Product Name: Cuimi Longan (Longan-Lychee Hybrid)
Description:
Cuimi is the world's first intergeneric hybrid between longan and lychee, developed over 15 years by Professor Liu Chengming's team at South China Agricultural University. Bred from a cross of "Shixia" longan (female parent) and "Ziniangxi" lychee (male parent), it represents a landmark breakthrough in fruit breeding, successfully overcoming the strong reproductive isolation barrier between the two genera. Because intergeneric hybrids exhibit strong maternal inheritance, Cuimi is approximately 90% longan and 10% lychee, and is officially classified as a new longan variety.
A Fruit That Defies Categorization:
The defining feature of Cuimi is its extraordinary texture – the flesh is “both tender and crisp” (又嫩又脆) , a combination that is generally contradictory in fruit. It offers the crisp sweetness of lychee combined with the fragrant tenderness of longan, with a clean, residue-free bite that "disappears in a few chews". The flavor is described as "sweeter and crisper than lychee, more fragrant and tender than longan" , with a subtle lychee aroma and no cloying sweetness.
Appearance:
The fruit is round and plump, resembling a longan in shape but with a distinctive pale yellow-green skin covered in prominent lychee-style龟裂片 (turtle-shell cracks) – a unique "speckled" appearance that sets it apart from all ordinary longan varieties. The flesh is waxy yellow, crisp, and bursting with juice.
Flavor & Sweetness:
Cuimi delivers an exceptionally sweet flavor with a soluble solids content of 20%–24% Brix (measured up to 23.5 in northern production regions). The aril is seedless or nearly so, with an edible rate of 70.8%, and the fruit separates easily from the seed. The flavor is rich, honeyed, and refreshing, with a distinctive lychee fragrance that lingers on the palate.
Key Commercial Advantages:
World's First Longan-Lychee Hybrid – A historic breeding breakthrough with immense novelty and media appeal (over 800 million views on social media)
Unique "Tender-Crisp" Texture – A sensory experience unlike any other fruit
High Sugar Content – 20–24% Brix for intense, clean sweetness
Double the Yield of Shixia – 100% yield increase, with conservative estimates of 1+ tonne per mu
Cold Hardy – Withstands -3°C where Shixia suffers severe damage; successfully overwintered at -7°C in Lianzhou, Guangdong, expanding the longan growing range northward
Late-Season Market Window – Ripens 15–20 days after Shixia, with northern production extending harvest to mid-September, perfectly timed for Mid-Autumn and National Day holiday markets
Rapid Growth & Early Bearing – Grafted trees produce 10–20 jin in year 2 and 50+ jin by year 3
Growing Regions:
Cuimi has been successfully trialed in Guangdong (Guangzhou Conghua, Qingyuan Lianzhou, Chaozhou), Sichuan (Luzhou), Yunnan (Dali, Lijiang – 1,800m elevation), and Chongqing (Yongchuan) . Notably, the Lianzhou production region – located just 45 km from the Hunan border with winter temperatures dropping to -7°C – has achieved stable overwintering and fruiting, demonstrating the variety's potential to rewrite the map of longan cultivation in China.
Cultivation Notes:
Climate: Cold-hardy, suitable for regions where traditional longan cannot survive; performs well at elevations up to 1,800m in Yunnan
Top-Grafting: Highly effective – grafted trees grow 1.5m+ in the first year and fruit the following year
Vigor: Fast-growing with 14 leaflets per compound leaf (vs. 10 in Shixia), driving high photosynthetic efficiency and productivity
Cultivation Technology: Overwintering and stable production achieved through three winters of frost-tolerance research and cultivation technique optimization
Market Access: Authorized to Guangdong Zhongli Agricultural Group for promotion; "enterprise + cooperative + farmer" model provides seedlings and technical support
Harvest Season:
Mid-to-late August (Guangzhou) / Early-to-mid September (Lianzhou and northern regions) – a premium late-season longan that extends the fresh longan season to Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. With its world-first hybrid status, unique tender-crisp texture, double yield, cold hardiness, and late-season timing, Cuimi Longan offers growers an exceptional opportunity to differentiate their product, expand into new growing regions, and capture premium holiday pricing