We use this beautiful fruit in our Beauty Blend - did you know it's a part of the Chinese pharmacopeia?
Known as Long Yan Rou or the flesh of Dragon’s Eye, longan could help weight loss and keep people young according to 'Shen Nong's Herbal Classic,' and it's a well known blood tonic, especially in cases of deficiency in women (irregular menstruation). Longan is sweet in taste and warming, and it goes to the meridians of heart, kidney, liver and spleen. Its fundamental functions include tonifying heart and spleen, replenishing qi and blood, and facilitating a peaceful calm state of mind. The Chinese Medicine Research Institute in Osaka, Japan, conducted an anti-cancer drug trial, in which more than 800 kinds of natural foods and medicines were tested for their anti-cancer benefits. The water extracts of longan (which we use) were found to have more than a 90 percent inhibition rate on cervical cancer
Longan grows on a big tree and the fruits are harvested in summer - the skin and seeds are removed and the flesh is sun-dried. With the longan season so short in Oz, and fresh fruit so rare (the bats get them! :), we're lucky we can have this beautifying fruit every day in our Beauty Blend!