Zhongzhen Zhao Li Liang
Today Goji berry, also known as Wolfberry, is very popular as a source of nutrition; in fact, it is sometimes called a superfood. Its name in Chinese is Gou Qi Zi. “Zi” usually means seed, but Gou Qi Zi is actually the fruit. Goji berry is a plant of the Solanaceae family, which is the family of tomato, and in fact Goji berries are like very small tomatoes. Botanically, the word “berry” refers to a particular kind of fruit with many seeds rather than a single pit (like apricot or peach). Technically, both Goji berries and tomatoes are in fact berries. In this case the English name, Goji berries, is botanically accurate. (And tomatoes should actually be called “tomato berries”.)
Knowing several characteristics of Goji berry allows you to pick the best from a dizzying array of products. There are two major producing areas of Goji berry, which are Ningxia and Xinjiang, China. The shape of Ningxia Goji is a long oval, while the ones from Xinjiang are round. Fresh Goji are bright red; dried goji can be bright red or dark red. However, some Goji are bright red because they have been smoked with sulfur during drying. Chemically, the common sources of sweetness in fresh fruits are glucose and fructose, which are monosaccharides. Instead, the Goji berry contains polysaccharides, which are not so sweet, nor as hygroscopic as monosaccharides. Therefore, the taste of Goji berry has a slight bitter after-taste, and the texture after drying is somewhat leathery. To sum up, the best Goji berry will have three characteristics, 1. a long oval shape, 2. dark red color, and 3. a flavor that is not too sweet.
Goji berry is recorded in the Shennong Ben Cao Jing (Classic of Materia Medica or Shen-nong’s Herbal Classics), where it is listed as an
“
upper rank
”
herb. In Chinese medicine, this term refers to tonic medicines that nourish the body, prolong life, and can be used safely for a long time. Goji berry is also recorded in Volume 36 of the Compendium of Materia Medica. Li Shizhen recorded that Goji berry from Hexi and Ganzhou were round like cherries, sweet, and tasted like grapes, and that they could be eaten as fruits. After literature research and field investigation, I think that the Goji from Hexi and Ganzhou mentioned in the Compendium were actually Ningxia Gou Qi.
According to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2020 edition), the botanical source of Goji berry is Lycium barbarum L. The plant is formally called Ningxia Gou Qi in Chinese. Thus the Chinese name includes the name of the berry as well as the production area of authentic medicinal materials.
Historically, the main producing areas of Goji berry were in Zhongning County and the adjacent Zhongwei County in Ningxia. Some people describe Ningxia as a kind of bonsai-landscape for tourists in China because this region has mountains, canyons, deserts, grasslands, the Yellow River, and “the beauty of the south of the Yangtze River”. As a person who works in the traditional Chinese medicine field, for me, the most attractive thing in Ningxia is the Goji berry. There, fresh Goji berries are as sparkly, plump and juicy as cherries, with a slightly sweet and slightly bitter taste.
Plantation base of Goji berry in Ningxia “Red” can be found everywhere in Ningxia
Nowadays, almost all Goji berry plants are small shrubs. Li Shizhen recorded the Goji plant as a large tree, but this form is rare today. When I visited the cultivation base in Ningxia, I saw a small tree known as the “King of Goji”. It is about 3 meters tall, and over 100 years old. It still blooms and produces fruit. Local medicinal farmers said that the Goji plants they are growing are all descendants of that one “grandfather” tree.
King of Goji
“Oriental Billberry”
The Compendium of Materia Medica records the efficacy of Goji berry as being that it strengthens muscles and bones, helps the body resist cold and heat, and replenishes vital essence and qi. It also improves appearance, improves eyesight and calms the nerves, helping people to live longer. However, the Compendium of Materia Medica also includes a warning: “If you travel thousands of miles from home, don’t eat Goji berry.” Why? Because Goji berry can nourish the kidney, according to the ancients, and the kidney controls sexual desire. So, people should not eat too much of it when they are far away from home and their spouses.
The ability of Goji berry to improve eyesight has been widely recognized. Liuwei Dihuang Pills is a commonly used formula in Chinese medicine. When two additional herbs—Goji berry and chrysanthemum—are added, the formula becomes Qiju Dihuang Pills, which has the effect of nourishing liver and kidney, clearing liver and improving eyesight.
Billberry is another small fruit that is reputed to improve eyesight. Billberry, blueberry and lingonberry are all species in the Ericaceae family. Like Goji berry (and tomato) they are true berries. It is said that, during World War II, British airplane pilots took billberry before night missions in order to improve their night vision. Berries are more than sweet fruits!
Goji berry injustice
Just as the Goji berry was entering the international market as a food and medicine, the safety of Goji berry in Ningxia was suddenly questioned by the international academic community. As a result, the export of Goji berries encountered obstacles and businesses suffered heavy losses.
