Your Source for Goji Juice, Goji Berry and Berries Information.

Thank you to the following resources for information contained below about goji juice and goji berries:

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/completeazindex/a/goji.htm
http://www.newstarget.com/022082.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfberry

What are goji berries?
Other Names: Lycium barbarum, wolfberry, gou qi zi, Fructus lycii

Goji berries grow on an evergreen shrub found in temperate and subtropical regions in China, Mongolia and in the Himalayas in Tibet. They are in the nightshade (Solonaceae) family.

Goji berries are usually found dried. They are shriveled red berries that look like red raisins. Goji berries are rich in antioxidants, particularly carotenoids such as beta-carotene and zeaxanthin. Goji berries have been used for 6,000 years by herbalists in China, Tibet and India.

(NewsTarget) Goji berries, goji juice, and snack bars and other products containing goji berries have become increasing popular over the past two years or so. Part of this is because some celebrities are reportedly consuming (and raving about) them, and part is due to their legendary health-promoting properties. Once only found in health food stores in the U.S. and Western Europe, goji berries are now appearing in a few supermarkets.

United Kingdom. The goji berry has been naturalized as an ornamental and edible plant in the UK for nearly 300 years. 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. It is now legal to sell the goji berry in the UK as a food as reported by the British Food Standards Agency.
Wolfberries are almost never found in their fresh form outside of their production regions, and are usually sold in open boxes and small packages in dried form. The texture of the fruit varies. Some are soft and tacky like a raisin, while others may be very hard. Goji Berries with a vibrant orange-red color may have been treated with a sulfite.

So Many Names

The scientific name for goji berry is Lycium barbarum, and the popularly used name “goji” apparently came from the common Chinese name for the berry. An additional common name often used in the west is “wolfberry”, and the berry has yet several other names, which are not frequently used. The name used most often in Japan in KUKONOMI. Some sources say there are actually two very closely related species, Lycium barbarum and Lycium chinense, whose fruit is called the goji berry; other sites insist there is only one species, Lycium barbarum. The exact origin of the goji plant is unknown, and although goji berries are reportedly grown in several different areas of the world, any goji berries you purchase will most likely come from China, where the berry has been used in traditional herbal medicine for about two thousand years. The berry is of such importance in China that every August in Ningxia a festival is held at the time of the goji berry harvest.

It’s often said they are one of the most nutritionally dense foods known, and this appears to be true. The list of nutrients, in high concentration, is impressive: plant-derived polyphenolic antioxidants; carotenoids such as beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, lutein, beta-cryptoxanthin, and lycopene; vitamins C, B1, B2, and niacin; more than 30 essential and trace minerals, including zinc, iron, copper, calcium, selenium, and phosphorus; polysaccharides; and 18 amino acids such as isoleucine, tryptophan, leucine, and arginine. That list may help explain why goji berries have the highest ORAC score among 46 foods (and one tea) listed on one web page.

Macronutrients
Wolfberry / Goji Berry contains significant percentages of a day's macronutrient needs in the form of carbohydrates, protein, fat and dietary fiber. 68% of the mass of dried wolfberries (goji berries) exists as carbohydrate, 12% as protein, and 10% each as fiber and fat, giving a total caloric value in a 100 gram serving of 370 (kilo).

Micronutrients and phytochemicals
Wolfberries / goji berries 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 goji 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).
Wolfberries also contain numerous phytochemicals for which there are no established DRI values. Examples:

Beta-carotene: 7 mg per 100 grams dried fruit.
Zeaxanthin. Reported values for zeaxanthin content in dried wolfberries vary considerably, from 25 mg per 100 grams to 200 mg per 100 grams [48]. The higher values would make wolfberry one of the richest edible plant sources known for zeaxanthin content. Up to 77% of total carotenoids present in wolfberry exist as zeaxanthin.
Polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are a major constituent of wolfberries, representing up to 31% of pulp weight.
(Note on micronutrient and phytochemical contents: differences in the degree of berry maturation at the time of picking, soil conditions and geographic region where the berries were grown, post-harvest handling and processing, duration of storage, residual water content and assay preparation can significantly affect individual nutrient contents, especially those for vitamins and phytochemicals.)

Goji is truly the best food to up your body’s antioxidant activity!