Harvesting lychee fruitsLychee fruits do not ripen off the tree. They must be harvested after proper development of quality. This paper discusses the proper stage of harvest for lychee fruits. The acidity of fruits declines sharply with attainment of maturity in all the cultivars studied. The appearance and edible quality of fruits of lychee cultivars at harvest differed widely. Assessment of pericarp colour, TSS and total acid contents of fruits at different stages of harvest provides a good guide for maturity determination. Fruits of lychee cultivars, viz. ‘Bombai’, ‘Rose Scented’, ‘Nafarpal’, ‘Elachi’, ‘Piazi’, ‘Early Large Red’, ‘Deshi’, ‘Seedless Late’, ‘Purbi’, ‘Bedana’, ‘Kasba’ and ‘Muzaffarpur’ are to be harvested at or after 58, 60, 59, 60, 52, 58, 54, 60, 58, 57, 56 and 57 days, respectively of fruit set for quality fruits, and fruit quality improved as harvesting was delayed in all the cultivars.