.

The princess laughed: the fruit is big, with an average weight of 30 grams, and the meat is tender and juicy.

Black leaf: the fruit is oval or oblique heart-shaped, medium-sized, dark red in color, thin-shelled, flat and blunt in crack surface, uniform in size, neatly arranged, with obvious cracks and large nucleus.

Ash: The fruit is heart-shaped, medium-sized, with red skin and sallow skin, thick and crisp, smooth lobes, soft and smooth flesh, sweet and juicy.

[Edit this paragraph] Tips for selecting litchi

Fresh litchi should be bright in color, large and uniform, thin in skin and thick in flesh, tender and juicy in quality, sweet in taste and rich in aroma.

When picking, you can gently pinch it in your hand first. The handle of a good litchi should be firm and elastic.

From the appearance, the color of fresh litchi is generally not very bright. If the head of litchi is sharp and the density of nails on the epidermis is high, it means that litchi is not mature enough, and vice versa. If the cracked piece of litchi shell is flat, the seam is obvious, and the taste will be very sweet.

[Edit this paragraph] Suitable for the crowd

The general population can eat it.

1. It is especially suitable for lying-in women, the elderly, people with weak constitution and people who are nursed back to health after illness. Anemia, stomach cold and bad breath are also applicable;

2. People with diabetes should use litchi with caution. Those with excessive fire due to yin deficiency and symptoms of excessive internal heat should not eat it, so as not to aggravate the symptoms of excessive internal heat. Those with dry throat, swollen gums and nosebleeds caused by yin deficiency should not eat it. Litchi contains tannin, methanol and so on. Eating too much is easy to get angry. Dry throat, swollen gums and nosebleeds caused by yin deficiency are prohibited.

Motorists should be careful to eat litchi.

If you eat litchi in large quantities but seldom, it is very easy to cause sudden hypoglycemia, such as dizziness, thirst, nausea, sweating, stomachache and palpitation. In severe cases, coma, convulsions, irregular breathing and arrhythmia occur. These symptoms are all sudden hypoglycemia after eating a lot of litchi, which is called acute litchi poisoning in medicine, also known as "litchi disease". When driving, the human body consumes a lot of heat, and the heat in the human body mainly comes from sugar in food. It is found that drivers who eat too much lychee before or while driving can not only fail to replenish sugar in time, but also increase the risk of traffic accidents.

Experts explained that eating too much litchi will make you sick and weak; In severe cases, even coma and convulsions. Because litchi is rich in fructose, the fructose content in blood increases obviously after eating, which makes the glucose in blood decrease relatively. The main symptoms of hypoglycemia are unconsciousness, palpitation, shaking hands, dizziness and inattention. This is extremely dangerous for drivers. After eating lychee, if you have symptoms such as hunger, fatigue and dizziness, you should take sugar water or candy bars orally quickly, which will generally recover quickly. Those who show signs of poisoning should go to the hospital for treatment in time.

[Edit this paragraph] Other related

The word "litchi" comes from the Western Han Dynasty. Its cultivation began in the Qin and Han Dynasties and flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties. The ancient name off-branch means edible branches.

The planting history of litchi can be traced back to the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. Sima Xiangru's "Shanglin Fu" has been recorded. Because of its excellent flavor, it was deeply loved and was listed as a tribute in the Tang Dynasty or earlier. Du Mu's famous sentence: "The world of mortals laughs when riding a princess, and no one knows it is litchi", which has been passed down through the ages. Su Dongpo's "300 lychees a day, I will grow up to be a Lingnan person" is also popular today.

Litchi was introduced to India in about 10 century. /kloc-was introduced to Vietnam, Malaysia Peninsula, Myanmar and other countries in the 0/7th century, and was known as the "king of fruit". In recent years, it has been introduced to South America and other places.

Where did Tianbao Litchi come from?

The story of Yang Guifei and Litchi is a household name, spreading for thousands of miles, which really caused a "trip". However, if the litchi beloved by the imperial concubine was really produced in Lingnan, it could not be kept fresh when it arrived in Chang 'an under the traffic conditions at that time. Yan Gengwang, a Taiwanese historian, solved this case and drew a "Tianbao Litchi Road"-this road still exists after thousands of years.

In the midsummer of July, when litchi came on the market again. Due to the convenience of modern transportation, the best litchi in Beijing street fruit stalls is only a few yuan a catty. Dark red shell, crystal white flesh, fragrant and sweet, I always eat until my throat catches fire.

