Novel longan-lychee hybrid bears fruit

The world's first longan-lychee hybrid variety named Cui Mi, or Crispy Honey, is ripening and is expected to go on sale starting mid-September, further diversifying fruit varieties in the domestic market.

"Having weathered three straight winters of frigid extreme weather, researchers have conquered frost impacts via cultivation innovations and secured consistent fruit yields this year," said Liu Chengming, a professor with the College of Horticulture at South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.

With its uniquely crisp and sweet taste, as well as the merit of late-maturing off-season ripening, Cui Mi will further diversify the fruit industry structure and emerge as a new cultivar that helps raise farmers' incomes and fuels rural vitalization in Conghua district in the southern metropolis in the months to come, said Liu.

"It is crisper and sweeter than lychee, and more aromatic and tender than longan, with absolutely no fibrous residue," he said.

Cui Mi was developed through distant cross-breeding, with Shixia longan as the female parent and Ziniangxi lychee as the male parent. Both Shixia longan and Ziniangxi lychee are local varieties.

"Compared with Shixia longan, Cui Mi delivers twice the yield, boasts stronger cold resistance, and ripens 15-20 days later," he said.

However, Liu explained that Cui Mi is still only available for limited trial sales at present. Priced at 76 yuan ($11.26) per kilogram online, the total output for this year stands at merely several metric tons.

The variety is currently being cultivated across a little over 2 square kilometers in locations including Guangdong's Guangzhou, Qingyuan and Chaozhou cities, as well as Luzhou in Sichuan province and Dali in Yunnan province, said Liu, who has led a team focused on longan-lychee cross-breeding research for nearly 20 years.

By comparison, China's longan cultivation area tops 2,666.67 sq km.

According to Liu, Cui Mi's yield is expected to exceed 25 metric tons next year, and prices will likely drop after a mass launch.