LITCHI GOOD FOR HEATH FROM SKIN TO HEART: AN OVERVIEW OF LITCHI FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITIES AND COMPOUNDS

Litchi industry in China at present suffers from seasonal overproduction, which causes heavy burden in marketing the fresh fruit. Development of processing industry provides a way out from this difficult situation. Large quantity of scrap materials of skin and seed will be produced from processing and await utilization. Health promoting effects and medical functions of litchi tissues were well documented in ancient China. Modern phytochemistry and pharmacology provide sound evidences of litchi’s health promoting and medical functions, and functional compounds in the fruit are being discovered. This paper provides an overview of the studies of antioxidant activities in various fruit tissues of litchi, ‘heating’ effect of and allergens in the flesh, anti-cancer effect of the peel, and anticancer, antivirus and diabetes-controlling effects of the seed.