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Goji,goji berry, orwolfberryChinese:枸杞,romanized: gǒuqǐ) is the sweet fruit of eitherLycium barbarum orLycium chinense, two closely related species ofboxthorn in the nightshade family,Solanaceae.[1] 'L. barbarum' and 'L. chinense' fruits are similar but can be distinguished by differences in taste and sugar content.[2]
Goji berries are primarily cultivated in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Xinjiang in China.[3]
Both of these species are native to East Asia,[1] and have been long used in traditionalEast Asian cuisine. In the United States,varieties of the genus,Lycium are given the common names,desert-thorn;Berlandier's wolfberry is used for 'L. berlandieri'.[4]
The fruit has also been an ingredient in East Asian traditional medicine, namelytraditional Chinese,Japanese, andKorean medicine since at least the 3rd century AD.[2][5] Inpharmacopeias, the fruit of the plant is called by theLatin namelycii fructus and the leaves are calledherba lycii.[6][7]
Since about 2000, goji berry and derived products have become common indeveloped countries as health foods oralternative medicine remedies, extending from exaggerated and unproven claims about their health benefits.[8][9][10]
The genus nameLycium was assigned byLinnaeus in 1753.[11] TheLatin namelycium is derived from theGreek wordλυκιον (lykion), used byPliny the Elder (23–79) andPedanius Dioscorides (ca. 40–90) for a plant known as dyer's buckthorn, which was probably aRhamnus species. The Greek word refers to the ancient region ofLycia (Λυκία) inAnatolia, where that plant grew.[12][13]
The common English name,wolfberry,[11][14] has an unknown origin. It may have arisen from the mistaken assumption that the Latin nameLycium was derived from Greekλύκος (lycos), meaning "wolf".[15][16]
In the English-speaking world, the namegoji berry has been used since around 2000.[8][17][18] The wordgoji is an approximation of the pronunciation of枸杞 (pinyin:gǒuqǐ), the name for the berry-producing plantL. chinense in several Chinese dialects.[16] In Japanese,枸杞 is written and pronouncedクコ (kuko).[19]
In technical botanical nomenclature, 'L. barbarum' is calledmatrimony vine, while 'L. chinense' isChinese desert-thorn.[11][20] In the United States, various common names are used for 'Lycium' species and varieties, such as desert-thorn, boxthorn, matrimony vine, and wolfberry.[4]
Young wolfberryshoots andleaves are harvested commercially as aleaf vegetable.[21][22] The berries are used in dishes as either agarnish or a source of sweetness.[23]
Since the early 21st century, the dried fruit, occasionally compared toraisins, has been marketed as a health food, with unsupportedhealth claims about its benefits.[8][16][17] In the wake of those claims, dried and fresh goji berries were included in many snack foods andfood supplements, such asgranola bars.[24] There are products of whole and ground wolfberry seeds and seed oil.[citation needed]
Exaggerated claims about the health benefits of goji berry and derived products have triggered strong reactions from government regulatory agencies. In 2019–2020, theU.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed two Goji product distributors on notice withwarning letters about unproven therapeutic benefits.[25][26] The advertisers' statements were in violation of the United States Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act [21 USC/321 (g)(1)][27] because they "establish[ed] the product as a drug intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease" when goji ingredients have had no such scientific evaluation. Additionally stated by the FDA, the goji products are "notgenerally recognized as safe and effective for the referenced conditions" and therefore must be treated as a "new drug" under Section 21(p) of the Act.[25][26] New drugs may not be legally marketed in the United States without prior approval of the FDA.[25][26]
In January 2007, marketing statements for a goji juice product were the subject of an investigative report by consumer advocacy programMarketplace produced by Canadianpublic broadcasterCBC.[9] In the interview, Earl Mindell (then working for direct-marketing companyFreeLife International, Inc.) falsely claimed theMemorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York had completed clinical studies showing that use of wolfberry juice would prevent 75% of human breast cancer cases.[9]
Among the extreme claims used to market goji berries or its juice, often referred to as a "superfruit", is the unsupported story that a Chinese man namedLi Qing Yuen, who was said to have consumed wolfberries daily, lived to the age of 256 years (1677–1933). This claim originated in a 2003 booklet byEarl Mindell, who also claimed goji hadanti-cancer properties.[28] The booklet contained false and unverified claims.[9][16]
