LONGAN (Dimocarpus longan Lour)

Abstract

May be cited as Mishra, D.S., Chakraborty, B., Rymbai, H., Deshkmukh, N.A., Jha, A.K., War., G.F., Paul, D., Patel, R.S., Mishra, L.K., Roy, D. and Lyngdoh, P. 2015. Longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour). In: Breeding of underutilized fruit crops part part II (Ed. Gosh, S.N.). Jaya Pub. House, Delhi, pp. 255-272.

Full text

LONGAN
(
Dimocarpuslongan
Lour)
D.S. Mishra, Binayak Chakraborty,
H.Rymbai,N.A.Deshkmukh,A.K.Jha,G.F.War.,D.Paul,R.S.Patel,
L.K.Mishra, D.RoyandP.Lyngdoh
1. INTRODUCTION
Longan(Dimocarpuslongan Lour.) is a
subtropicalfruitoftheSapindaceaefamily
closely related to lychee and rambutan.
It is  a fruit of  leading economic
importance in Thailand (Nakata et al.,
2005).Longanisanimportantarilloidfruit
tree of the rural economyin the form of
employment and income generations of
the AsiaPacific Region. The longan
resembles the litchi (Litchi chinensis).
It is thesecond most important fruit
crop interms of area andproduction in
the family Sapindaceae after litchi.
Botanical synonyms of longan include
Dimocarpus longan Lour., Euphoria
longanSteud., Euphoria longana Lam.,
and Nephelium longana Cambess. It has also been referred to as the “little brother of
the lychee” or Dragon’s eye or Eyeball (Morton, 1987). Now a day, it is becoming an
economically important crop in a number ofcountries ofAsiaPacific Region. Thisfruit
cropisalsocultivatedinQueenslandinAustraliaandFloridaandHawaiiinUSA.Similar
tolitchi,theedibleportionoflonganconstitutesfleshy,translucentwhitearilwhichencircles
a brown to black seed.  In sever al countries where litchi and longans are grown, longan
has not gained so much attention as compared to litchi. However, in Thailand, longan
contributes far better than litchi in local economy (Choo, 2000).Although the fruit is
19
CONTENTS
1. Introduction...............................................255
2. Domestication ............................................256
3. Taxonomy...................................................257
4. CentersofOrigin .......................................257
5. ObjectiveofImprovement .........................259
6. Cytogenetics ...............................................259
7. InheritancePattern .................................... 259
8. ProbleminBreeding ..................................260
9. FloralBiology .............................................260
10. BotanicalDescription .................................261
11. DifferentSpecies .......................................262
12. CropImprovementMethods......................264
13. CultivarsDeveloped...................................269
14. FutureProspects ........................................ 272

256Breeding of Underutilized Fruit Crops 
consideredtobeeconomicallyimportantinAsia, however,itscommercialexploitationhas
been realized only inThailand, China, Ta iwa n Province of China and Vietnam (Jiang et
al.,2002;Rangkadilok etal.,2005).ItisalsofoundgrowinginVietnam,Cambodia,Laos,
Queensland (Australia) Indonesia and Florida and Hawa ii in USA. Longangrowing has
also been extended to India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Anonymous, 2013).
Longan are known by various name, the word ‘longan’ or ‘long yan’ or ‘lungngan’
derivesfromtheChinese.InThailandknownaslamyai;MalaysiaandIndonesiaas leng
keng; Myanmar as kyet mouk; Cambodia as mien; Laos as lam nhai and nam nhai;
Vietnam as nhan; French as Longanier, Oeil de Dragon (Anonymous, 2013).
Longan fruits are generally consumed as fresh. The fruits can be frozen, canned or
dried. During canning, fruits are genera lly dipped in its own juice with less or no added
sugar due tohigh soluble solid content. The flavour retentioncapa city of cannedlongan
is far better than litchi and rambhutan. Dried arils of longan have smoky flavour and
usuallyused to make refreshing drink inChina. Beside drink, dried longan arils are also
used in traditional herbal medicine for stomach ache, insomnia and as an antidote of
poison.Longanliqueurispreparedbymaceratingarilsinalcohol.Thenutritionalfact in
100 gram aril of longan is given below:
Table 1. Nutritional compo sition of longa n fruit.
Nutritiona lvalue Conten t (per 100 g ) Nutritiona lvalue Conten t(per1 00g)
Calories 60 k cal P 6.07.0 mg
Moisture 72.4 83.0 % Fe 0.3.60 mg
Pro tein 1.01.3 g Vit.A 28.0 I.U.
Fat 0.10.5 g Vit. B
1 0.03 0.04 mg
CHO 15.125 .2 g Vit. B
2 0.07 0.14 mg
Fibre 0.41.1 g Niacin 0.30.6 mg
Ca 610 mg Vit.C 60.084.0 mg
(Wong and Saichol, 199 1; http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/ Accessed Dec., 2013; Wall,
2006)
Beside fruit, longan seeds are also used as shampoo due to high saponin content.As
a traditional medicine, longan fruits are used to enhance memory (Park et al., 2010),
promotebloodmetabolism,relieveinsomnia,andpreventamnesia.Itssecondarymetabolic
products have been also shown to have antioxidative, antiobesity, anticancer, anti
tyrosinase and immune modulatory activities (Prasad et al ., 2010; Zhong et al., 2010).
2. DOMESTICATION
LonganisgrownthroughoutSouthEastAsia,arangeoftropicaland subtropical,forits
fruit(WongandSaichol,1991).Historicalevidencessuggestedthatlonganwascultivated
insouthernChinamorethan2000yearsago.InThailand,itisknownas‘lamyay’which

