The fruit, about 3 cm in diameter, is round, wrapped in a firm, thin and fragile light yellow-brown to reddish-brown skin. The flesh inside is glassy white to yellowish (even reddish in some species), sweet, juicy and aromatic with a slightly salty taste. The inedible dark seed is small, round and hard. The fruit is similar to lychee, but less sweet. At room temperature, it lasts for several days, thanks to the harder skin it is relatively resistant to bruises. The pulp can also be frozen.

It is most often eaten fresh, in China it is mostly used canned or dried. In its fresh or dried state, it is often added to East Asian dessert soups, desserts and sweet & sour dishes. The fruits are also preserved in a sweet brine. Dried longan, unlike fresh fruit, has a dark brown to black color.

The pulp with a translucent seed resembles an eyeball with an iris, hence the name dragon eye – dragon’s eye. Longan is a tropical fruit native to China and the former Indochina (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Taiwan). Due to its resemblance to lychee, it is often called the “little brother of lychee” or “lychee slave”. In oriental medicine, it is considered a remedy that has a calming effect on the stomach and can act as an antidote for poisoning. The seed is used as a soap.