LONGAN BERRIES

These little things seem to be in season lately as seeing them show up in the supermarkets. They are called longan berries and contain Vitamin C that is equal to 80% of daily requirement. They also contain iron, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium are rich in Vitamin A and contain anti-oxidants.

Longan berries also help to boost energy as they are a Qi tonic which raises long term energy. They can be useful to alleviate sleeplessness, lapse of memory and also anxiousness which are the outcome of blood and Qi deficiency.

The longan berry is also known as dragons eye due to the dark looking pit in the white ball of flesh. They are in the same family as the lychee fruit and they do taste rather similar although they are a little more tangy, less sweet and the flesh is firmer than that of a lychee... to me anyway :)

The only other time I have had these was in Thailand which is where the fruit originated from and where I saw them everywhere and feasted myself silly on them so glad they have suddenly appeared in the Uk even if they are a more rare and expensive commodity here !