Longan (Di mocarp us longan Lo ur)257
was believed to be came from theChinese name ‘long yan’ or ‘lungngan’. Further, the
fruitspeciesspreadintoLaofromThailandfollowedbyVietnam.Itisapparentlycommon
inReúnion,Mauritius,Queensland(Australia)andFlorida(USA)(Lim,2013).However,
domestication of longa n from Chinato other part ofthe south eastAsia is thought tobe
veryr ecent (Blench, 2008). This fruit is considered one of the important economic fruit
crops in South Ea stAsia (Crane, 2000). Today, the growing of this crop has also been
extended to India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Anonymous, 2013).
3. TAXONOMY
LonganbelongstothefamilySapindaceae,subfamilySapindodeaeandthetribeNepheliaea
with six major species viz., Dimocarpus longan, Dimocarpus dentatus, Dimocarpus
gardneri, Dimocarpus foveolatus, Dimocarpus fumatus from eastern Malaysia, Sri
LankaandIndiaandDimocarpusaustralianusfromAustralia(Leenhouts,1978).Longan
(Dimocarpus longan Lour.) contains two subspecies i.e., i) ssp. Longan and ii) ssp.
Malesianus.Eachsubspecieshaveseveralvarieties.Thecommerciallongan(Dimocarpus
longan ssp. longan var. longan) belongs to subspecies longan. In Thiland, 3 different
ediblelongan types can be identifiedwithinthe varietylongan (Subhadrabandhu, 1990).
The types are:
TypeFirst:Itisalarge tree.Mostlyfoundintheforestwith smallfruitshavingvery
thin aril. It can be utilized as a breeding ma ter ia l. 
Type Second: It is native to longan (“lamyai kradook” or small “lamyai”). The
branchesare almosterect.Thefruitsaresmallwithlargeseedinsideit. Mostlyfoundin
Northern part ofThailand. It is used as a rootstock for commercial longan variety.
TypeThird:Itisthecommerciallongan(“lamyaikraloke”)withlargefruitandsmall
seed.
Besidelongan,there are alsothreevarieties(viz. var.longepetiolulatus,var.obtusus
and var. magnifolius) reported to be found wild in China (Choo, 2000).
The other  subspecies i.e., Dimocarpus longan ssp. malesianus contains unexploited
genetic materials having immense potential in breeding for commercial types of longan.
Thevar ieties of this subspecies can be well adoptedin unchangingheat, RH, day length
andotherclimaticconditionswhicharefrequentlyhappenedinequatorialzone.However,
recent studies indicated that Malesianus is not a subspecies of longan as revealed by
genome size analysis and trichome morphology (VanBuren et al., 2011).
4. CENTERS OF O RIGIN
Several proposed has been made on the origin of longan, which is controversial. Some
authorssuggestedthatthe originoflonganconfinedtothemountainchain fromMyanmar
throughSouthern China. However,other extends it to the north eastern, southwest India
and Sri Lanka, includingthe lowlands (Nagao and Hoa,  2000).

258Breeding of Underutilized Fruit Crops 
Groff said that the longan wasintroducedinto India in 1798.  However according to
the Indian literature, it revealed that this crop is native not only to China but also to
southwestern India and the forests of upperAssam and it adjoining area including the
Garo hills of Meghalaya. Furthermore, he saidthat this crop is cultivated inBengal and
elsewhere as an ornamental and shade tree (Cited in Morton, 1987).
Keetal.(2000)based onmorphologicalcharacteristicsofpollensoflongancultivars
andtheirwildspeciesinfivezonesofChinaaswellastheanalysisofbotanicalgeography
andevolution, suggested thattheprimarycentreoforiginoflongan wasYunnan,andthe
secondary centres were Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan provinces in China.
4.1. Ce nters of Dive rsity
AlthoughthefruitisconsideredtobeeconomicallyimportantinAsia,however,itcommercial
exploitation has been realized only in Thailand, China, Taiwan Province of China and
Vietnam (Jiang et al., 2002; Rangkadilok et al., 2005). It is also found growing in in
Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Queensland (Australia) Indonesia and Florida and Hawaii in
USA. The longan is always given less attention in comparison to litchi. Exception in
Thailand,theeconomiccontributionoflonganexceededthatoflitchi.Longangrowinghas
also been extended to India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Anonymous, 2013).
Fig.1.Taxonomic hierarchyofDimocarpuslongan L our.

Longan (Di mocarp us longan Lo ur)259
5. OB JECTIVE  OF IMPRO VEMENT
The preliminary emphasis in longan breeding has to be oriented towards expansion of
cultivated area. This could only be possible when a variety having a diverse climatic
adaptability.Biennialbearingisanotherproblemfacedbythelongangrowers.Smallfruit
size, less aril recovery and acid nature of juice have been placed longan after litchi in
many countries. Longan tree also encountered with some diseases and pests. Therefore,
to develop a new variety a breeder shouldconsider the following objectives:
i. Todevelopcultivarshavingdwarf treegrowing habitforeasymanagementto obtain
good fruitquality.
ii. Todevelophighyieldingandregularbearercultivars,sincelongantreesbearirregularly
and erratically making mar keting difficulties. Hence development of high yield and
regular bearing cultivars are essential.
iii. Todevelopcultivarshavinggoodfruitqualitytraitslikelargefruitsize(1820g),high
arilrecoveryandsweetjuiceinadditionto haveprolongshelflifeandpurewhitaril.
Longanhasarelativelyshortpostharvestlifewithrapid deteriorationinfruitquality
and appearance.
iv. Todevelopcultivars resistanttodiseaseslike‘witchbroom’ andblackmildew,since
noneofthelongancultivarsisknowntoresistantto‘witchbroom’disease,therefore
development of resistant variety to this malady is needed.
v. To developcultivars resistant toinsectpestslikegal mite(Eriophes dimocarpi) and
litchi stink bug (Tessaratoma papillosa).
vi.  To develop cultivars with tolerantto str ongwind dama ge and strong cyclonicwinds
as these cause branchsplitting and fruit shedding.
vii. Todevelop cultiva rs having wider adapta bility to diverse ecological conditions
viii.To develop cultivars having fruit with aborted seed
6. CYTOGENETICS
Longanisadiploidwithx=15and2n=30.Liuetal.(2011)studiedthemeiosisprocess
of pollen mother cell (PMC) of‘Shixia longan’ andobserved that i) themeiosis process
of longan pollen mother cells were closely correlated with the bud size and the anther
color, and the difference inthe stages of meiosis existed in thesa me bud and anther,ii)
aseries of abnormal phenomena in meiotic division of pollen mother cells such as
chromosome fragments, lagging chromosomes, chromosome bridges, asynchronizationof
chromosomes segregation, micronucleus, deviant tetra and so on.
7. INHERITANCE PATTERN
Anextr emelyvariable exists among seedling progenies. Small fruit size appears to be a
dominant characteristic. Yang and Chen (1987) studied on the inheritance pattern of

