In this article
- Lychee fiber by the cup and by the gram
- Lychee fruit nutrition beyond the fiber
- Dried lychees, canned lychees and lychee candy
- How lychee compares with other Asian fruit and everyday picks
- Lychees, digestion and your daily fiber total
- Turning a lychee snack into a fiber snack
- Choosing, peeling and storing lychees
- A quick lychee fiber checklist
- One swap to try with your next bag of lychees
- Lychee fiber: what people want to know
- Sources
One cup of peeled lychees delivers 136 milligrams of vitamin C, about one and a half times the Daily Value. The lychee fiber in that same cup comes to just 2.5 grams, or 9% of what you need in a day.
That gap sums up the fruit. Lychees are a vitamin C powerhouse with a light fiber load, and knowing that helps you decide how to fit them into a high fiber diet.
Lychee fiber by the cup and by the gram
USDA FoodData Central lists raw litchis (the botanical spelling) with these values once the shell and seed are removed:
| Amount (peeled, seeded) | Calories | Fiber | % Daily Value | Total sugars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 grams | 66 | 1.3 g | 5% | 15.2 g |
| 1/2 cup (95 g) | 63 | 1.2 g | 4% | 14.4 g |
| 1 cup (190 g) | 125 | 2.5 g | 9% | 28.9 g |
The FDA sets the fiber Daily Value at 28 grams. A cup of lychees covers less than a tenth of that while bringing close to 29 grams of natural sugar.
Put another way, lychees carry roughly 12 grams of sugar for every gram of fiber. Pears and apples, by contrast, give far more fiber for their sugar, as the comparison table further down shows.
Not sure what your own daily target should be? Our fiber calculator works it out from a few quick details about you.
Lychee fruit nutrition beyond the fiber
Where lychees shine is the micronutrient column. A one cup serving (190 grams) supplies, according to USDA:
- Vitamin C: 136 mg, about 151% of the 90 mg Daily Value.
- Copper: 0.28 mg, about 31% of the 0.9 mg Daily Value.
- Vitamin B6: 0.19 mg, about 11% of the Daily Value.
- Potassium: 325 mg, about 7% of the Daily Value.
- Protein: 1.6 grams, with under a gram of fat.
Copper is a trace mineral measured in fractions of a milligram. Getting nearly a third of its Daily Value from one cup of fruit is a bigger contribution than the fruit makes to your fiber.
The fruit is also mostly water, at about 82% by weight. A cup holds roughly 155 grams of water, which explains why lychees taste so juicy and why their calorie count stays near 125.
Dried lychees, canned lychees and lychee candy
Lychees show up in several forms beyond the fresh fruit in its bumpy red shell. Their fiber and sugar shift a lot depending on which one you pick.
| Form and serving | Calories | Fiber | Sugars | Fiber per 100 calories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh, 1 cup (190 g) | 125 | 2.5 g | 28.9 g | 2.0 g |
| Dried, 1 ounce (28 g), calculated | 78 | 1.3 g | 18.5 g | 1.7 g |
| Dried, 100 g | 277 | 4.6 g | 66.1 g | 1.7 g |
| Canned in syrup, Dynasty, 2/3 cup (140 g) | 110 | not declared | 25 g | not available |
| Lychee candy pieces, Ktm, 40 g | 140 | 0 g | 24 g (all added) | 0 g |
Note: the one ounce dried values are calculated from USDA’s per 100 gram figures. The branded rows come from manufacturer records in USDA’s branded database, so the label on your package may differ.
Dried lychees pack 4.6 grams of fiber per 100 grams, more than three times the fresh fruit by weight. Calories and sugar climb even faster, though, so the fiber you get for each calorie actually slips from 2.0 to about 1.7 grams.
Canned lychees in syrup list lychees, water and sugar on the ingredient list. Since the label doesn’t declare fiber, fresh fruit is the safer choice if you’re counting grams.
Myth vs fact: lychee flavored snacks
Myth: A lychee flavored candy, gummy or drink gives you some of the fruit’s goodness.
Fact: The Ktm lychee candy pieces list sugar and corn syrup first, with 0 grams of fiber and 24 grams of added sugar per serving. Flavor isn’t fruit, and Harvard’s Nutrition Source advises eating whole fruits rather than drinking fruit juices.
How lychee compares with other Asian fruit and everyday picks
Lychees sit near the bottom of the fiber chart among fruits you might find in the same produce aisle. Using Dietary Guidelines, FDA and USDA values:
| Fruit and serving | Calories | Fiber | Fiber per 100 calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asian pear, 1 medium | 75 | 6.5 g | 8.7 g |
| Persimmon, 1 fruit | 118 | 6.0 g | 5.1 g |
| Orange, 1 medium | 73 | 3.7 g | 5.1 g |
| Kiwifruit, 1 cup | 110 | 5.4 g | 4.9 g |
| Mandarin orange, 1 cup | 103 | 3.5 g | 3.4 g |
| Banana, 1 medium | 112 | 3.2 g | 2.9 g |
| Lychees, 1 cup | 125 | 2.5 g | 2.0 g |
| Grapes, 3/4 cup | 90 | 1 g | 1.1 g |
If you want an Asian fruit with serious fiber, the Asian pear is the standout, giving more than four times the fiber per calorie of lychees. Persimmon and kiwifruit also land well ahead.
Lychees beat grapes, a fruit they resemble in size and sweetness. Swapping a bunch of grapes for a cup of lychees nearly doubles the fiber for each calorie and adds a big vitamin C boost.