When I was a child, I lived in the northeast of China. I have never seen fresh litchi. I only read Litchi Honey by the writer Yang Shuo in the textbook, and I knew it was a delicious southern fruit. Read more history, and know that Emperor Tang Ming ate fresh lychee for Yang Guifei, and did not hesitate to use the wartime post road express horse to deliver it, so that officials were tired and the post horse fell to death. This incident was exaggerated by Du Mu's poem "Crossing the Qing Palace" in the late Tang Dynasty, which left Yang Fei with the infamy of a femme fatale. The poem is written like this: "Chang 'an looks back and embroiders in piles, and the top of the mountain opens a thousand times." "Riding the world of mortals and laughing, who knows that it is litchi." There is a kind of litchi called "Fei Zi Xiao", which shows its profound influence. But at that time, the poet did not say where litchi came from, and the history books did not exactly mention the origin of litchi. Therefore, where Yang Guifei's favorite litchi came from actually became a historical case.

Equestrian events of this year's Olympic Games were held in Hongkong, and I was entrusted by my friends to write a book "Horse History in China" for the local publishing house. When I read historical materials and research materials, I realized that the case of "The Story of Litchi" by Yang Fei, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, had a new explanation after textual research by Taiwanese historian Mr. Yan Gengwang. That is the article "Tianbao Litchi Road" in the fourth volume of Liu's six-volume academic masterpiece "Research on Traffic Map of Tang Dynasty".

■ Lingnan litchi can't keep fresh when it arrives in Chang 'an.

The story of Yang Guifei and Litchi in history can be found in the book "Biography of Yang by Imperial concubine Xuanzong of the New Tang Dynasty": "My concubine loves Litchi and wants to give birth to it, so I can post it and travel thousands of miles without changing the capital." Here, although it is not said where the litchi sent by Houzhuan came from, it has been recorded in the history books of the Han Dynasty: in the first year of Yuanxing in the Eastern Han Dynasty, "the old longan litchi was offered, with a place in ten miles and a waiting place in five miles, which was dangerous and blocked, and the deceased followed the road" (Emperor of the Later Han Dynasty). Zhang Jiuling, the prime minister of Zhongshu in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a well-known Preface to Litchi, praising Litchi in Nanhai: "Litchi in Nanhai County is ripe every summer, which is very beautiful and delicious. Among all the fruits, it is unparalleled ..." Since Litchi in Nanhai is so delicious and Yang Fei is so expensive and so fond of it, Tang Xuanzong spared no effort to provide it to Lingnan. A Mirror of Purple Tongzhi compiled by Sima Guang, a great historian in the Northern Song Dynasty, also takes the saying that litchi came from Lingnan: "A princess wanted litchi branches and ordered them to be given by Chiyi in Lingnan. Compared with Chang 'an, the color and taste remained unchanged" ("Tianbao Five Years of Xuanzong in Ji Tang").

However, if we carefully observe this matter, we find a flaw, that is, how to keep litchi fresh during transportation. Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, was once the secretariat of Zhongzhou (now Zhongxian County, Chongqing). Bai's Preface to Litchi said: "Litchi was born under the dam ... it ripens in summer ... its shell is like a red ribbon, its membrane is like a purple ribbon, its meat is like Bai Rubing snow, and its pulp is as sweet as cheese ... If you leave this branch, Bai Juyi, who was an official in Shu at that time, said that Litchi grew under the local dam, it must be fictional; He also said that this kind of fruit is ripe in midsummer and extremely difficult to preserve. It can change color, smell and taste in three days. The original name of litchi is also called homophonic "from branches", which means that it is inseparable from its own branches. On this basis, Mr. Yan thinks that if Yang Fei's favorite litchi is produced in Lingnan (about Guangdong and Guangxi today), it is four or five thousand miles away from Chang 'an. Although the post biography in the Tang Dynasty was developed, the "Imperial edict travels 500 Li a day" is close to the limit of horse speed (here refers to the total journey of many post horses running in turn). Even if Yang Fei likes it, it will accelerate, and the daily trip will also accelerate. Therefore, "Lingnan litchi can't keep fresh in Chang 'an".

■ Lizhong Yima Biography can reach Chang 'an in three days.

According to historical data, litchi is actually the origin of ancient imperial tributes, and it is said that there are Lingnan and Fuzhou (located in the northeast of Chongqing today). Interestingly, during the Han and Tang Dynasties, people mostly referred to Lingnan, and after the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, people mostly referred to Fuzhou. Mr. Yan speculated that this may be because she was spoiled for a long time, which angered people at that time, so she deliberately pointed out that she was far away and hated her name.