260Breeding of Underutilized Fruit Crops 
shriveled seed and found the annual variation and variation between trees of the same
cultivar. Coefficientofvariationforshriveledseedvariedfrom8.8–25.8%incultivars.
The used of embryo culture echnique has been suggested to breed large fruited varieties
with aborted seeds (Lai et al., 1997).
7.1.LinkageMap
A linkage map constructed using 94 progeny obtained from ‘Fengliduo’ x ‘Dawuyuan’,
‘Fengliduo’isahighqualitycultivar,while‘Dawuyuan’hasalargefruitsize(Guoetal.,
2010).RAPD,ISSR,sequencerelatedamplifiedpolymorphism(SRAP),andAFLPmarkers
were usedin and a pseudotestcross design. And to construct the linakge maps JoinMap
3.0wasused.Incultivar‘Dawuyuan’,251 markersweremappedinto 22linkagegroups
covering 1,064 cM. In ‘Fengliduo’, 183 loci were mapped and 21 linkage groups were
identified covering965cM.Thiswasthefirstreportedmaponlonganwhichneedstobe
enhanced with codominant markers (Arias et al., 2012).
8. PROBLEM IN BREEDING
Majorproblemsencounterinlonganbreedingareirregularfloweringandbiennialbearing,
small fruitsize, witches’ broom disease, fruit bats and largeunmanageable treesize.
9. FLORALBIOLOGY
9.1.Flowers
Inflorescence islar ge of 3050 cm length, determinate (cyme) and composed of multiple
branched leafless panicles. Three to five flowers are present in small tertiary branches
ofpaniclesi.e.,incymules. Flowerissmallwhitecupshapedbear onpaniclesfromApril
to Julya nd normally only the central flower  developed into fruit. Flowers are sma ll and
yellowishbrown,calyxlobes2 5mmx 13 mm;petals5,1.5 6mmx 0.6 –2mm,
densely woolly to glabrous (Choo, 2000). Differing with litchi, longan flowers have 5
numbersofpetals.Theflowersoflonganwithinapaniclearemadeupofstaminate(pistil
non functiona l), pistillate (stamens nonfunctional) and hermaphrodite flowers (Crane et
al., 2000).Thestaminateflowerhas 8orless hairystamensarrangedin a singlerow on
alightbrown disc.Thepistillateflowerhasanthers whicharesterileand nonfunctional.
Hermaphroditeflowercontainsbicarpellatedanddenselyhairyovarywithbilobedstigma.
Normally, only one carpel develops into fruit. The stamens of the hermophrodite flower
consistof8 sessilefilamentswithanthersproducingviablepollens.Flowersare borneon
terminal inflor escence (Subhadrabandhu, 1990).
9.2.Flowering
The longan is a crosspollinated species. In order to achieve crosspollination it has
duodichogamy that is flowering in each panicle occurs in three progressive stages of

Longan (Di mocarp us longan Lo ur)261
flowersopening,whichopendirectlyaftereachother,withacertaindegreeofoverlapping.
Generally within a panicle the first phase in the sequence of opening is the staminate
flowers,followbythepistillateflowersandthenthehermaphroditeflowersandfinallythe
staminate flowers again. Male and female phases of flowering overlap 4  6 weeks
dependingoncultivars. Thereis an overlapof flowertypes onindividualtrees,sincenot
all inflorescences develop at the same time.
9.3.Pollination
There are few reports on flowering and subsequent pollination of longan (Menzel and
McConchie,1998). In Queensland, ithas beenestablishedthat pollination in longan isa
combination of autogamous (selfpollination), wind or insects (Blanche et al., 2006).
However,toobtain goodyield foracommercialcrop,pollinationbyinsects,inparticular
bythehoneybeeisconsideredcrucial(BadiyalaandGarg1990; DuToit1994;McGregor
1976;MenzelandWaite,2005)andalsoflies(syrphids,calliphorids,andmuscids)(Pham,
2012). Honeybees, Apis cerana, made up 47 – 95% to longan inflorescences (Pham,
2012).
Insect pollination occurs from early morning (8:00 a m) to midafternoon (2:00 pm),
particularlyby thehoney bee(Apis cerana).InThailand,30%increasesinlongan yields
havebeenreported as ar esult ofhoney bee pollination (DAF, 2005). Onthe other hand, 
Trigona species has shown to be an effective pollinator of longan crops in Queensland
(Blanche et al., 2006). According to Blanche et al. (2006) that both honey bees and
stingless bee (Trigona spp) visited the flowers, however, the numbers of stingless bees
inflowerswerehighinnumbersascomparedtohoneybeewhichhadapositiverelationship
withfruit set. The highernumber of stingless bees might bedue to nea rbyof rainforest.
Crossedfruitaregenerally heavierandyieldsin rowswithtwocultivarsadjacenttoeach
other indica ted that atleast oneother cultivar and anabundanceof insectpollinatorsfor
pollentransferisrequiredforbetterfruitset,yieldandquality(McGregor1976).Though,
TrigonaspeciesmaybegoodpollinatorsoflonganinQueensland,butplacingofbeehives
in longan orchard leading to increase cross pollination to produce desirable yield and
quality.
9.4.Fruit
Theperiod from flowering to harvesting gener ally varies between 57 months.T hefr uits
are similar to those of the litchi, but smaller, smoother and yellowishtan in colour. It is
milder in flavor and less acidic than litchi.
10. BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
Longan is an evergreen tree. It may grown up to a height of 20 m with dense canopy,
brittlewooda nd corky barkthat splits and peels.T he branches arespr eading orerect in

