Fresh lychee is one of the most vitamin C-rich fruits you can eat — a 100 g serving of peeled raw lychee provides roughly 71.5 mg of vitamin C, which is about 79% of the recommended Daily Value of 90 mg. This calculator converts your lychee portion into grams and applies the correct vitamin C density for the form you choose, so you can see exactly how much vitamin C you're getting from fresh, canned, or dried lychee.
Whether you're tracking micronutrients, planning a vitamin C-boosting snack, or comparing canned versus fresh fruit, this tool gives you a clear answer in seconds. You can enter lychee in grams, ounces, cups, or whole peeled fruits, and the result panel shows the vitamin C amount, mg per 100 g, and percentage of your daily needs. It's a handy companion for nutrition databases and food journals.
Use the quick preset buttons to jump straight to common portions, then adjust the amount to match your bowl, breakfast, or recipe.
🧮 Lychee Vitamin C Calculator
Estimate vitamin C from fresh, canned, or dried lychee.
Why Lychee Vitamin C Matters
Vitamin C is an essential water-soluble antioxidant that supports immune function, collagen formation, iron absorption, and skin health. Lychee stands out among tropical fruits because a 100 g portion of fresh peeled lychee contains about 71.5 mg of vitamin C, which is roughly 79% of the Daily Value set at 90 mg for adults. The edible white aril is the vitamin C-rich part, so peeled lychee retains nearly all of the nutrient content.
For a complete macronutrient and calorie breakdown of lychee, pair this vitamin C result with the lychee nutrition calculator.
How the Calculation Works
The calculator applies a simple density formula:
Vitamin C (mg) = weight in grams ÷ 100 × vitamin C per 100 g
First, your chosen unit is converted into grams of edible lychee. The conversion factors are 1 ounce = 28.35 g, 1 cup of fresh lychee = 190 g, and 1 peeled whole lychee = 10 g as an approximate average. Next, the gram weight is multiplied by the selected vitamin C density: 71.5 mg/100 g for fresh raw lychee, 4.5 mg/100 g for canned drained lychee, and 20.5 mg/100 g for dried lychee. Finally, the vitamin C result is divided by the 90 mg Daily Value and multiplied by 100 to show the percentage of your daily needs.
The result panel reports the absolute vitamin C in milligrams, the concentration per 100 g, and the Daily Value percentage, followed by a short step showing exactly how the number was derived. This makes it easy to check the math or adapt the result to a different portion size.
Reference: Vitamin C in Lychee Products
| Lychee form | Vitamin C per 100 g | Common serving | Vitamin C per serving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh raw lychee (peeled) | 71.5 mg | 1 cup (190 g) | about 136 mg |
| Canned lychee, drained | 4.5 mg | 1/2 cup (100 g) | about 4.5 mg |
| Dried lychee | 20.5 mg | 30 g handful | about 6.2 mg |
Fresh lychee values are well established in food composition databases. Canned values vary by brand, syrup, and whether the fruit is drained, while drying degrades vitamin C through heat and air exposure. Treat these numbers as helpful planning estimates rather than precise lab results.
Worked Examples
Example 1: Fresh lychee snack. You eat 12 peeled lychees. If each weighs about 10 g, the edible portion is 120 g. The calculation is 120 ÷ 100 × 71.5 = 85.8 mg, which is 95% of the 90 mg Daily Value.
Example 2: Canned lychee dessert. A 150 g drained serving of canned lychee gives 150 ÷ 100 × 4.5 = 6.8 mg, or about 8% of the Daily Value. This large drop illustrates how much vitamin C can be lost during canning and storage.
Example 3: Dried lychee in trail mix. A 40 g portion of dried lychee provides 40 ÷ 100 × 20.5 = 8.2 mg, only 9% of the Daily Value. The drying process removes water and concentrates sugar, but it does not preserve vitamin C well.
Tips for Getting the Most Vitamin C
- Choose fresh lychee whenever possible; vitamin C starts degrading after harvest, so shorter storage means better nutrition.
- Keep lychees refrigerated and eat them within a few days of purchase for maximum freshness and nutrient content.
- If using canned lychee, drain and rinse it to reduce added sugar, but remember that the vitamin C level will still be much lower than fresh fruit.
- Pair lychee with iron-rich plant foods such as spinach, lentils, or tofu; the vitamin C helps improve non-heme iron absorption.
- Do not rely on dried lychee as a vitamin C source. A small handful provides only a few milligrams despite tasting very sweet.
- Weigh your fresh lychee if accuracy matters. Fruit sizes vary, and counting fruit alone can underestimate or overestimate the actual portion.
A portion of about 125 g of fresh lychee, roughly 12 to 13 average-sized peeled fruits, provides approximately 89 mg of vitamin C — enough to cover most of the adult Daily Value of 90 mg.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is fresh lychee higher in vitamin C than an orange?
On a per-100 g basis, fresh lychee at about 71.5 mg is higher than most orange varieties, which typically provide around 53 mg per 100 g. However, an average medium orange weighs more than 100 g, so a whole orange often contains more total vitamin C than a 100 g serving of lychee. Both are excellent choices.
Does cooking or canning destroy vitamin C in lychee?
Yes. Vitamin C is water-soluble and sensitive to heat, light, and air. Canning involves heating the fruit and storing it in liquid, which lowers the vitamin C content substantially. Drying also exposes the fruit to warm air for a long period, further reducing the amount of vitamin C remaining.
How many lychees should I eat to reach 100% of the Daily Value?
With an average of about 10 g of edible flesh per lychee, reaching the 90 mg Daily Value requires roughly 125 to 130 g of fresh lychee, or about 12 to 13 fruits. Weighing the peeled fruit will give you a more reliable estimate than counting, because individual lychees can vary from 8 to 15 g.
Can I use this calculator for longan or rambutan?
Longan and rambutan are close cousins of lychee, but their vitamin C concentrations are different. This calculator is calibrated specifically for lychee, so use a trusted food database for those fruits if you need their micronutrient values.