Chinese agricultural scientists have successfully developed the world’s first lychee variety with the taste of a longan, marking a major breakthrough in fruit breeding research.
Researchers from the Fruit Research Institute under the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences announced that they had successfully crossbred lychee and longan — two iconic fruits of southern China that belong to the same plant family but different genera, making natural crossbreeding extremely difficult.
The new fruit variety, temporarily named “Huaishi,” combines the genetic traits of the late-season lychee variety “Huaizhi” and the popular “Shixia” longan.
According to researcher Shi Fachao, the project began in 2015 when a team led by veteran scientist Ou Liangxi attempted an unprecedented cross-genus hybridisation. To overcome the natural reproductive barriers between the two fruits, scientists used a specialised pollination technique involving deactivated lychee pollen mixed with longan pollen.
The method effectively tricked the lychee flower into accepting the longan pollen, allowing researchers to obtain hybrid seeds.
After years of cultivation and observation, one tree from the hybrid offspring became the first to successfully bear fruit.
The fruit matured in mid-May this year and was found to possess a crisp, juicy and sweet texture, while also carrying the distinctive aroma and flavour associated with longan.
Researchers have described the new variety as offering consumers the experience of eating a lychee with the taste profile of a longan.
The breakthrough is being hailed as a significant achievement in agricultural science and fruit breeding, opening the door to future innovations involving cross-genus fruit hybrids.
The new variety is currently undergoing comparative testing and evaluation before commercial release.
Scientists estimate that “Huaishi” could be introduced to the market within the next five to six years if trials continue to produce positive results.