262Breeding of Underutilized Fruit Crops 
nature with corky bark, depending upon genotype. Leaves are alternate and parippinate
with 69 pairs. The upper surface of leaves having dark glossy green where as lower
surface is relatively pale green in colour. Young leaf flushes are appearing in reddish
browncolourandturningtopalegreenat maturity.Terminalinflorescence(panicle)is 8
40 cmlong. Panicle emergence commences during from late December to late February
(Sritontipet al., 2013).Although,inflorescence canbeseenduringspring onnew shoots
which do not bear panicles. In a panicle as much as 80 fruits can be seen. The fruit
weight varies from 520 g. However, the commercial grade of longan rangesfrom 14
18 g. The skin of the fruit is tough and leathery which changes colour from greenish
yellowtoyellowishbrownat ripening.Tuberculesare flattenedandindistinctfromlitchi.
Thearilconstitutes6075%oftotalfruitweight.Thereisonlyone small,roundtoovoid,
reddish brown to black seed in each fruit.Aril can be easily detached from the seeds.
11. DIFFERENT SPECIES
Dimocarpus longan Lour. together with Litchi chinensis Sonn. are the most popular
memberoftheSapindaceaefamily,whichhasover2,000speciesand150genera(Menzel
and Simpson, 1991). The genus Dimocarpus is reported tocontain six major species of
trees and shrubs (Leenhouts, 1971, 1973). Out of which five speciesare foundin Asia
spreading from Sri Lanka and India to eastern Malaysia. This species are Dimocarpus
longan, Dimocarpus dentatus, Dimocarpus gardneri, Dimocarpus foveolatus, and
Dimocarpus fumatus from eastern Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India while the remaining
species,DimocarpusaustralianusisfoundtoexistsinQueensland,Australia(Leenhouts,
1978). Out of which, the most commercially cultivated species is Dimocarpus longan
where the taxon Dimocarpus longan spp. longan var. longan is commonly known as
the commercial longan (Choo, 2000).
The varietiesof Dimocarpus longan ssp. malesianusaremalesianus andechinatus.
Themalesianus varietyis nativetoSoutheastAsia(NorthernBorneo).Greatest diversity
ofthisvarietyisfoundinBorneowhere,almost3040racesareexisted(Leenhouts,1971;
VanWelzenetal.,1988).Thefruitsaresmoothtowarty.InMalaysia,fruitsofthistaxon
arecharacterized byglobosesmoothfruitwhichturnbrownwhenripe.The arilrecovery
is very low and hence, unsuitable for consumption. It is often referred as Euphoria
malasianuswhichiscommonlyknownas“matakuching”or“cat”seye.Thisformisalso
found in Borneo. One superior form having densely thick warty fruits with higher aril
recoveryisfoundinSarawak.Alltheseformscanberoughlygroupedinto 3types based
on their fruit characteristics.
11.1. Diffe rent forms on the Ba sis of Fr uit Charac ters
Isau:Fruitsareglobularandremaingreenincolourwhenripe.Treesaremainlyobserved
in river banks of Borneo valley.
Sau:It is also remain green whenripe. Fruit shape is slightlyoblong.Mostly found
in river banks of Borneo valley.

Longan (Di mocarp us longan Lo ur)263
Kakus: T his type fruits are globular and turn browna t ripening.It is mostly found
in Sarawak province in Borneo.
The variety echinatus can easily be distinguished from variety malesianus by the
presence of long spine like tubercles. The fruits of echinatus are somewhat resembles
as Rambhutan (Nephelium leppaceum).
11.2.1.Subspecieslongan
The subspecies longan is the most commonly cultivated taxon is Dimocarpus longan
ssp. longan var. longan. In Thailand, ther e are three distinct edible longan types within
the variety longan (Subhadrabandhu, 1990). First type: It is a large forest tree, small
fruits,verythinaril,possiblyofinterestforbreedingpurposes.Secondtype:Itisthenative
longan(‘lamyaikradook’orsmall‘lamyai’),growinginthenorthernpart ofThailand,an
erecttree,bearsmallfruits,largeseedsandrecommendedas a rootstockfor commercial
cultivars.Thirdtypes;Itisthecommerciallongan(‘lamyaikraloke’),producelargefruits
and small seeds.
The other three va rieties known to exist are 1) variety longepetiolulatus and 2) variety
obtusus and3) varietymagnifolius. Thethree varietiesar e found growingwild in China
(Huang,1999 cited in Choo, 2000).
11.2.2.Subspeciesmalesianus
This subspecies has a huge potential to develop into a commercial fruit variety as well
incrop improvementof commerciallongan. However,itspotentialis yetto beexploited.
The subspecies malesianus are fully adapted to the conditions of the equatorial zone of
unchangingheat,humidity,daylengthandother.Thesewerecontradictorytothecommercial
longan,adaptedonlytothesubtropicsandproducenoflowerinthetruetropics.Subspecies
malesianus consist of two varieties, viz., variety malesianus and variety echinatus.
11.2.2.1.Subspeciesmalesianusvar.malesianus
It is native to SoutheastAsia with thegreatest variationfound in Bor neo whereit might
bepossible todistinguish between 30to 40 localr aces (Leenhouts, 1971;Van Welzen et
al., 1988). The diversity of this subspecies in Sarawak in the Borneo Island has been
documentedbyWongandGan(1992)andWong(2000).Thefruitsareglobulartoslightly
oblongandsmoothtowarty.InPeninsularMalaysia,themostcommonformofthistaxon
istheonewithglobosesmoothfruits whichturnbrownwhenripe.Thisisthetrue‘mata
kuching’ or ‘cat’s eye’ which has often been identified as Euphoria malaiensis. It has
averythinarilandis hardlywortheating. ThisformalsoexistsinBorneoandSumatra.
The more superior forms are found in Sarawak, all with densely thick warty fruits and
greater aril recovery percentage. These forms can be roughly grouped into three types