Lychees, digestion and your daily fiber total
Fiber helps keep bowel movements regular, and Cleveland Clinic suggests aiming for 18 to 30 grams a day along with extra glasses of water when constipation is a concern. A cup of lychees contributes 2.5 grams toward that range.
That small amount makes lychees an easy fruit to add without a sudden jump in fiber. On their own, though, they won’t move your daily total very far.
Harvard’s Nutrition Source recommends raising fiber gradually and drinking plenty of fluids along the way. Lychees fit that approach as a light, watery fruit you can pair with denser fiber foods.
Where a cup of lychees fits in a 28 gram day
A full day of fiber is very doable with lychees on the menu, as long as other foods carry the heavy share. One sample day using Dietary Guidelines portions looks like this:
- Breakfast: chia pudding made with 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, about 4.1 grams.
- Lunch: half a cup of cooked lentils in a soup or salad, about 7.8 grams.
- Snack: one medium Asian pear, about 6.5 grams.
- Dinner: half a cup of black beans with rice and vegetables, about 7.5 grams.
- Dessert: one cup of fresh lychees, about 2.5 grams.
That adds up to roughly 28.4 grams, right at the Daily Value. The lychees supply less than a tenth of the total, but they bring most of the day’s vitamin C.
If digestion is your main focus, our gut health guides walk through the eating habits that make the biggest difference week by week.
Turning a lychee snack into a fiber snack
Because lychees are light on fiber, the best move is to pair them with fruits or foods that carry more. A few combinations, based on Dietary Guidelines portions:
- Lychees plus raspberries: half a cup of lychees (1.2 g) with half a cup of raspberries (about 4 g) gives roughly 5 grams of fiber.
- Lychees plus Asian pear: a cup of lychees with one medium Asian pear reaches about 9 grams.
- Lychees plus kiwifruit: half a cup of lychees with a cup of kiwifruit gives about 6.6 grams.
- Lychees in a chia pudding: one tablespoon of chia seeds adds about 4.1 grams to any lychee topping.
Each of those combinations multiplies the fiber of lychees alone by three or more. The lychee still brings the floral sweetness, and the partner brings the fiber.
Looking for fruit salads, puddings and smoothies built around tropical flavors? Our recipe eBooks are full of easy high fiber ideas.
Choosing, peeling and storing lychees
Fresh lychees have a rough shell that turns from bright red to brown as the fruit ages. Pick fruit that feels firm and heavy for its size, with shells that still show plenty of red.
To eat one, press your thumbnail into the shell near the stem and peel it away. Bite or slice the white flesh off the large brown seed, and discard both the shell and the seed.
Lychees keep best in a sealed bag in the refrigerator and are at their sweetest within a few days. Peeled, seeded fruit also freezes well for smoothies and chilled desserts.
A quick lychee fiber checklist
- Count about 2.5 grams of fiber per cup of peeled fresh lychees.
- Treat dried lychees as a sweet extra, since sugar rises faster than fiber.
- Check canned lychee labels, because many don’t declare fiber at all.
- Skip lychee candy if fiber is your goal, since the product we checked lists 0 grams.
- Pair lychees with raspberries, Asian pear, kiwifruit or chia to multiply the fiber.
- Enjoy the vitamin C bonus, at about 151% of the Daily Value per cup.
One swap to try with your next bag of lychees
The next time you buy lychees, buy a box of raspberries too and serve them together in the same bowl. Half a cup of each brings about 5 grams of fiber for roughly 95 calories, four times the fiber of lychees alone.
That one change turns a sweet, low fiber treat into a snack that covers close to a fifth of your daily fiber target. You keep everything you love about lychees and gain the fiber they lack.
Lychee fiber: what people want to know
Are lychees high in fiber?
No. A cup of peeled lychees has about 2.5 grams of fiber, roughly 9% of the 28 gram Daily Value.
How many calories are in a cup of lychees?
A cup of fresh lychees (190 grams) has about 125 calories, along with 28.9 grams of natural sugar.
Do dried lychees have more fiber?
Yes, by weight. Dried lychees have 4.6 grams of fiber per 100 grams compared with 1.3 grams in fresh, but they also have 277 calories and 66 grams of sugar per 100 grams.
Are lychees good for digestion?
They’re a gentle fruit that’s about 82% water, but their fiber is modest. Pair them with higher fiber foods like raspberries or chia seeds if regularity is your goal.
Is lychee a good source of vitamin C?
Yes. One cup supplies about 136 mg of vitamin C, about 151% of the Daily Value.
Which Asian fruit has the most fiber?
Among the fruits in our comparison, a medium Asian pear gives about 6.5 grams of fiber for 75 calories. Persimmon follows with about 6 grams per fruit.
Do canned lychees have fiber?
Some canned lychee labels don’t declare fiber at all, and the cans we checked list sugar as an added ingredient. Fresh lychees give you the clearer fiber count, at about 2.5 grams per cup.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. “Litchis, raw (169086); Litchis, dried (169087); Branded Foods: Dynasty Lychees (2024506); Ktm Lychee Pieces (2541768).” FoodData Central. 2017 to 2026. fdc.nal.usda.gov
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels.” 2024. www.fda.gov
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Raw Fruits Poster (Text Version / Accessible Version).” 2023. www.fda.gov
- U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Food Sources of Dietary Fiber.” Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020 to 2025. www.dietaryguidelines.gov
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Fiber.” The Nutrition Source. 2022. nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu
- Cleveland Clinic. “Constipation.” 2023. my.clevelandclinic.org