Su Dongpo wrote a poem "Litchi Talk" in the Northern Song Dynasty: "Yongyuan Litchi comes to Jiaozhou and Tianbao pays tribute." Cai Xiang's Lychee Book in the Northern Song Dynasty bluntly said: "Tang Tianbao is a concubine and loves Fuzhou very much. He lived at the age of four." According to Mr. Wang's analysis, from the originality of historical materials, it should of course be said by the Tang people, and there are also records of Lingnan's contribution in the Han Dynasty. But from the perspective of litchi preservation, this is absolutely impossible. On the other hand, it is more reasonable and feasible to fly to Beijing from Fuzhou, a neighboring city of Chang 'an. Especially because Yang Guifei lived in Shu when she was a child, the supplement of National History called her "born in Shu and fond of litchi". Then the fruit she loved as a child is more likely to be produced locally. Textual research on Shu products shows that litchi in Fuzhou has long been famous for it. Fan Chengda, a poet in the Song Dynasty, wrote "Preface to the Princess Garden": "The Fuling Gigi Lai (branch) paid by Tianbao is a garden in the state." The article Fuzhou in Fan's Wu Shu explains this in detail: "Litchi has been produced since Meijia came here. In the Tang Dynasty, Fuzhou was a tribute and was loved by Yang Taizhen. He has a concubine garden within a few miles of the state. " The title of "Fuzhou Historic Site" in The Jade Emperor Ji Sheng records: "Princess Garden is located in the west of the state, fifteen miles away from the city, with more than 100 litchi plants, which are beautiful and beautiful, and the Tang Dynasty likes it."

Song people further confirmed that the exact origin of Fuzhou litchi should be in Lewen County, which is more than 0/00 miles northwest of Zhouzhi. From here, I went north to Tang Jing. According to Mr. Yan's research, the distance is about 2000 Li, which is only half the distance from Lingnan to Chang 'an. According to local chronicles, "Yang Fei was addicted to litchi, and it was only three days since Dazhou, Xixiang and Woods Valley were sent to Fuling and Chang 'an, and its color and fragrance remained unchanged. "That is, from Fuling to xian county, Yima to Xixiang County, Woods Valley to Chang 'an, it can be reached within three days, and litchi can be completely preserved. So this is the most possible and reasonable route to transport litchi. At this point, the fresh litchi dedicated to Yang Fei was born in Sichuan, and it was finally displayed to the world.

■ Tianbao Lizhi Road is still there today.

Mr. Yan Gengwang also deduced the specific route of litchi from Fuzhou to Chang 'an, which generally starts from Lewen, Fuzhou, the origin, goes north along the valley of Rongxi River (now Longxi River), passes through Dianjiang County and Liangshan County, reaches Xinning County (now also called Kaijiang) and dongxiang county, goes north, passes through Bashan to Xuanhan and Xixiang County, reaches Ziwu Valley, and reaches south of Chang 'an. He also named this route "Tianbao Litchi Road".

What is particularly surprising is that in the middle of the 20th century, thousands of years later, the Atlas of the Republic of China and the Sichuan Cultural Map showed that from Changshou County on the north bank of the Shujiang River, there were automobile lanes in the northeast passing through Dianjiang, Liangshan, Kaijiang (namely Xinning) and Xuanhan, and crossing Bashan to Woods Town in the north. 2/kloc-at the beginning of the 20th century, there was an ochre high-grade highway on the map of southern Sichuan, from Changshou and Dianjiang to Liangping, and from Kaijiang and Daxian to the north. This road is the route that follows Tang through Litchi Road in Tianbao, Liangshan. Today, people walk along this road by car. Where will they think that they are walking on the old road to send litchi to Yang Guifei?

[Edit this paragraph] Network terms

1 refers to the English word Lich, that is, Lich (the immortal hero in warcraft 3).

2. The other is the Lich King, the Lich King.

3. Huang Yali's fans

[Edit this paragraph] Dietotherapy value

The fruit of litchi, a tree-growing plant of Sapindaceae. Also known as Dan Li and Litchi. There are many varieties, including poinsettia, firewood head, manlinxiang and eighteen niang. Distributed in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Taiwan Province, Sichuan and Yunnan. Harvest the fruits in summer when they are ripe, peel off the shells, and take the aril (litchi meat) for fresh use, or peel off the aril (dried litchi) after the fruits are dried.

[Attribute] Sweet, slightly sour and flat in nature. Promoting fluid production to quench thirst, invigorating spleen and benefiting blood.

【 Reference 】 Litchi meat contains glucose, sucrose, protein, fat, carotene, vitamin B 1, B2, C, folic acid, citric acid, malic acid, calcium, phosphorus, iron, arginine and tryptophan.

【 Usage 】 Used for deficiency of stomach yin, thirst and dry throat; Eat less because of spleen deficiency, or diarrhea; Blood deficiency and palpitation.

[Usage] Eat raw, decoct or soak in wine.

[attachment]

Litchi and jujube soup: dried litchi 15g, jujube 30g. Add water to make soup.

This recipe has the effects of invigorating spleen and enriching blood. Used for deficiency of qi and blood, loss of appetite, and mental fatigue.