264Breeding of Underutilized Fruit Crops 
based on the fruit characteristics: the ‘isau’ with fruits which are globular and remain
green when ripe; the ‘sau’ with fruits which are slightly oblong and also remain green
whenripe; andthe‘kakus’withglobularfruits whichturnbrown when ripe.Theleaves,
flowersandtree formsalso differ.The‘kakus’ ismorewidespreadinSarawak,while the
‘isau’ and ‘sau’ are mainly confined to the river banks of the Rajang river and to the
Bareo valley.
11.2.2.2.Subspeciesmalesianusvarietyechinatus
Itdiffersfromthevarietymalesianusinthatthefruitshave ratherlongspinesresembling
the‘rambutan’(Nepheliumlappaceum).ThisvarietyisfoundinSabahwherethe‘kakus’
also exists (Van Welzen et al., 1988). Dimocarpus longanvar.malesianus, the mata
kuching, is a subspecies of longa n that is better adapted to tropical conditions.
Thus the true tropical longan offers the greatest opportunity for selecting superior
materialandthusoffersanattractivepossibilityoflonganbecominga newfruitcropfor
the humid lowlands throughout the tropics.
11.3.RelatedSpecies
Beside litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.), other related fruits under the Sapindaceae family
includetherambutan(Nepheliumlappaceum),pulasan (Nepheliummutabile), mamonilla
(Melicoccus bijugatus) and taun or dawa (Pometia pinnata).
12. CROP IMPRO VEMENT METHODS
Traditional research technologiessuch as morphology, palynology, and isozymology, etc.
havebeenimproved inlongan.Themolecularmarkerssuch as RAPD,ISSR,andAFLP,
etc. have become maintechnologies inta xonomy andgeneticr elationship studies. Single
seedling selection has been developed into combination of multiple methods such as
seedlingselection,sportsselection,andsexualcrossing,andbiotechnologicalbreeding,etc.
ThelongangermplamsarebeingmaintainedatdifferentcentresinChina,Hawaii,Florida,
Australia, Indonesia, Israel andT hailand. The Na tional GermplasmRepository of China
wasestablishedin theFujianAcademyofAgriculturalSciencesduring1981wheresofar
202 cultivars have been maintained.
Although a wide va riability is known to exist, however, no breeding work has been
reportedinIndia.Cropimprovementinlonganhasbeencarriedoutmerethroughselection
among the best existing and openpollinated seedling in China, Florida (United States),
Taiwan, Thailand, Austr alia  and Vietnam. Selection is being carried out on the basis of
large fruit size, high edible portion, crisp flesh, good flavour and high sugar content. In
Thailand, longan industryis based on seedlings evolved fromcultivars introduced from
China (Watson, 1984). However, these selection cultivars are considered to be superior
over Chinese cultivars.

Longan (Di mocarp us longan Lo ur)265
12.1.Introduction
IntroductionoflongangermplasmintheUSwasinitiatedin1940sthroughtheimportation
of seeds from China. However, these seedling trees were generally unreliable in fruiting
anddifficulttopropagatebyairlayering,therefore,theyneverattainedcommercialsuccess
(CampbellandCampbell,2000).Thecultivar‘Kohala’wasintroducedfortheRareFruit
Council International, Inc. by William F. Whitmanin 1954 from Hawaii. The tree was
morereliableinitsbloomingandfruiting,lightandthinskinned, witha largefruitsize.
Inaddition,itiseasyto propagatethroughairlayering.Severaltrials andevaluationhas
beencarriedoutinThailandandSouthFloridafrom‘Kohala’,however,noselectionsever
proved to besuperiortotheoriginal‘Kohala’. Inthe regionlikeIndia,wherethegenetic
baseofthecommerciallonganindustryislimited,introductionsofsuperiorselectionsand
theselectionoflocalseedlingsmayenhancethecropimprovementprogramme(Campbell
andCampbell,2000).
12.2.Selection
Improvementof longanthroughselectionhavebeenlimiteddue to seedlingprogeniesare
extremely variable. Small fruit size found to be the dominant character and inherited
among the seedlingpr ogenies.Trees having largerfr uitsize and high a ril recovery yield
lowwithirregularityinbearing.
Aselectionprogrammewasinitiatedover30yearsagoinFujianprovince,Chinawith
an objective to select abortseeded longan cultivars. So far five promising strains with
abortseeded fruits has been identified and selected, viz., Minjiao No.1, Minjiao No.2,
MinjiaoNo.3,MinjiaoNo.4andMinjiaoNo.5(Huang etal.,2000).OutofwhichMinjiao
No.4 isthe mostpr omising due to its stable andhigher rateof seeda bortion, large fruit
size,thickandgoodqualityaril,and highyield.InGuangxiprovince ofChina,twoearly
seasonstrainsoflongan,viz.,‘EarlySeason1’and‘EarlySeason2’,werecomparedwith
‘Shixia’(DimocarpuslonganLour.cv.Shixia),anearlyseasoncultivarfortheirflowering
and fruiting characteristics. It was found that ‘Early Season 1’ and ‘Early Season 2’
bloomed two daysearlier than‘Shixia’. Fruits of ‘Early Season 1’ and ‘EarlySeason 2’
matured 14days and 10 days earlier than ‘Shixia’, respectively. Single fruit weight of
‘EarlySeason1’,‘EarlySeason2’and‘Shixia’ were11.05,10.8and9.8g, respectively.
TSSof‘EarlySeason1’and‘EarlySeason2’were19.3and19.2%,being2.7and2.8%
lower thanthatof‘Shixia’,respectively.Both strainsshowgoodpotentialas high quality
early season varieties (Pan et al., 2010).
12.3.Hybridization
AnartificialcrossinghadbeencarriedinChina,usingthreecrossingparents‘Fengliduo’,
‘Dawuyuan’and‘Shixia’suchas ‘Fengliduo’× ‘Dawuyuan’,‘Dawuyuan’×‘Fengliduo’
and‘Dawuyuan’×‘Shixia’ (Liuetal.,2010).ATotalof455hybridseeds wereobtained

