Longan
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 Longan fruit
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| Dimocarpus longan Lour. |
The Longan (Simplified Chinese: 龙眼; Traditional Chinese: 龍眼; pinyin: lóngyǎn; Cantonese long-ngan; Vietnamese long nhãn - literally "dragon eye") is an evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia from southern China south to Indonesia. It is also called guiyuan (桂圆) in Chinese and lengkeng in Indonesia.
The fruit is edible, and is often used in East Asian soups, snacks, desserts, and sweet-and-sour foods. They are round with a thin, brown-coloured inedible shell. The flesh of the fruit, which surrounds a big, black seed, is white, soft, and juicy.
Longans and lychees bear fruit at around the same time of the year. Dried longan (Chinese: 圓肉; pinyin: yuánròu; literally "round meat") are often used in Chinese food therapy and herbal medicine. In contrast with the fresh fruit, the flesh of dried longans is dark brown to almost black.
 Longan fruit section |
[edit] See also
Longans are not to be confused with loganberries.
[edit] References and external links
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1998). Dimocarpus longan. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 09 May 2006.
- Fruits of Warm Climates: Longan
- Know and Enjoy Tropical Fruit: Lychee, Rambutan & Longan
- Dimocarpus longan (Sapindaceae)
- The use of longan in traditional Chinese medicine
