Lycium chinense seeds Wolfberry seeds goji berry Lycium barbarum Chinese wolfberry

LATIN NAME: LYCIUM CHINENSE

COMMON NAME: Chinese Wolfberry

The Chinese wolfberry rubies the loose, arching, deciduous shrub with the slender, thorny stems and the narrow, pointed, grey-green leaves, the small, purple, trumpet-shaped flowers opening through the summer, the small, oval, bright-red berries rubyiing along the stems, the berries holding the small, flat seeds. The shrub grows quickly into the open, arching mound, and it stands the heat, the cold and the dry spells well. It likes the sun, and the well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The bright-red berries of the Chinese wolfberry give it a recognised place in the research on the nutrient-dense small fruits of the nightshade family, and the chinense species appears in the studies of the berry polysaccharides and the traditional berry and leaf uses. The work looks at the way the arching stems carry the ruby berries, the antioxidant chemistry, and the seed biology. The food scientists value the berries, and the growers of the warm-climate fruit and health gardens keep the species in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the warm, sunny garden, the Chinese wolfberry rubies the late-summer garden with the red berries. The berries serve the teas, the soups and the dried snacks of the old kitchens for the ages, the leaves cook as the greens, and the purple flowers open for the bees. It grows well in the well-drained, sunny ground. Red-berried, thorny and health-kitchen.

To grow the Chinese Wolfberry from seed, sow the seeds into the fine, sandy drills of the seedbed in the spring, keep the bed bright and gently watered.

Sow the seeds into the fine, sandy drills of the seedbed, and pot the seedlings on as they grow. The ruby berries come within the season. , and the seedlings push up within a couple of weeks. The ruby berries will redden within the season.

The Goji Berry has become quite popular in the health food industry and the name is taken from the Chinese Go-Ji,

The fruit is an oblong berry about 15mm long and 8mm wide with an aniseed-like flavour. It can be eaten raw of cooked or dried for later use. Like all Solanaceae (potato, tomato, egg plant, tamarillo etc) the fruit should be fully ripe before being eaten. Green fruit not only tastes bad but can be toxic unless fully mature.

In addition to edible fruit, the leaves and young shoots have a peppermint-like flavor and can be used in salads or dried and used as a tea substitute. The seeds can be roasted and used as a coffee substitute.

Micronutrients and phytochemicals
Wolfberries contain many nutrients and phytochemicals including
11 essential and 22 trace dietary minerals
18 amino acids
6 essential vitamins
8 polysaccharides and 6 monosaccharides
5 unsaturated fatty acids, including the essential fatty acids, linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid
beta-sitosterol and other phytosterols
5 carotenoids, including beta-carotene and zeaxanthin (below), lutein, lycopene and cryptoxanthin, a xanthophyll
numerous phenolic pigments (phenols) associated with antioxidant properties
Select examples given below are for 100 grams of dried berries.
Calcium. Wolfberries contain 112 mg per 100 gram serving, providing about 8-10% of the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI).
Potassium. Wolfberries contain 1,132 mg per 100 grams dried fruit, giving about 24% of the DRI.
Iron. Wolfberries have 9 mg iron per 100 grams (100% DRI).
Zinc. 2 mg per 100 grams dried fruit (18% DRI).
Selenium. 100 grams of dried wolfberries contain 50 micrograms (91% DRI)
Riboflavin (vitamin B2). At 1.3 mg, 100 grams of dried wolfberries provide 100% of DRI.
Vitamin C. Vitamin C content in dried wolfberries has a wide range (from different sources from 29 mg per 100 grams to as high as 148 mg per 100 grams (respectively, 32% and 163% DRI).