Goji

Goji, goji berry, or wolfberry Chinese: 枸杞, romanized: gǒuqǐ) is the fruit of either Lycium barbarum or Lycium chinense, two closely related species of boxthorn in the nightshade family, Solanaceae.[1][2] The two species are similar, but can be distinguished by differences in taste and sugar content.[3]

Goji berries are primarily cultivated in the Ningxia and Xinjiang autonomous regions of China.[4]

Both species are native to East Asia,[1] and have been long used in traditional East Asian cuisine. In the United States, varieties of the genus, Lycium are given the common names, desert-thorn; Berlandier's wolfberry is used for Lycium berlandieri.[5]

The fruit has also been an ingredient in East Asian traditional medicine, namely traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean medicine since at least the 3rd century AD.[3][6] In pharmacopeias, the fruit of the plant is called by the Latin name lycii fructus and the leaves are called herba lycii.[7][8]

Since about 2000, dried goji berries and associated powder and juice products have become common in developed countries as snack foods or supposed alternative medicine remedies, extending from exaggerated and unproven claims about their health benefits.[9][10]

## Contents

* 1 Etymology and naming
* 2 Uses
* 2.1 Traditional East Asian cuisine
* 2.2 Food
* 3 Marketing controversies
* 4 Composition and research
* 5 Safety
* 5.1 Interaction with drugs
* 5.2 Pesticide and fungicide residues
* 5.3 Pest control
* 6 Cultivation and commercialization
* 6.1 China
* 6.2 United Kingdom
* 6.3 Canada and United States
* 6.4 Australia
* 7 See also
* 8 References

## Etymology and naming

The genus name Lycium was assigned by Linnaeus in 1753.[11] The Latin name lycium is derived from the Greek word λύκιον (lykion),[12] used by Pliny the Elder (23–79) and Pedanius Dioscorides (ca. 40–90) for a plant known as dyer's buckthorn, which was probably a Rhamnus species. The Greek word refers to the ancient region of Lycia (Λυκία) in Anatolia,[13] where that plant grew.[14][15]

The common English name, wolfberry,[11][16] has an unknown origin. It may have arisen from the mistaken assumption that the Latin name Lycium was derived from Greek λύκος (lycos), meaning "wolf".[17][18][19]

In the English-speaking world, the name goji berry has been used since around 2000.[20][21] The word goji is an approximation of the pronunciation of 枸杞 (pinyin: gǒuqǐ), the name for the berry-producing plant Lycium chinense in several Chinese dialects.[18] In Japanese, 枸杞 is written and pronounced クコ (kuko).[22]

In technical botanical nomenclature, Lycium barbarum is called matrimony vine, while Lycium chinense is Chinese desert-thorn.[2][11][23] In the United States, various common names are used for Lycium species and varieties, such as desert-thorn, boxthorn, matrimony vine, and wolfberry.[5]

## Uses

### Traditional East Asian cuisine

Young wolfberry shoots and leaves are harvested commercially as a leaf vegetable.[24][25] The berries are used in dishes as either a garnish or a source of sweetness.[26]

### Food

Fresh goji berries (the wrinkling is due to postharvest dehydration) Dried goji berries Oil extracted from the seeds of Lycium barbarum

Since the early 21st century, the dried fruit, occasionally compared to raisins, has been marketed as a health food, with unsupported health claims about its benefits.[2][18][20] In the wake of those claims, dried and fresh goji berries were included in many snack foods and food supplements, such as granola bars.[27] There are products of whole and ground wolfberry seeds and seed oil.[28]

## Marketing controversies

Exaggerated claims about the health benefits of goji berry and derived products have triggered strong reactions from government regulatory agencies. In 2019-2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed two goji product distributors on notice with warning letters about unproven therapeutic benefits.[29][30] The advertisers' statements were in violation of the United States Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act [21 USC/321 (g)(1)][31] 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 "not generally 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.[29][30] New drugs may not be legally marketed in the United States without prior approval of the FDA.[29][30]

In January 2007, marketing statements for a goji juice product were the subject of an investigative report by consumer advocacy program Marketplace produced by Canadian public broadcaster CBC.[9] In the interview, Earl Mindell (then working for direct-marketing company FreeLife International, Inc.) falsely claimed the Memorial 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 named Li 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 by Mindell, who also claimed goji had anti-cancer properties.[32] The booklet contained false and unverified claims.[9][18]

On 29 May 2009, a class action lawsuit was filed against FreeLife in the United States District Court of Arizona. 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][33] 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.[34]

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.[35]

