Longan: benefits and harms

The benefits and harms of longan are determined by its chemical composition and effect on the body. There are a few simple rules on how to select and peel this fruit, which should be followed to get the most out of the product. The fruits contain a whole range of useful vitamins and minerals, which is used in the treatment and prevention of diseases. Longan seed powder also has medicinal properties.

What does longan look like and where does it grow?

Longan is a tropical fruit that resembles grapes in appearance (it also grows in bunches), but looks more like its closest relative, lychee.

Grows in Indonesia, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Vietnam. Unlike grapes, longan fruits ripen in tall trees. The shape is spherical, up to 3 cm in diameter. The color of the peel is from light beige to brown, more often of yellowish shades. The rind itself is thin but dense. The flesh inside the fruit is translucent, the stone is dark, shiny, like polished, inedible.

What Longan Tastes Like

The pulp of the fruit is juicy and tastes like a sweet melon. There is a great deal of similarity with another exotic fruit - lychee. Ripe longan has a specific, sweet taste. If you feel a strong sourness, then the fruit is unripe. Unripe fruits are often plucked prior to sale to extend the shelf life of the product.

Longan chemical composition

Longan contains natural, natural vitamins and mineral components, the benefits of which are much greater than from synthetic pharmacy counterparts:

• vit. FROM;
• vit. B1 (thiamine);
• vit. B2 (riboflavin);
• vit. B3 (niacin).

Minerals:

• potassium - 260 mg;
• magnesium - 10.1 mg;
• phosphorus - 21.4 mg;
• copper - 0.2 mg;
• iron - 0.12 mg;
• calcium - 0.1 mg;
• manganese - 0.06 mg;
• zinc - 0.05 mg.

Longan nutritional value and calories

The sweet taste of the fruit is felt due to the high content of fruit sugars (carbohydrates). Composition:

• carbohydrates - 15 g;
• fats - 0.1 g;
• proteins - 1.5 g;
• fiber - 1.1 g;
• water - 82.3 g.

The calorie content of the fresh product is 60 kcal. Dried longan has more calories - 280 kcal.

Composition of dehydrated (dried) fruits per 100 g:

• carbohydrates - 75 g;
• proteins - 5.0 g;
• fats - 0.5 g.

It is better to eat more fresh fruits containing a lot of water with active components dissolved in it, such a diet "accelerates" the metabolism well.

How longan is useful for the body

Fruit fruits absorb the energy of the sun, and in the process of their consumption they transfer this energy to a person. The more sun, the juicier and sweeter the fruit, and the more carbohydrates (glucose) they contain. The functioning of the human body is impossible without glucose. This is especially important for the activity of the brain and muscles.

Glucose is the main source of nutrition for the brain. Fruits contain the healthiest carbohydrates.Fruits are not just sweet and juicy, in addition to carbohydrates, they contain a whole range of health-promoting substances that are quickly absorbed and, if used wisely, do not harm the body. But this only applies to fresh produce. When preserved, the fruits lose most of their beneficial properties: minerals are partially preserved, but most vitamins and enzymes are destroyed. Therefore, you should eat fresh fruits, which are much more beneficial.

Longan contains a large amount of vitamins and minerals with beneficial properties. It contains especially a lot of vitamin C, so the fruits are used as a preventive and therapeutic agent for colds and strengthening the immune system. B vitamins and magnesium are responsible for the health of the nervous system. Phosphorus is essential for normal brain function.

The benefit of longan for men lies in the fact that the fruit contains the trace element zinc useful for men's health, which promotes the production of testosterone.

Research is being conducted on the medicinal properties of longan as an antitumor agent.

The obvious benefit of eating these fruits is to speed up metabolism. This is especially important for those looking to lose weight and lose weight. Longan improves digestion, has anthelmintic properties, cleans and restores blood vessels, reduces blood pressure.

This is necessary to maintain a healthy and slim figure, a good option to diversify your diet with greater benefits.

In addition to fruits, oriental medicine also uses longan leaves, which have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Longan, with its clear health benefits and minimal harm, is one of those food items to watch out for and try.

Benefits and Uses of Longan Seed Powder

Longan seeds are rather large, inedible. The bones are ground into a powder and a medicinal powder for the skin is prepared from them. The powder has anti-inflammatory, astringent and wound healing properties. It is used for skin diseases and to stop bleeding. The hemostatic properties of longan seed powder are due to the high content of tannins in them. Ground seeds are also added to toothpastes. The drug is also used as a remedy for severe sweating.

How to clean and eat longan

The peel of the fruit is thin and breaks easily when pressed with a fingernail. In order to clean the fruit, you need to knead it a little in your hands, press a groove with your fingernail and free the pulp from the peel. You can also do this with a knife. The point of peeling the fruit is to get to the juicy and sweet pulp.

Fruit is eaten fresh. Longan is harvested all year round, so there is no shortage of fresh fruits.

Sweet liquor is made from the pulp. The product is put into desserts, ice cream, vegetable soups, added to sauces.

Canned longan is supplied to America.In this form, the product loses most of its vitamins and beneficial properties, and if consumed abundantly, it can be harmful to health, like any canned food.

They are digested in the intestines and do not stay long in the stomach if there is no other food there. And after 40 minutes, the stomach is emptied for other dishes.

You should not eat sweet fruits, including longan, along with foods containing animal proteins.

Protein food lasts the longest in the stomach, since it is there that the digestion of proteins occurs. As a result, the normal process of digestion is disrupted: fruits cannot enter the intestines, where they would be well absorbed, and animal proteins are undigested in the intestines. Thus, putrefaction processes are triggered instead of normal digestion, which, in turn, harms the entire body. Therefore, it is advisable to know in what sequence and in what combination to use different food products.

Longan harm and contraindications

Longan is an exotic product native to subtropical and tropical countries. Therefore, for residents of middle latitudes, the active use of fruits at a time can adversely affect the state of the digestive system.

When traveling to tropical countries, you should wait out the acclimatization period before loading the body with unusual food. This must be done so as not to harm yourself.

In the absence of allergic reactions and other negative consequences, you can increase the portions of this fruit.

How to choose and store longan

By its appearance, it is difficult to determine the degree of ripeness of the fruit, so they taste it before buying. Ripe fruits have a sweet taste.

If the peel is greenish and the pulp tastes sour, then the fruit should ripen for a couple of days at room temperature. Strongly acidic fruits contain many organic acids that attack tooth enamel and can damage the teeth.

Ripe fruits are stored in the refrigerator. They are also frozen, while the taste and most of the beneficial properties of the fruit are preserved, and the shelf life is increased to several months.

Conclusion

The benefits and harms of eating longan fruits largely depend on how ripe the product was, so only ripe fruits should be eaten. With a balanced diet, the harm from fruits is minimal. Possible problems can arise in the case of individual intolerance and tendency to food allergies. To get the most out of this fruit, it must be eaten fresh, separate from other foods. So the food product turns into a tasty medicine and a good preventive measure against diseases. Do not forget about longan seed powder, which is also used as a remedy.

Longan, with its clear health benefits and minimal harm, is one of those food items to watch out for and try.