266Breeding of Underutilized Fruit Crops 
and 438 of them germinated andgrew well. Further confirmedthrough RAPD analysis
that97%oftheresultedhybridsof‘Fengliduo×Dawuyuan’weretruehybrid.Therecord
showedthattheshortestjuvenilephaseofthe hybridswasonly2.5years,and thelongest
of themwas only3. 5 years, indicatedthat the juvenile phaseof longan is not very long. 
Selection for fruit quality from 143 fruiting hybrids, five outstanding individuals were
identified, viz.,  FD34, FD57, FD73, FD82 and FD97. Out of which FD97 was the best
asitmaturesinmidSeptemberwithhighyield,evenfruitshape,largefruitsize(average
weightis12.7g),yellowishandsemitransparentflesh,crispandtenderfleshtexture,high
SSC(23.2%)andfleshrecovery(66.7%). Thetraitsoffruitsize,SSCandfleshrecovery
of FD97 wereall better andmatured 510later than thoseof ‘Caopuzhong’, the famous
highquality and late season cultivar in Guangdong Province (Liuet al., 2010).
Longan has synchronous sexual phases duringthe flowering ofa singlepa nicle. The
first flowers to open contain anthers only (functionally male), followed by flowers with
staminodes and fertile pistils (functiona lly female), and finally flowers with a nthers and
rudimentary pistils(functionallymale)(McConchieet al.,1994).Therefore,thisassistin
control pollinationsince there is no need to emasculate the functionally female flowers
(McConchie et al., 1994).
12.3.1.Intergenerichybridization
Intergeneric hybrids have been reported to occurnatur ally inC hina between longan and
litchi,referredtoaslungly(Groff,1921citedinMcConchie etal.,1994).Sincebothlitchi
and longanhave characters of economic important that are not exist in each other. For
instant, litchi fr uit are genera lly larger  and more colourful tha n longan, while longan is
resistant to erinose mite (Aceria litchi Keifer) which is a debilitating pest of litchi
(McConchie etal., 1994). The evolvingof intergener ic hybrids will reveal thelinkageof
desirable characters for further improvement of longan.
Thefirstcaseofsuccessfulintergenerichybridsbetweenlycheeandlonganwasreported
usingcommercialcultivarsinAustralia(McConchieetal.1994). Successfulfruitingand
seed setting were obtained when longan wa s the pollen plant. But, reciprocal cross (i.e.
whenlitchiservesasapollenparent)yieldsaveryfewnumberoffruits.They studied the
breedingbarrierbetweencommerciallitchiandlonganadoptingreciprocalpollination.Isozyme
analysisusingphosphoglucoseisomeraserevealedthathybridprogenyonlydevelopedwhen
litchiwasthematernalparent.Themorphologicalcharactersofthehybridsweresimilarto
the ma ternal parent except leaves were smaller. Crosses between female longan flowers
andmalelycheeflowersresultedinnofertileseeds.Someworkerbelievedthat“Lizhiben”
and“LizhiLongyan”werethehybridprogenyoflonganandlitchi.However,RAPDtechnique
disagreedtheabovestatement(TongXianget al.,1998).‘LongLi’isprobablya natural
hybridofthelonganandlitchigenus(Jia, etal.,2011).
Somatichybridization inhigher plants has come into focus since methods havebeen
establishedforprotoplastfusionanduptakeofforeignDNAandorganellesbyprotoplasts.

Longan (Di mocarp us longan Lo ur)267
Thismethodeliminatesthegeneticbarrierinremote hybridization.Novelvariantcouldbe
possible to developusing thismethod.Plantprotoplastcultureandsomatichybridization
in longanhave been paid attention first in China (Xu and Chen, 1996). Some somatic
hybridsbetweendifferentlongancultivars,‘Do’x ‘BaiDam’,‘Do’x‘BiaoKhiao’,’Biao
Khiao’ x‘Bai Dam’ have been reported in recent past (Sitthiphrom et al., 2005).
ThesecondcaseofintergenerichybridscamefromSouthChinaAgriculturalUniversity
(Zhaoetal.,2008).Female‘Shixia’and ‘Zaoshu’longanflowerswerecrossedwithmale
‘Ziniangxi’ lychee flowers. In a third cross, female ‘Ziniangxi’ lychee flowers were
crossed with male ‘Shixia’ longan flowers. Over one hundred hybr id seedlings from the
threecrosseswereobtained.TheintergenericoriginoftheF1offspringwasverifiedusing
paternal specific markers and SRAPPCR.
F
1 population of ‘Fengliduo×Da wuyuan’ was developed by crossing between a high
qualitycv.‘Fengliduo’andalargefruitsizecv.‘Dawuyuan’.Amoleculargeneticlinkage
mapwasalsoconstructedusingRAPD,ISSR,SRAPandAFLPmolecularmarkersin94
F
1 individuals selectedfrom thehybrid populationofFengliduo×Dawuyuan’(Guoet al.,
2011).Themolecularlinkagemapof‘Fengliduo’fellinto20linkagegroups,whichcontained
184markers,withanaverageintervalof6.72cMandcoveredatotaldistanceof1102.8
cM; while the molecular linka ge map of ‘Dawuyuan’ fell into 19 linkage groups, which
contained243 markers, withanaverageintervalof6.02cMandcoveredatotal distance
of 1348.3 cM
Recently, it was proved by VanBuron et al. (2011) that longli is not a Hybrid of
Longan and Lychee as Revealed by Genome Size Analysis and Trichome Morphology.
The genome sizesfor lychee (554 Mb), longan (444 Mb), ‘Malesianus’ (404 Mb), and
rambutan(339Mb)aredistinctiveandinanarrowrange.‘Malesianus’hasagenome 9%
smallerthanthatoflonganand27%smallerthanthatoflychee.Itislikelyaspeciesthat
evolved independently in northern Borneo island, and could be classified as a species,
Dimocarpusmalesianus, not a subspecies oflongan aspr esently st ated. Flow cytometry
revealed a 50% variation in genome sizes among longli varieties, with genome sizes
ranging from 450 to 678 Mb, beyond the range between longan and lychee. T hegenome
sizevar iation and distinct leaf hair morphology suggest that longliis not an intergener ic
hybrid,a nd it is likely a separate genus evolved independently. The tested cultivars with
distinctive genome sizes within D. confinis could be classified as separate species.
12.4.Biotechnology
Genetic improvement in longan through modern high technologies has achieved great
progressintermsofitscontributiontoproductionparticularlyinChina(Laietal.,2000).
During1980sisozymeswereused firsttoidentifylongancultivars(ChenandKe,1989).
Molecular markers are helpful in providing information on genetic diversity and
authenticationofcultivarsandthiscouldbeusedinfuturebreedingprogrammes.RAPDs
werethefirstPCRbasedmarkerdevelopedforlongan,helpingtoidentifygeneticdistance