## Composition and research

Because of the numerous effects claimed by traditional medicine, there has been considerable basic research to investigate the biological properties of the fruit phytochemicals. The composition of the fruits, seeds, roots, and other constituents has been analyzed, and extracts are under study.[2][35] Constituents include carotenoids, polysaccharides (comprising 30% of the pulp), vitamins, fatty acids, and peptidoglycans.[2] Various polyphenols occur in the fruit, leaves, and root bark.[2]

One monograph indicated that consuming goji for three months or longer may improve cardiometabolic risk factors in healthy Chinese adults, although there was only low-quality evidence for such effects.[2] A limited analysis of four studies concluded that healthy Chinese adults who consumed dried goji berries, juice or capsules for 4-16 weeks had slightly lower blood triglyceride levels and higher HDL cholesterol levels.[36]

## Safety

### Interaction with drugs

In vitro testing suggests that unidentified wolfberry phytochemicals in goji tea may inhibit metabolism of medications, such as those processed by the cytochrome P450 liver enzymes, including such drugs as warfarin.[2]

### Pesticide and fungicide residues

Organochlorine pesticides are conventionally used in commercial wolfberry cultivation to mitigate infestation by insects. China's Green Food Standard, administered by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture's China Green Food Development Center, permits some pesticide and herbicide use.[37][38][39] Agriculture in the Tibetan Plateau (where many "Himalayan" or "Tibetan"-branded berries supposedly originate) conventionally uses fertilizers and pesticides, making organic claims for berries originating there dubious.[40]

Since the early 21st century, high levels of insecticide residues (including fenvalerate, cypermethrin, and acetamiprid) and fungicide residues (such as triadimenol and isoprothiolane), have been detected by the United States Food and Drug Administration in some imported wolfberries and wolfberry products of Chinese origin, leading to the seizure of these products.[41]

### Pest control

Use of botanical pesticides (particularly eucalyptus oil), surfactant adjuvants, and aphid parasitoids are employed to control aphids and powdery mildew on goji crops.[42][43]

## Cultivation and commercialization

Dried goji berries on sale in a market in France Defrosted goji berries

Wolfberries are most often sold in dried 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.[2]

### China

China is the main supplier of wolfberry products globally, with 2023 production derived from a cultivation area of 325,000 mu - about 21,667 ha (53,540 acres) - creating a national wolfberry economy of 29 billion yuan (approximately US $4.2 billion).[44][45] Some 61% of commercially produced wolfberries in China comes from L. barbarum plantations in the Ningxia region, mainly in Zhongning County.[45][46] Goji cultivation also occurs in Gansu, Qinghai Province, and the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.[47][48]

The main berry products for export are manufactured beverages, juice concentrate, dried berries, snacks, and freeze-dried juice powder and berries.[44]

Ningxia goji has been cultivated along the fertile floodplains of the Yellow River over centuries.[47] 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.[44] Ningxia goji berries, the variety used by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine,[44] are celebrated annually with a festival.[49]

### United Kingdom

Lycium barbarum had been introduced in the United Kingdom in the 1730s by The Duke of Argyll, but the plant was mostly used for hedges and decorative gardening.[50]

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) had initially placed goji berry in the Novel Foods list.[51] That classification would have required authorisation from the European Council and Parliament for marketing. 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.[21]

### Canada and United States

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.[52][53]

### Australia

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.[54]