The issue stemmed from an academic paper. In 1989, an Indian scholar, Professor Harsh, published an article in Current Science, an influential international journal. The article stated that Lycium barbarum L., a Chinese Goji berry from Ningxia, also grows in arid regions of India, and that its fruit contains 0.59% atropine. Atropine is a powerful alkaloid, used to treat nerve poisoning. Overdose of atropine can cause dizziness, mydriasis, rapid heart rate, irritability, and other serious adverse reactions. 0.59% is quite a high level for atropine. If this data were true, Goji berry would be dangerous to eat as a daily health food; indeed, if it were true, Goji would be valuable as a source for atropine. This paper triggered the “Indian Goji berry case”, which suddenly put China’s Ningxia Goji berry in a very embarrassing situation.
Goji berry has been used in China for more than 2,000 years. Neither in ancient books nor in modern clinical applications, has there ever been a record of the above-mentioned toxic side effects from ingesting Goji berry. What could explain the results of this Indian scientist?
At that time, we believed there were two possible explanations. One is that Goji berry actually contains atropine, but we never knew because China’s Ningxia Goji berry had not been tested. The second possibility was that the Indian scientist had made a mistake in identifying the material used for the study.
It is often harder to overturn an old conclusion than to draw a new conclusion. Sufficient evidence must be given and a lot of work must be done to convince people. After I came to Hong Kong, my first doctoral student’s dissertation title was selected as “The Pharmacological Research of Lycium barbarum”. We pursued a two-pronged approach, conducting domestic field investigations in China and getting in touch with relevant Indian scholars at the same time. Dr. Yong Peng and I went to Xinjiang and Ningxia to conduct field investigation on the varieties of Goji berry many times during the entire four years. Dr. Peng himself traveled to almost all of the production areas of Lycium barbarum in China. He collected a large number of original plant specimens and medicinal material samples.
Our test results showed that the content of atropine in Ningxia Goji berry is quite low and insignificant. The normal dose of Goji berry could not cause adverse effects on the human body.
Since we could not find a problem with Chinese Goji berry, we concluded that the problem must lie in India.
Twenty or thirty years ago, email and social media were not widespread; we had to correspond by letter. Over six months, we wrote to Professor Harsh many times, but there was no response. We sent a registered letter, but the post office couldn’t find him, and the letter couldn’t be delivered. After many inquiries, we learned that Professor Harsh passed away shortly after publishing his article. We could not find anyone who could help explain how he produced the data he published, or reached his conclusions.
Just as we were about to give up on solving this problem, another Indian scholar appeared. In 2003, while attending academic conferences and field investigations in South Africa, Dr. Yong Peng and I met Dr. Sauris Panda, a plant taxonomist from India. Our meeting at the Cape of Good Hope really did usher in a dawn of hope! The appearance of this Dr. Panda was extraordinarily timely. I immediately sent an invitation to Dr. Panda to come to Hong Kong for collaborative research. He made great contributions, helping us to crack the “ndian Goji berry case”. With the assistance of Dr. Panda, we collected all the plants of the Lycium genus distributed in India–none of them was Lycium barbarum.
The conclusion is that the “Goji” described in the paper by Professor Harsh from India was not Chinese Ningxia Goji at all.
For further confirmation, in 2004, Prof. Peigen Xiao, Dr. Yong Peng and I went to the Royal Botanic Garden (Kew Gardens) in London, to visit the Kew Herbarium, which houses more than 7.5 million pressed and dried plant specimens collected over centuries, from all over the world. In botanical taxonomy confusion can only be clarified after seeing or comparing original “type” specimens.
We went to the Royal Botanic Garden (Kew Gardens) in London to find the specimens of Indian
Goji (Left to right, Dr Yong Peng)
In Kew Gardens, we not only found the specimens of the plants described by Professor Harsh, but we also found living plants. Finally, with first-hand evidence, we clarified that the “Ningxia Goji berry” mentioned in the paper by Professor Harsh from India was actually not the Chinese Ningxia Goji berry (Lycium barbarum L.), but it was Lycium europaeum L. instead.
The case was closed, mystery solved. Based on his excellent pharmacognosy research on Goji berry, Yong Peng not only made Goji berry once again welcome in the global market, but also successfully obtained his doctorate degree.
Meanwhile, in recent years, a new member of the Lycium genus has entered the market. This is Black Wolfberry, which is now also being cultivated in Ningxia. Black wolfberry is distributed in the plateau area of Asia. It is exposed to strong ultraviolet rays all the year round, which gives it higher anthocyanin content and, thus, darker, almost black, color. It is the anthocyanins that support eye health.
Goji berry can be used as a medicinal herb or as a food. Goji berry is a valuable traditional Chinese medicine. It is famous, but not expensive. The Compendium of Materia Medica mentioned that Goji berry can be eaten dry or fresh. With the advancement of modern transportation and preservation technology, people all over the world-not just in Ningxia—can now taste fresh Goji berry.
Author information:
Dr, Zhao Zhongzhen， Former deputy dean and professor of the School of Chinese Medicine of Hong Kong Baptist University, distinguished professor of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, and founding director of the Compendium of Materia Medica Research Institute.
Dr. Li Liang Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong.