268Breeding of Underutilized Fruit Crops 
indifferentgroupsoflongancultivars(ChenandLiu,2001;Zhongetal.,2007 andYang
etal.,2013).GermplasmsoflonganfromTaiwan,China,andMalaysiawerecharacterized
byusingthisRAPDmarker(Yonemotoetal.,2006).Recently,highannealingtemperature
RAPD (HATRAPD) technique has been popular in characterization of longan cultivars
(Sitthiphrometal.,2005).Thisisacosteffectiveandeasymethodology thatcanbeused
toidentifyplantvarieties,aswellastoadvancetheknowledgeofbiodiversityinpreviously
uncharacterizedspecies(Wangspaetal.,2005).ApplicationofAFLPshasalsobeentried
outin longancultivars(Yietal.,2003;Ganjunetal.,2003andLinet al., 2005). ISSR
markershavealsobeendevelopedandusedforcultivaridentificationanddiversityanalysis
(Hong 2007; Chianget al., 2010 and Mariana, 2013). Transgenic plants in longa nhave
been obtainedbyusingAgrobacteriummediatedgenetic transformation technology(Zeng
et al., 2000).
Thedifferentiallyexpressedgenes betweennormaland abortiveseedsoflonganwere
identified by cDNAAFLP technology. The transcriptderived fragments (TDFs) when
compared with the database using BLAST, it was foundthat three TDFs similarity with
Ca
2+
ATPase, cellulase, and plastidic ATP/ADP transporter, respectively, whose up
regulation or downregulation expression might influence several important metabolic
pathways in developingseeds and led to seed abortion (Xi et al., 2011).
RealtimereversetranscriptasePCRisapowerfultooltoinvestigaterelevantchanges
ingeneexpressionduringplant somaticembryogenesis.Thistechnologyhasbeenapplied
duringsomaticembryogenesisinlongan(LinandLai,2010).ProfilingofmiRNAsduring
somatic embryogenesis of longan has also been constructed which may contribute
knowledge towards plant cell differentiation and zygotic embryo development in longan
(Lin and Lai, 2013). Recently, longan embryogenic callus (EC) cDNA library has been
sequencedusinganIlluminaHiSeq2000systemwhichmayprovideinformationregarding
molecular resources for longan functional genomics (Lai and Lin,  2013).
InitiallyIsozymeswere used to identifylongan cultivars in the1980s (Chen and Ke,
1989).Later,itwasfindthatthismethodwasnotveryeffectiveindistinguishingcultivars.
This lead to developing of PCRbased markers, among which RAPDs were the first
PCRbasedmarkerdevelopedforlongan,allowing theseparationofdifferentgroupsand
theidentificationofcultivars(ChenandLiu2001;Linetal.2005;Zhongetal.,2007).
ThreedifferentgroupsoflongangermplasmfromTaiwan,China,andMalaysiahavebeen
distinguished using RAPD markers (Yonemoto et al., 2006). Further, Yi et al. (2003)
distinguished11clustersamongthe46cultivarsstudiedusingAFLP.Cultivarsidentification
and diversity analysis has also been carried out with the help of ISSR markers (Hong,
2007). Recently, 384 marker s had been developeda nd verified for thisspecies using the
SSRenrichmentmethod incombinationwithpyrosequencing(Techen etal.,2010).Yang
etal.(2013)identifiedfourclonesLY21,LY47,LY48andLY52usingspecificRAPD
bands. Furthermore, they identified and characterized the difference between D. longan
and D. confinis employed SCAR ma rker s anddetected thespecific bands with expected
sizesin D. Longan but not inD. C onfinis, LY21, LY47 and LY52, respectively. This

Longan (Di mocarp us longan Lo ur)269
indicateddeveloped SCAR markers could bevery useful as a specificD.longan variety
authentication.
13. CULTIVARS DEVELOPED
There are several cultivars of longan in Southeast Asia; however, the diversity among
cultivars is lower in other regions. The following are the characteristics of the most
commonly cultiva ted varieties in the world (Choo, 2000).
13.1.Chuliang
ThiscultivarisnativetoGuangdongProvinceinChinaofsuperiorqualitylongancultivar.
Fruitsize islarge(12.016.5g).Arilconstitutesabout6974%oftotalfruitweight.The
thick,firmandfragrantarilissweetintastewithTSScontent2023 %.Itissuitable for
processing. Attractive golden yellow colour is formed in aril after drying which fetches
good marketprice.Thecultivarproduceshighandstableyield.Thecultivarwasawarded
the Gold Prize at First ChinaAgricultural Exposition during 1992 and won the title of
“FamousBrandProduce”attheThirdChinaAgriculturalExpositionduring1997andalso
at theChinaInternationalAgriculturalExposition,1999(Liuet al., 2000).
13.2.Shixia
It is another popular cultivar in Guangdong Province, China. It has a long history of
cultivationabout140years.Fruitsaresmall,butcrisp,thickandsweetarilwithTSS(19
20%) and with good flavour. It is the best cultivar for consuming as fresh fruit and
produces heavy crops regularly on unusually large panicles (Menzel et al., 1990). It is
generallyconsumedasfresh.Thesmall fruitshavesweetarilwithTSScontent1920%.
Thiscultivarissuitablefor highdensityplanting
13.3.Wuyuan
‘Wuyuan’(syn.BlackRound)isanotherimportantlongancultivarinGuangdongprovince,
China.Fruitsizeismedium (15 g)withlargeseed, softandjuicyarilofaveragequality
withTSS (1415%). Trees are high yielding. The fruit is suitable for eating fresh and
dried.Seedlingsarevigorousandconsequentlyuseful as rootstock(Menzeletal.,1990).
13.4.Fuyan
It is an important longancultivar in Fujian province, China, occupied about 90% of the
area under the province. Fruit is large sized (18 g) with thin skin, small seed and thick
crisparil.Yieldis high.Itis bestused forcanningsince thefruits havea lowTSS value
of 1516 percent (Menzel et al., 1990).