## See also

* Gouqi jiu

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Flint, Harrison Leigh (1997). "Lycium barbarum". Landscape plants for eastern North America: exclusive of Florida and the immediate Gulf Coast. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. p. 326. ISBN 978-0-471-59919-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1_fAywb_bkC&pg=PA326.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "Goji berry". Drugs.com. 24 March 2025. https://www.drugs.com/npp/goji-berry.html.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lee, HW; Kim, YH; Kim, YH; Lee, GH; Lee, MY (2014). "Discrimination of Lycium chinense and Lycium barbarum by taste pattern and betaine analysis". International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine 7 (8): 2053–9. ISSN 1940-5901. PMID 25232386.
4. ↑ "How a magic berry transformed China's vast wilderness in its northwest" (in en). Xinhua News. 11 August 2024. https://english.news.cn/20240811/a8b2b2f28bb646729a42b560cf8a1b4d/c.html.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Lycium (from Search)". US Department of Agriculture. 2024. https://plants.usda.gov/home/basicSearchResults?resultId=39ba57ad-a8a0-401c-ab9e-0a18a3df33dc.
6. ↑ Nobuo Kawahara, ed. (2011): "Comparative Studies on Pharmacopoeial Definitions, Requirements and Information for Crude Drugs among FHH Member Countries in 2007 ". Western Pacific Regional Forum for the Harmonization of Herbal Medicines (FHH). Online document, accessed on 12 June 2018.
7. ↑ "Lycii fructus ", European Pharmacopoea 9.3, page 4812
8. ↑ Ray Upton et al., editors (2010): "Lycium chinense Mill, L. barbarum L., Lycium fruit, Lycii fructus". In American Herbal Pharmacopoeia Botanical Pharmacognosy: Microscopic Characterization Of Botanical Medicines, page 468. Published by CRC Press.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "Getting Juiced". CBC News. 17 January 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2007/01/goji.html.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 United States District Court for the District of Arizona (29 May 2009). "Class action lawsuit against FreeLife International, Inc.". http://www.gojitrees.com/FreeLifeClassActionLawsuit[1].pdf.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Lycium L.". Interagency Taxonomic Information System. 2011. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=30531#null.
12. ↑ λύκιον. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
13. ↑ Λυκία in Liddell and Scott.
14. ↑ Austin, D. F. (2004). Florida Ethnobotany. CRC Press. pp. 677. ISBN 9780849323324. https://books.google.com/books?id=eS7lX_rC3GEC.
15. ↑ Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
16. ↑ "Scientific classification for Lycium barbarum L.". Natural Resources Conservation Service. US Department of Agriculture. https://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=profile&symbol=LYBA4&display=31.
17. ↑ Smal, Ernest (2012). Top 100 Exotic Food Plants. CRC Press. pp. 249. ISBN 9781439856888. https://books.google.com/books?id=Au3RBQAAQBAJ&q=lycos+wolfberry&pg=PA249. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Gross PM (2007). "Goji: what it is... and isn't". NewHope Network, Penton Media Inc.. https://www.newhope.com/natural-product-trends/food-and-beverage.
19. ↑ λύκος in Liddell and Scott.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Goji Berries". UK Food Standards Agency, Novel Foods, Additives and Supplements Division. June 2007. http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/gojiberriesrep.pdf.
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Responses on goji berries reviewed, UK Food Standards Agency, June 2007". http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2007/jun/goji.
22. ↑ Yonekura, Koji; Kajita, Tadada (2003). "Lycium chinense Mill. クコ (標準)". http://ylist.info/ylist_detail_display.php?pass=2124.
23. ↑ "Classification for Kingdom Plantae Down to Genus Lycium L.". US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Services. 2017. https://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=display&classid=LYCIU.
24. ↑ Isabelle, M.; Lee, B.L.; Lim, M.T.; Koh, W.-P.; Huang, D.; Ong, C.N. (2010). "Antioxidant activity and profiles of common vegetables in Singapore". Food Chemistry 120 (4): 993–1003. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2009.11.038. Bibcode: 2010FoodC.120..993I. http://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/24624.
25. ↑ Dong, J.; Lu, D.; Wang, Y. (2009). "Analysis of flavonoids from leaves of cultivated Lycium barbarum L.". Plant Foods for Human Nutrition 64 (3): 199–204. doi:10.1007/s11130-009-0128-x. PMID 19655256. Bibcode: 2009PFHN...64..199D.
26. ↑ Turrell, Claire (27 February 2020). "The berry that keeps Asia looking young" (in en). https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20200226-the-berry-that-keeps-asia-looking-young.
27. ↑ Baltazar A (January 2010). "Raising the Bar (on Chocolate)". Nutraceuticals World. Rodman Media. http://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/issues/2010-01/view_features/raising-the-bar-on-chocolate-/.
28. ↑ Yu, Jing; Yan, Yamei; Zhang, Lutao; Mi, Jia; Yu, Limei; Zhang, Fengfeng; Lu, Lu; Luo, Qing et al. (2023). "A comprehensive review of goji berry processing and utilization" (in en). Food Science & Nutrition 11 (12): 7447–7448. doi:10.1002/fsn3.3677. ISSN 2048-7177. PMID 38107149.
