The Lychee.

This past weekend, my husband took me to a fruit and spice farm that was hosting a fruit festival. I walked around in awe of how many fruits I didn't even know existed. One I had never tried was the lychee (scientifically known as Litchi chinensis).

This fruit reminds me of the mamoncillo, except the lychee doesn't stick to the seed as much as the mamoncillo does. The lychee has a hard outer layer that looks like a raspberry and an inside that looks like a jellyfish. The taste was incredibly refreshing. It tasted like a Hi-C fruit punch drink. It amazed me how we can process something so much to make it taste like something God created that was naturally delicious... and nutritious, I may add.

As a result of never having tasted or seen the lychee fruit, I decided to research its nutritional benefits. This is what I found:

The Lychee contains on average a total 72 mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams of fruit. On average nine lychee fruits would meet an adult’s daily recommend Vitamin C requirement. A cup of Lychee fruit provides, among other minerals, for a 2000 Calorie diet, 14%DV of copper, 9%DV of phosphorus, and 6%DV of potassium.

Lychees are low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. Most of the energy in a lychee is in the form of carbohydrate (sugar). Lychees are high in polyphenols, containing 15% more than grapes, a fruit commonly referenced as high in polyphenols

Naturally, we purchased a pound of this exotic fruit (origin is Asia and India) that now grows in Florida. It's a delicious snack that's out of the normal fruit pattern, which I love.

Try to find and taste this fruit if you haven't already =)