Goji Berries (枸杞)

Goji berry also know as wolfberry in English is a berry cultivated mostly in Asia. It is a seed of either Lycium Barbarum or Lycium Chinese. They could only be differentiated by their taste, one has more sugar content than the other.

It has been know to be an ancient tradition Chinese medicine grown since the 3rd century CE. Test was carried out on the berry in a test tube (vitro) and in living organisms (vivo) but no clinic effect of the extracts (leave, seed, fruit, root of wolfberry) had been discovered as at 2018 but unidentified photochemical from the extracts when tested in vitro could inhibit the functions of other drugs like drugs for diabetes or hypertension.

Since the 21st century has dry wolfberry been marketed to the west and it is included in food like yogurt, fruit  juices, tea e.t.c. It is believed to contain medicine to cure cancer. It was believed to be the fruit a Chinese man called Li Qing Yuen consumes daily which made him live 256 years on earth. It is being marketed as a superfruit. Because of the news surrounding the fruit, FDA as tagged it a new drug which would affect the sales of this fruit in America.

As mentioned in our previous post, TCM might not be completely scientifically proven but imagine a fruit that existed since the 3rd century still making news in the 21st century. Irrespective of the medicine it contains, it is a healthy fruit and could be consumed.