Harvesting ripe goji berries, Ningxia, China
[follow the Wikipedia links]
As world economies merge, plant foods once considered exotic
and mystical are becoming more commonly available
in stores around the world .... and better understood by science.
For those of us watching the global markets for berry commerce, wolfberries (Lycium barbarum L.) -- known more popularly today as goji berries -- first were noticeable on the internet beginning around 1999 -- mainly for their unusual antioxidant strength.
Why should we be interested in goji now ?
- simple, ready-to-eat foods like dried berries rich in nutrients and antioxidants are needed to help overcome the poor dietary practices so common in today's industrialized countries
- buyers are becoming interested in novel foods that provide nutrient, taste, aroma and application experiences different than they've had before
- pleasant tasting fruits rich in nutrients, antioxidants and potential health benefits, including goji, açaí, blueberries, cranberries and pomegranates -- a group sometimes called superfruits -- are forecast to become a $6 billion industry worldwide by 2009
- as goji is new to large markets like those of North and South America, Europe and Japan, how it is received as a superfruit will affect the commerce of other current and future natural health foods new to established markets
- goji has attracted such significant recent interest that some 100 medical research studies have been completed over the past 20 years, with 40 research papers and two books published since 2005. By comparison, no science-based books exist for common berries, such as blueberry, cranberry or strawberry
- in 2005-6, 54 new food or beverage products using goji were introduced across the world. In 2006-7, this number is expected to at least triple!
- with such intensive industrial development, goji is being called darling of the 2007 superfruit industry...
 
Goji juice concentrate Soluble goji juice powder
With the above as introduction,
let's get some goji FAQs straight !
[follow the Wikipedia links]
* Part 1 - names and uses
Part 2
6. Where did the plant and name originate?
- In China, goji has been referenced in ancient textbooks dating to the earliest written records of the Han Dynasty around 100-200 AD, although it is believed by Chinese to have existed well before then.
- Some legends say the mythical first Emperor of China, Shennong, discovered goji while collecting herbs around 2800 BC -- so nearly 5000 years ago!
- The Chinese government reports that goji berries have been systematically cultivated in the Ningxia region since around 1400.
Location of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in north-central China,
the primary production region for goji berries
- Botanically, the name Lycium barbarum was assigned in 1753 by the Swedish botanist, Carolus Linnaeus, who created the taxonomy system of plant names used since his time until today to specify plants, families and individual species.
- There is no clear answer to the question of how the name goji was started, although it is most easily explained upon hearing the Mandarin name for wolfberry -- gouqi -- simplified in English pronunciation as goji. There are 60 or more dialects in China, some of which would pronounce gouqi in a way sounding like the English pronunciation of goji.
- “Goji” appears to have been publicly adopted as a simple marketing name in English-speaking countries in 2004 shown by Google Trends as the beginning of the goji era, click here to see the graph. This period coincides with appearance of several goji juice products on the United States market.
- The name "goji" has never once been used in botanical or medical scientific literature, so is not recognized as an "official" name. It is a popular form of English slang that has become commonly used in the public and food and beverage industries.
7. What about the name wolfberry?
In Mandarin, the berry is called gouqizi or gouqi ("wolfberry"), speculated by some Chinese to have been used first by ancient farmers who saw wolves seeking food and shelter among the dense vines.
Relationship to Tomato. In Linnaeus' taxonomic textbook, Species Plantarum (1753), description of tomato is made first with its name, Solanum lycopersicum, or by literal translation from Greek of lycopersicum, “wolf-peach”, followed a few pages later by the tomato cousin, Lycium barbarum, “wolfberry”. By inference, botanists following Linnaeus' system may have adopted the name wolfberry directly from its botanical relationship with the “wolf-peach”, tomato.
In Tibetan, the plant is called dre-tsher-ma, with dre meaning "ghost" and tsher-ma meaning "thorn”.
In other words, despite what many goji product marketers say, the word for Lycium barbarum in Tibetan is not "goji".
8. What other names are connected to goji?
Lycium eleganus, Lycium eleganus barbarum, or Lycium eleagnus have appeared in internet discussions about goji. These names are a hoax, as no such plant species exist in botanical taxa and it would be impossible to cross-breed plants from Lycium with those of Elaeagnus.
Official According to the United States Department of Agriculture Germplasm Resources Information Network, goji is Chinese wolfberry, barbary matrimony vine, bocksdorn, Duke of Argyll's tea tree, or matrimony vine.
The names “Tibetan goji” and “Himalayan goji” are in common use in the health food market for products from this plant, but these names have nothing to do with where the berries grow.
9. What are the connections of the often associated relationship of goji to Tibet and the Himalayan Mountains?
Reports published in 2006-7 from sources working in Tibet have provided valuable perspectives on the growing regions of goji and, specifically, knowledge about goji's absence of history in Tibet.
These two accounts are
Conclusions from the two articles are
- no history was found of written records or government knowledge of goji berries having ever been cultivated in significant quantities in Tibet
- no reference to goji was found in texts of traditional Tibetan medicine
- there is little knowledge of goji among Tibetan people
- where rarely sold in Tibetan markets, goji berries do not come from Tibet but rather from central regions of China
- Tibetan people do not live to exceptional ages of 100 or more (attributed to lifelong consumption of goji berries), but rather have among the world's lowest life expectancies -- about 67 years
- although goji may grow wild and in sparse patches of a few, fertile low-altitude areas in south-eastern Tibet, most of Tibet and certainly the Himalayas are at high altitude (10,000 feet altitude and above) where weather and agricultural conditions are inhospitable for fruit cultivation
- commercial production of goji has never been documented in Tibet; government officials say there is no area where commercial production could be supported
- uses of such terms as “Tibetan goji berry”, “Himalayan goji juice” and “goji berries from the Mongolian Himalayas” (usually conveyed on the label with a dramatic backdrop of snow-covered mountain peaks) for products manufactured and sold in the West are a marketing hoax, as the goji berries used for these products do not grow in Tibet or the Himalayas, and the Himalayan Mountains do not extend into Mongolia (more than 1000 miles away)
- few if any benefits of using Tibetan or Himalayan names for goji products sold in the West return to Tibetan people or organizations
10. If goji berries don't grow in significant quantities in Tibet or the Himalayas, where did the berries on the world market originate? Could goji be grown in places like Canada, the United States or Europe?
The Chinese government reports that the highest production region in China is the Autonomous Region (province) of Ningxia in north-central China along the banks of the Yellow River. Approximately 40% (13,000 metric tons in 2001) of the national export crop is harvested in Ningxia, the country's smallest province.
Success in cultivation of goji berries depends on factors like genetic material, duration and weather conditions of the growing season, day-night temperature variation, adequate irrigation, soil quality, horticultural pest prevention tactics, etc.
As the successful goji growing region in China – Ningxia – has similar characteristics of the above agricultural factors as a Northern Hemisphere location on the same latitude (42nd parallel north) such as Oregon to Ontario or southern France, there seems to be no reason why goji could not be successfully cultivated in temperate regions of North America and Europe.
Goji harvest in Zhongning County, Ningxia, China. Statue is dedicated to the female berry pickers.
All of the berries must be picked by hand because the ripe fruit is delicate and juicy.
Next in Part 3 !
- Nutrient and phytochemical content -- is it the world's healthiest natural food?
- Why goji has the pigments to make it an antioxidant superstar
Future Topics on Goji
- Myths, fraud and government surveillance in goji marketing
- Goji health claims?
- What to expect for goji products in the future
References
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Dr. Paul
The Berry Doctor
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