Fruit fusion: how will the market react to Chinese scientists’ lychee-longan creation?

Scientists in China have successfully created a new fruit variety by crossing a lychee with a longan, resulting in the high-yield, cold-resistant "Cuimi" fruit. The hybrid, named after the Shixia longan maternal parent and a lychee paternal parent, breaks a longstanding reproductive barrier between plant genera. First harvested in September, Cuimi's yield this year reached several thousand jin, while its appearance and flavor are closer to those of the longan, thanks to its maternal heritage.

Despite its distinctive lychee traits, such as cracked, textured skin, the fruit boasts tender, crisp flesh and faces no fibrous strands. Compared to the Shixia longan, Cuimi offers double the yield, enhanced cold resistance, and a later ripening period, extending the commercial selling season by 15 to 20 days. This breakthrough in intergeneric hybridisation, once a significant technical obstacle, could expand longan cultivation areas in China and serve as a model for developing new fruit varieties.

The successful creation of Cuimi took nearly three years of research, culminating in the development of a pollination technique that allowed longan flowers to be fertilized by lychee pollen. Through advanced cultivation techniques, researchers eliminated frost damage, enabling the plant to withstand extreme winter cold. The first substantial harvest is expected in early to mid-September, with the fruit's price becoming more affordable between August and October.

Researchers are now developing additional hybrids to further enhance lychee and longan varieties, driven by a national push to bolster independent research and development in the seed sector.