270Breeding of Underutilized Fruit Crops 
13.5.Wulongling
This is another ma jor  cultivar in Fujian province, China. It history of cultivation ca n be
traceduptomorethan150years.Fruitismedium insize(15g)withthickskin,goodaril
recovery and sweet flavour, TSS (2123%) (Menzel et al.,1990). It has has a distinct
alternate bea ring cropping.
13.6.Daw
‘Daw is the most popular longan cultivar of Thailand, accounted for about 73% of the
totalcultivationareaunderlonganinthecountry.Thename‘Daw’meaningearly,indicating
it earlymatur ing. Flower ing takesplace in December and fruit harvesting occurs in late
June to early July. Thus fruits fetch high premium from foreign mar kets. It is the most
regularbearerandhas noirregularbearingproblem.Inaddition,the cultivarisrelatively
free from infection by witches’ broom disease (Subhadrabandhu and Yapwattanaphun,
2000).Thearilcontentislowduetobigseed, thoughhavealargefruitsize. Thearilis
sweet andwithgood flavour,israthertoughand notas crispywhencomparedtothearil
of ‘Biew Khiew’. Fruits do not keep well on the tree and the seed may even germinate
withinthefruit.Thefruitscanbeconsumed freshorprocessed.Thiscultivarisnormally
grownintheNorthernprovinceswherethecoolwintermonthsarenecessaryforinduction
of flowering.
13.7.Chompoo
ItisanotherThaicultivar.Itisa midmaturingcultivar.Fruit ismedium size,ovalshape
withgreenishlightbrownskin.Arilisverysweetandslightpink,hencenamed‘Champoo’.
Aril content is high due to small seeds with high TSS (2122%) and pleasanta roma. It
is irregular bearer.
13.8.BiewKhiew
A latematuring cultivar of Thailand. Fruit isis round, large,brownishgreen colour and
high a rilcontent.Aril iscrispy, plea santscenteda nd sweet (TSS, 22%) andof excellent
quality.Peel isthickand,therefore,advantageoustolongershelflife.It exhibitsirregular
bearing and is susceptible to witches’ broom disorder.
13.9.Haew
It is a Thaicultivar whichis a latematuringcultivar. It flowersin late January to early
February.FruitsmatureduringmidtolateAugust.Fruitismediumtolargesize,smallseed
andaverage aril content.Arilisfirmandofgoodeatingquality. Peelis rough,thickand
therefore, advantageousfor longer shelflife. ‘Haew’ flowers easily and of high yielding.
However, it is an alternate bearer. The fruits are suitable for canning. It required cool
winter for flowering induction.

Longan (Di mocarp us longan Lo ur)271
13.10.Dang
Thefruits areharvestedduringmidJulyto earlyAugustandtherefore,classifiedinMid
maturingcultivar ofThailand. Fruitis largewith reddish brown rind.Aril content islow
duetolargeseedsize.Thefruitqualitydeclineswithmaturity.Yieldandqualityaresimilar
to ‘Daw’. ‘Dang’ is susceptible to water logging.
13.11.Baidum
Thisisalsoamidmaturingregularbearingcultivarfrom Thailand.Harvesting offruitsis
carried outduring the month of MidJulyear lyAugust. Fruit is medium size with rough
rind,smallseedandmoderatearilcontent.Arilisofacceptableflavour,crispy,verysweet
andis brightwhiteincolour.Thiscultivaris a regularbearer andcanwithstanddrought
quite well.
13.12.Talub Nak
This isa nearlymaturing cultivar whose fruits are harvested in mid tolate July. F ruitis
mediumsized,withsmallseedandhigharilcontent.Arilisbrightwhiteincolourandless
sweet .
13.13.Phetsakon
Itisanearlymaturingregularcultivaroflongan.DifferingtoothervarietiesofThailand,
itisnotrequiredcoolerclimateforinductionofflowering.Thiscultivarismainlygrowing
in central region of the countryin Samut sakhon andRatchaburi provinces.
13.14.Fengko
ItisthemostpopularcultivaroflonganinTaiwanProvinceofChina,occupiedabout98%
ofthelonganareaundercultivation.It isa good yielder. Fruitisevenly largesized.Fruit
rindisyellowishbrownwhichturnsbrighteratlowtemperature.Arilisverysweet, TSS
content20%.Fruitsattachedfirmlywiththestalk,noteasilydetachedwhichisconsidered
as a good quality.
13.15.Chingko
Another famous cultivar of longan in theTaiwan Province of China. Fruit rind is light
brownish green on ripened; however, fruit quality is easily affected by environmental
conditions.As comparedto ‘Fengko’,fruitsareeasilydetachedfromthestalkandarilis
less sweet. Therefore, it is considered to be of a poor quality fruit.

272Breeding of Underutilized Fruit Crops 
13.16.Longnhan
A popular cultivar of longa n in the Mekong delta, Vietnam. It is a truly tropical longan
which can yield two crops per year.
13.17.Tieuhue
‘Tieuhue’ is also a true tropical longan which can yield three crops in two years in the
Mekong delta of Vietnam.
13.18.Longhungyen
It isa popular cultivar oflonganin theNorthern regionof Vietnam.The cultiva r thrives
only in subtropical conditions and produces only one crop per year.
13.19.Kohala
It is popular in Florida, USA. Fruits are large size, high aril content with sweet spicy
flavoured aril.P runingof panicle(2/3 of thelength)in orderto increasethe fruit size is
a common practice in this cultivar.
13.20.Egami
ThiscultivarwasoriginatedinHawaii.KonaNo.1 wasselected fromanopenpollinated
seedlingofunknownoriginatKonaResearchStation,CollegeofTropicalAgricultureand
Human Resources (CTAHR). This Kona No. 1 was named “Egami”in honour of Mr.
YosotoEgami.Thepaniclesbearfruitsinlargeclusterwithexcellentfruitsettingpercentage
(more than 50 fruits/panicle). Flower ing starts in late February and continue to the end
of March. Fruits are ripened duringAugust to ear ly October. The arilconstitutes 7075
%oftotalfruitweightwithTSScontent1822percent.Thiscultivarissuitablefordrying
(Ito et al., 2000).
BesidetheabovesaidvarietiessomevarietieslikeLongnhan,TieuhueandLonghungyen
are also popular in Vietnam.
14. FUTURE PROSPECTS
Longancanbeaprofitablecropasthereis a highdemandfor longan.Therearenumber
ofbreedinglimitationswhichneedtobetakenintoconsideration.Forinstant,breedingfor
long shelflifeas thefruitishighlyperishable,regularfloweringandfruiting,dwarf tree,
large fruitsize and early or late maturity through exploitation of the natural variability
existsin longan.

Longan (Di mocarp us longan Lo ur)273
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LONGAN (Dimocarpus longan Lour)
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