Lychee nut helps to prevent platelet aggregation

What is lychee nut(Li Zhi He)?
Just as its name indicates, it refers to the mature seeds of Litchi chinensis Sonn., which is the only member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, namely Sapindaceae. And it has got a few different names, such as Leechee Nut, Semen Litchi, Litchi Semen, Lychee Seed, litchi nuts, lichee nut, and so on. In China lychee tree is mainly cultivated in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and other provinces. The ripe fruits are usually picked in summer. And then remove the peel and fleshy aril, wash, and dry in the sun. It is used raw or processed by brine. And it needs to be smashed before the use.

Lychee nut tree is an evergreen tree, 10 to 15 meters high. Evenpinnate leaf is alternate. The length of leaves and handle is 10 to 25cm; leaflets are 2 or3 pairs and with 7 to 8cm long small petiole; blade is lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 6 to 15cm long, 2 to 4cm wide, glabrous, thinly leathery or leathery, and with abruptly acuminate or caudate-acuminate apex, and entire margin. Panicle is acrogenous, wide, multi-branched; flowers bloom in spring, monoecious, small, and covered with short down. Fruit is nearly spherical and looks like drupe. Rind is hard, thin, dark red when ripe, and with strumaes. Seeds are brown. Its flowering time is from February to March and the fruit time is from June to July.

Lychee nut health benefit
As one of very common summer fruits, lychee fruits are known as one of the Four Southern Fruits, in which other three are along with banana, pineapple, and longan. Needless to say, nothing beats lychee when it comes to pleasing your taste buds. What’s more, the dried lychee nuts are also a good medicine, which has been recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that this herb can lower lipid, reduce blood glucose, fight tumor, inhibit Hepatitis B surface antigen, prevent platelet aggregation, and more.