Lychee

Certain ingredients are capable, with a single breath, of transporting the senses. They are incorporated into the finest fragrances with the aim of projecting the wearer to the other side of the planet in a matter of seconds. Also, among the many fruits present in the perfume market, Lychee is without question one of the most exotic.

Lychee, the exotic fruit par excellence

Lychee is a fruit tree of the sapindaceae family, producing an edible fruit bearing the same name. It is a tropical tree whose name comes from the Cantonese “lai zi”. As this suggests, it is a tree native to China. In that country, its cultivation is attested to for more than 2100 years. Since then, however, it has been introduced to many other tropical regions such as India, Vietnam, Madagascar, Thailand, Hawaii, the Comoros, Mauritius, Reunion Island, New Caledonia and even Brazil. To be more precise, Lychee was imported to Reunion Island in 1764 by Pierre Poivre and Joseph François Charpentier. This is how it entered French culture. This medium-sized tree reaches a height of 15 to 20 m and has a fairly round silhouette. It is highly regarded for its fruit, which forms a small sphere 3 to 4 cm in diameter. This is surrounded by a tough, scaly-looking husk that is pink to red in color. The more the color tends toward red, the riper the fruit. The fruit grows in clusters. Inside, the fruit contains a fleshy, white, fragrant, juicy part rich in vitamin C. At the center of this flesh lies the Lychee seed, brown in color and oblong in shape, resembling a small elongated chestnut. However, this seed must not be eaten.

Extracting the scent of Lychee and translating it into perfume

The Lychee note is mainly used in feminine fragrances. It most often accompanies a floral bouquet, giving it more cheerfulness and exoticism. However, as with many fruits, it is not possible to extract an essential oil directly from its pulp. Thus, the flavor of Lychee is recreated in the laboratory. It is notably built using cis-rose oxide, a molecule with the same scent that occurs naturally in rose or geranium.

Today, Lychee enhances many highly delicate and feminine fragrances. It gives them a very elegant and joyful aura, lending them the image of an alluring and seductive woman. As such, it is found in Burberry Summer as well as in the Eau de Parfum by Chloé.