Unveil the myth around Goji berries

Recent years have seen the ever-increasing popularity and consumption of goji berries in Europe and USA etc.  It is even called super fruit just because of its various benefits. This article covers the author’s research results about goji berries, and explains why this fruit is so popular.

So what are goji berries? The academic name of Goji berries is Lycium barbarum.  They are also known as wolfberries.  You will also find that some people even mis-spell it as gogi berry. It is a dark-red coloured sweet-taste dried fruit, and has similar size of raisin.  

 

Then where are they from? They are from China, and have been grown and consumed in China for many thousand years.  Strangely goji berries are mostly marketed in Europe and USA as Tibetan Goji Berries or Himalayan Goji Berries.  If you tell Chinese people that you want Tibetan Goji Berries, however, they will be completely confused, because they all know goji berries are not from Tibet or Himalaya, instead, they come from northwest part of China.  It doesn’t mean that there is no presence of goji berries in Tibet, but means that there is no commercial farming activity of this fruit in Tibet.  The possible reason for marketing it as Tibetan Goji Berries is that fruit coming from mountain area usually has more polysaccharides content.

Why do Chinese people eat this fruit? First of all Traditional Chinese Medicine thinks it mainly works on kidney and liver, therefore they are usually used to treat liver and/or kidney disease.  The reason that it is also used to treat eye diseases is because Chinese Medicine believes eyesight is governed by liver and kidney. What is more, since Chinese Medicine also believes that sexual capability is dictated by the strength of kidney, it is also widely used by Chinese doctors to treat sexual impotency etc.  But the Chinese consumption of this fruit is more than that, they also eat goji berries in day-to-day lives, for example, to prepare herbal tea along with Chrysanthemum, to add it to soup etc.

Then why has it gained popularity in Western countries?  As you might be aware, traditional Chinese medical theory is not based on molecular biology, but based on Yin, Yang, and Qi.  When Western people discovered this fruit, they analysed its biological content, and explained why it is beneficial from the perspective of western medicine.  It has been found that goji berries contain 21 trace minerals, 18 amino acids, Vitamins B1, B2, B6 and Vitamin E, much more much more vitamin C than kiwi fruit, much more antioxidants than any other fruit, much more beta carotene than carrots, and much More iron than spinach.  Following are the short summary of its benefits: anti-cancer, anti-aging, weight loss, boost libido, enhancing immune system etc.

 

So what about organic and normal goji berries?  The commercial growth of organic goji berries is not an easy process. It requires at least 3 years to get the land ready, along with other measures.  So far the annual yield of organic goji berries in China is still not significant by comparison with normal goji berries, simply because there are not many lands ready for it.  Therefore there is a big difference in terms of pricing.  So when you see somebody sell organic goji berries in eBay at dirty cheap price, would you trust them? 

In the market you can also find some processed goji product.  By comparison, natural raw goji berries contain more nutrients than the processed goji products, for example, goji berry extract, goji juice, goji tablets, etc.  This is because processed goji berries lose a large amount of their nutritional properties due to the oxidation process during processing

It is recommended to buy small packs of goji berries, because it is easier to keep the freshness, as once opened, it will suck the moisture, and become soft.  A daily intake of 30 grams is recommended, though it doesn’t do harm if you want to eat more because essentially it is fruit.  So enjoy your goji berries.