It is also known as
Chinese wolfberry,
[3] Chinese boxthorn,
[3] Himalayan goji,
[3] Tibetan goji,
[3] mede berry,
[citation needed] barbary matrimony vine,
[3] Duke of Argyll's tea tree,
[3] Duke of Argyll's tea plant,
[3] Murali (in India),
[4] red medlar,
[citation needed] or
matrimony vine.
[3]
Description[edit]
Lycium barbarum illustration from
Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, by Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé, 1885, Gera, Germany.
Leaves and flower[edit]
Wolfberry leaves and flower
L. barbarum leaves form on the shoot either in an alternating arrangement or in bundles of up to three, each having a shape that is either lanceolate (shaped like a spearhead longer than it is wide) or
ovate (egg-like). Leaf dimensions are 7-cm wide by 3.5-cm broad with blunted or round tips.
The flowers grow in groups of one to three in the leaf
axils. The
calyx (eventually ruptured by the growing berry) consists of bell-shaped or tubular
sepals forming short, triangular lobes. The
corollaare lavender or light purple, 9–14 mm wide with five or six lobes shorter than the tube. The
stamens are structured with
filaments longer than the
anthers. The anthers are longitudinally
dehiscent. Plants are self-pollinating, but may be cross pollinated by insects. In the northern hemisphere, flowering occurs from June through September and berry maturation from June to October, depending on the latitude, altitude, and climate. where frost does not occur fruiting is continuous and plants do not loose their leaves.
L. barbarum produces a bright orange-red,
ellipsoid berry 1–2-cm deep. The number of seeds in each berry varies widely based on
cultivar and fruit size, containing anywhere between 10–60 tiny yellow seeds that are compressed with a curved embryo. The berries ripen from July to October in the
northern hemisphere.
Etymology[edit]
"Goji" is the most commonly used English common name. This term was created as an English language marketing name. The term "Wolfberry" is said to have come from a Chinese legend about the animal at the top of the food chain, the wolf. The alpha wolf maintained his dominance by eating the berries, leaves and vines. (Wolfberry, Natures Bounty of Nutrition and Health, Paul M. Gross, p2. and Donald Daugs, Grow a Superfood Goji Berries, Countryside Magazine May/June 2014, pp 63–67)
In the English-speaking world, the name "goji berry" has been used since the early 21st century.
[citation needed] The word "goji" is an approximation of the pronunciation of
gǒuqǐ (
枸杞), the name for the berry producing plant in several Chinese dialects, including
Hokkien and
Shanghainese. This name possibly derives from the same roots as the
Persian language term
gojeh (گوجه) which means "plum/berry".
In
Tibetan the plant is called
dretsherma (འདྲི་ཚིར་མ།
), with
dre meaning "ghost" and
tsherma meaning "thorn".
[citation needed]
Cultivation[edit]
Cultivated along the fertile aggradational
floodplains of the
Yellow River for more than 600 years, Ningxia wolfberries have earned a reputation throughout Asia for premium quality sometimes described commercially as "red diamonds".
[7] Government releases of annual wolfberry production, premium fruit grades, and export are based on yields from Ningxia, the region recognized with
- The largest annual harvest in China, accounting for 42% (13 million kilograms, 2001) of the nation's total yield of wolfberries, estimated at approximately 33 million kilograms (72 million pounds) in 2001.
- Formation of an industrial association of growers, processors, marketers, and scholars of wolfberry cultivation to promote the berry's commercial and export potential.
- The nation's only source of therapeutic grade ("superior-grade") wolfberries used by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine.[8]
In addition, commercial volumes of wolfberries grow in the Chinese regions of
Inner Mongolia,
Qinghai,
Gansu,
Shaanxi,
Shanxi, and
Hebei. When ripe, the oblong, red berries are tender and must be picked carefully or shaken from the vine into trays to avoid spoiling. The fruits are preserved by drying them in full sun on open trays or by mechanical dehydration employing a progressively increasing series of heat exposure over 48 hours.
Wolfberries are celebrated each August in Ningxia with an annual festival coinciding with the berry harvest.
[6] Originally held in Ningxia's capital,
Yinchuan, the festival has been based since 2000 in Zhongning County, an important center of wolfberry cultivation for the region.
[6] As Ningxia's borders merge with three
deserts, wolfberries are also planted to control
erosion and reclaim irrigable soils from
desertification.
[9]
China, the main supplier of wolfberry products in the world, had total exports generating US$120 million in 2004. This production derived from 82,000 hectares farmed nationwide, yielding 95,000 tons of wolfberries.
[7]
Pesticide and fungicide use[edit]
China's Green Food Standard, administered by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture's
China Green Food Development Center, does permit some amount of pesticide and herbicide use.
[11][12][13] Agriculture in the Tibetan plateau (where many "Himalayan" or "Tibetan"-branded berries originate) conventionally uses fertilizers and pesticides, making organic claims for berries originating here dubious.
[14]
United Kingdom[edit]
The Duke of Argyll introduced
Lycium barbarum into the
United Kingdom in the 1730s where it is known as
Duke of Argyll's Tea Tree.
[3] It was and still is used for hedging, especially in coastal districts. Its red berries are attractive to a wide variety of British birds.
[15]
On June 18, 2007, the FSA (UK Food Standards Agency) stated that there was a significant history of the fruit being consumed in Europe before 1997, and has removed it from the Novel Foods list.
[17] It is now legal to sell the wolfberry in the UK as a food as reported by the British
Food Standards Agency,
[18] but see section below:
Marketing claims under scrutiny in Europe. United States Lycium barbarum has become a high demand plant in the United States. Nearly all major nursery catalogs now carry plants and there are many suppliers found on various web sites. There are a number of varieties available, ranging from leaf producing plants to fruit producing varieties. Most listed plants are hardy zones 5-9. One variety, Phoenix Tears is hardy zones 3-10. This variety produces fruit year round in warmer climates. The nutrient profile of both leaves and fruit is well documented on this variety. Berries and leaves produced in the United States are probably more pesticide free than those produced in China.
Importation of mature plants[edit]
Importation of Wolfberry plants into the United Kingdom from most countries outside Europe is illegal, due to the possibility they could be vectors of diseases attacking Solanaceae crops, such as potato or tomato.
[19] At present only the US state of Pennsylvania requires inspection of Wolfberry plants. There have been cases of Goji Mite infections in Pennsylvania and California. The mites have been found on wild plants in Utah and do have the potential to infect other Solenaceae family plants, but there is not documentation of such infections occurring in the United States.
[20]