On 29 May 2009, aclass action lawsuit was filed against FreeLife in theUnited States District Court ofArizona. This lawsuit alleged false claims, misrepresentations, false and deceptive advertising, and other issues regarding FreeLife's Himalayan Goji Juice, GoChi, and TaiSlim products. This lawsuit sought remedies for consumers who had purchased the products over the years.[10][29] A settlement agreement was reached on 28 April 2010, where FreeLife took steps to ensure that its goji products were not marketed as "unheated" or "raw", and made a contribution to an educational organization.[30]
As with many other novel "health" foods and supplements, the lack of clinical evidence and poor quality control in the manufacture of consumer products prevent goji from being clinically recommended or applied.[31]
Because of the numerous effects claimed bytraditional medicine, there has been considerablebasic research to investigate the biological properties of the fruitphytochemicals. The composition of the fruits, seeds, roots, and other constituents, such aspolysaccharides, has been analyzed, andextracts are under study.[31] However, no biological effects or clinical effectiveness of consuming the fruit itself, its juice, or extracts have been confirmed, as of 2021[update].[8][16]
In vitro testing suggests that unidentified wolfberryphytochemicals in goji tea may inhibitmetabolism of medications, such as those processed by thecytochrome P450liver enzymes.[8] Such drugs includewarfarin and drugs fordiabetes,tachycardia orhypertension.[8]
Organochlorinepesticides are conventionally used in commercial wolfberry cultivation to mitigate infestation by insects. China's Green Food Standard, administered by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture'sChina Green Food Development Center, permits some pesticide and herbicide use.[32][33][34] Agriculture in theTibetan Plateau (where many "Himalayan" or "Tibetan"-branded berries supposedly originate) conventionally uses fertilizers and pesticides, making organic claims for berries originating there dubious.[35]
Since the early 21st century, high levels ofinsecticide residues (includingfenvalerate,cypermethrin, andacetamiprid) andfungicide residues (such astriadimenol and isoprothiolane), have been detected by the United StatesFood and Drug Administration in some imported wolfberries and wolfberry products of Chinese origin, leading to the seizure of these products.[36]
Wolfberries are most often sold indried form.
When ripe, the oblong, red berries are tender and must be picked 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.[citation needed]
China is the main supplier of wolfberry products globally, with total exports generating US$120 million in 2004. This production derived from 82,000 hectares (200,000 acres) farmed nationwide, yielding 95,000 tons of wolfberries.[37]
The majority of commercially produced wolfberry (50,000 tons in 2013, accounting for 45% of China's total yield) comes fromL. barbarum plantations in theNingxia andXinjiang in Northwestern China.[37] The cultivation is centered inZhongning County, Ningxia, where wolfberry plantations typically range between 40 and 400 hectares (100–1000 acres or 500–6000mu) in area.[citation needed]
Ningxia goji has been cultivated along the fertilefloodplains of theYellow River for more than 700 years. They are sometimes described commercially as "red diamonds".[37][better source needed] The region has developed an industrial association of growers, processors, marketers, and scholars of wolfberry cultivation to promote the berry's commercial and export potential.[38]Ningxia goji is the variety used by practitioners oftraditional Chinese medicine.[38]
Wolfberries are celebrated each August in Ningxia with an annual festival coinciding with the berry harvest.[39] Originally held in Ningxia's capital,Yinchuan, the festival has been based since 2000 in Zhongning County.[39]
Besides Ningxia, commercial volumes of wolfberries grow in the Chinese regions ofInner Mongolia, Qinghai,Gansu, Shaanxi,Shanxi, andHebei.[citation needed]
Lycium barbarum had been introduced in the United Kingdom in the 1730s byThe Duke of Argyll, but the plant was mostly used for hedges and decorative gardening.[40]
The UKFood Standards Agency (FSA) had initially placed goji berry in the Novel Foods list.[41] That classification would have required authorisation from the European Council and Parliament for marketing.[citation needed] However, on 18 June 2007, the FSA concluded that there was a significant history of consumption of the fruit before 1997, indicating its safety, and thus removed it from the list.[18]
In the first decade of the 21st century, farmers in Canada and the United States began cultivating goji on a commercial scale to meet potential markets for fresh berries, juice, and processed products.[42][43]
Australia imports most of its goji berries from China, due to how expensive the Australian labour force is in comparison with the countries that have the largest share of the current market.[44]