29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 "FDA warning letter to Let's Talk Health, Inc.". US Food and Drug Administration, Division of Human and Animal Food Operations. 6 August 2019. https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/lets-talk-health-inc-576771-08062019. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 "FDA warning letter to Happy Hour Vitamins". US Food and Drug Administration, Division of Human and Animal Food Operations. 23 July 2020. https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/happy-hour-vitamins-593770-07232020. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
31. ↑ "Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Food and Drugs". US Food and Drug Administration. 22 March 2024. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?CFRPart=1&showFR=1. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
32. ↑ Earl Mindell and Rick Handel (2003), "Goji: The Himalayan Health Secret". Momentum Media, 58 pages. ISBN 978-0967285528
33. ↑ "Class-Action Suit Filed against FreeLife and Earl Mindell". Quackwatch. 10 September 2009. https://quackwatch.org/mlm/c/Freelife/suit/. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
34. ↑ "Freelife International v. American Educational Music Publications, Inc.". CaseText for United States District Court, D. Arizona. 1 October 2009. https://casetext.com/case/freelife-international-v-american-educ-mus-publ. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Potterat, O (2010). "Goji (Lycium barbarum and L. chinense): Phytochemistry, pharmacology, and safety in the perspective of traditional uses and recent popularity". Planta Medica 76 (1): 7–19. doi:10.1055/s-0029-1186218. PMID 19844860. Bibcode: 2010PlMed..76....7P.
36. ↑ "L. barbarum (Lycium barbarum L.) supplementation for lipid profiles in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs". Medicine 1102 (39): 39. 2023. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000034952. PMID 37773857.
37. ↑ Pathbreaking Newsletter Promotes Development of Organic Sector in China Lila Buckley. Worldwatch Institute. 28 February 2006.
38. ↑ GAIN Report #CH1072. Dueling Standards for Organic Foods 2001 Ralph Bean and Xiang Qing. USDA Global Agriculture Information Network Foreign Agricultural Service. 12 December 2001.
39. ↑ The Movement Toward Organic Herb Cultivation in China Subhuti Dharmananda. Institute for Traditional Medicine. January 2004.
40. ↑ "TibetInfoNet - Update". http://www.tibetinfonet.net/content/update/124. Staff Reporter. The commercial legend of goji. Selling a Chinese crop under the Tibetan flag. TibetInfoNet, 29 July 2007.
41. ↑ "Import Alert IA9908". fda.gov. https://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia9908.html.
42. ↑ "Eucalyptol-loaded microcapsules combined with Cynanchum komarovii extracts provide long-term and low-risk management of Chinese wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.)". Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 270. January 2024. doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115874. PMID 38176181. Bibcode: 2024EcoES.27015874W.
43. ↑ "Achieving High Efficacy and Low Safety Risk by Balancing Pesticide Deposition on Leaves and Fruits of Chinese Wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.)". American Chemical Society Omega 8 (16): 14672–14683. April 2023. doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c00581. PMID 37125088.
44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 44.3 "Sci-tech innovation boosts value of Ningxia's goji berries". Xinhua, State Council of the People's Republic of China. 10 May 2024. https://english.www.gov.cn/news/202405/10/content_WS663dc28bc6d0868f4e8e6f1f.html.
45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 "Ningxia goji berries claim over 61 pct of China's online retail sales market in 2024". Xinhua Silk Road Information Service. China Economic Information Service, Xinhua News Agency. 11 July 2025. https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/346559.html.
46. ↑ "Determining the geographical origins of goji berries using the Twin-Tower model for Multi-Feature". Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 227 (1). December 2024. doi:10.1016/j.compag.2024.109571. Bibcode: 2024CEAgr.22709571C. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168169924009621.
47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 "Potentially suitable habitats of Daodi goji berry in China under climate change". Frontiers in Plant Science 14. 2023. doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1279019. PMID 38264027.
48. ↑ "Goji berry industry in China's Tsaidam Basin likely to warm up". Xinhua Silk Road Information Service. China Economic Information Service, Xinhua News Agency. 27 August 2019. https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/307933.html.
49. ↑ "First Ningxia goji berry harvest season opens". China Daily. 17 June 2025. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202506/17/WS685119c2a310a04af22c6c40_1.html.
50. ↑ {{citation | mode = cs1 | title = Goji | work = Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) | url = | publisher = [[Organization:Agricultural Research ServAgricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) | access-date = }}
51. ↑ The Novel Foods and Novel Food Ingredients Regulations 1997
52. ↑ Boutin, N (30 July 2008). "Fairground family first to gamble on gojis". Woodstock Sentinel Review. Sun Media. http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2008/07/30/fairground-family-first-to-gamble-on-gojis.
53. ↑ Karp, D (5 August 2009). "Goji taunts North American farmers". Los Angeles Times – Food. http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-goji5-2009aug05,0,1276183.story.
54. ↑ Wainwright, Sofie (30 September 2015). "Hundreds of Australian farmers growing goji berries, but none selling yet" (in en-AU). https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2015-09-30/rural-nsw-goji/6814060.

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