Hostname: page-component-6bb9c88b65-2jdt9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-07-23T01:55:04.452Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Morphological and anatomical development of the litchi fruit (Litchi chinensis Sonn. cv. Brewster)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2002

Stela Roberto Nacif ,
Adelita Aparecida Sartori Paoli  and
Luiz Carlos Chamhum Salomão
Stela Roberto Nacif
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Science, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, 36571-000 Brazil
Adelita Aparecida Sartori Paoli
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP, 13506-900 Brazil
Luiz Carlos Chamhum Salomão
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Science, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, 36571-000 Brazil
Get access

Abstract

Introduction. The litchi tree produces fruit in terminal panicles in a development cycle of approximately 4 months. Data on its morphology and anatomy are scarce, although the fruit is of fundamental importance in the Sapindaceae systematic. This work was carried out to study fruit morphology and pericarp anatomy during the development of the cv. Brewster litchi. Materials and methods. Fruits were collected at different development phases on 12-year-old trees. The fruits were morphologically and anatomically studied. After fixation, the samples were sectioned in several anatomical planes, and mounted in temporary or permanent preparations. Results. The flowers were functionally male and female, with a superior bicarpelar ovary with two ovules, rarely three. Frequently, only a single fruit develops. The fruit is a heart-shaped drupe when ripe, fleshy and indehiscent. The pericarp is thin, leathery, rough, wrinkled and red colored, with aril covering all the seed. The fruit begins differentiation with the formation of the pericarp which consists of epicarp, mesocarp and endocarp. Discussion. The litchi fruit is elongated when young, becoming heart-shaped as it develops. It contains one or two seeds and each one is attached to the internal angle of the marginal sutures. When ripe, the litchi has a leathery and broken pericarp because of the presence of brachisclereides immediately below the epidermis, whose function may be protection against mechanical and physiological stresses and herbivorous action.

Keywords

BrazilLitchi chinensisplant reproductive organsfruitplant anatomypericarpBrésilLitchi chinensisorgane reproducteur végétalfruitanatomie végétalepéricarpe

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Fruits , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , July 2001 , pp. 225 - 233
Copyright
© CIRAD, EDP Sciences

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Jaiswal B.P., Sah N.L., Prasad U.S., Studies on phenolics of rind and aril during ripening and senescence of litchi fruits, Plant Physiol. Bioch.13 (1) (1986) 40-45.
Barroso G.M., Sistemàtica de angiosperma do Brasil, Univ. Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Brasil, 1991, 337 p.
Menzel, C.M., Simpson, D.R., Effects of temperature and leaf water stress on panicle and flower development of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.), J. Hortic. Sci. 66 (3) (1991) 335-344. CrossRef
Menzel C.M., Simpson D.R., Growth, flowering and yield of lychee cultivars, Sci. Hortic.-Amsterdam (49) (1992) 243-254.
Stern, R.A., Eisenstein, H., Voet, H., Gazit, S., Anatomical structure of two day old litchi ovules in relation to fruit set and yield, J. Hortic. Sci. 71 (4) (1996) 661-671. CrossRef
Singh, A.B.A., Srivastava, S., Variation in quality traits of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) cultivars, J. Food Sci. Tech. 4 (5) (1987) 264-266.
Costes, E., Le litchi à la Réunion. Étude des caractéristiques des fruits de la récolte 1985, Fruits 42 (7-8) (1987) 443-453.
Martins A.B.G., Cultura de lichia, in: Donadio L.C., Martins A.B.M., Valente J.P. (Eds), Fruticultura tropical, FCAVJ-UNESP, Jabuticabal, Brasil, 1992, 113-126.
Gomes R.P., Fruticultura brasileira, 11 ed., Nobel, S ao Paulo, Brasil, 1987, 446 p.
Underhill, J.R., Critchley, C., The physiology and anatomy of lychee (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) pericarp during fruit development, J. Hortic. Sci. 67 (4) (1992) 437-444. CrossRef
Joubert, A.J., Van Lelyveld, L.J., An investigation of preharvest browning of litchi peel, Phytophylactica 7 (1975) 9-14.
Corner E.J.H., The seed of dicotyledons, Cambridge Univ. Press, London, UK, 1976, vol. 1 and 2, 551 p.
Johansen D.A., Plant microtechnique, McGraw-Hill, New York, USA, 1940, 523 p.
Jensen W.A., Botanical histochemistry: principles and pratice, Freeman, San Francisco, USA, 1962, 408 p.
Carmello-Guerreiro S.M., Técnicas de inclusao de material vegetal em historresina, UNESP, Instituto de Biocências, Botucatu, Brasil, 1996, 7 p.
Joubert A.J., Die bloei, embriosak-, embrio-em verugontwikkeling von Litchi chinensis Sonn. cutivar HLH Mauritus, thesis, Univ. Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1967.
Mustard, M.J., Megagametophyte of lychee (Litchi chinensis Sonn.), Proc. Am. Soc. Hortic. Sci. 75 (1960) 292-303.
Fahn A., Anatomia vegetal, 3 ed., Piramide, Madrid, Spain, 1982, 544 p.
Levitt J., Responses of plants to environmental stresses, vol.1, Academic Press, New York, USA, 1980, 497 p.
Steyn, E.M., Robertse, P.J., Is aril development in litchi triggered by pollen tube grown? S. Afr. J. Bot. 58 (1992) 258-262. CrossRef
Roth I., Stratification of a tropical forest as seen in dispersal types. Tasks for vegetation science, Drw. Junk Publishers (member of the Kluwer Academic Publishers), Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA, 1987, 324 p.
Spjut, R.W., A systematic treatment of fruit type, Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 70 (1994) 1-182.
Joubert A.J., Litchi, in: Monselise S.P. (Ed.), Handbook of fruitset and development, CRC. Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 1986, 233-246.