Fruits of Goji Berry Lycium Chinensis a Medicinal Plant From China Are High in Antioxidants.

Gogi (Lycium chinensis) a medicinal plant from SE Asia that produces edible foliage, blue flowers, and dense strands of deep orange berries in both the spring and fall.  Goji is deciduous, a member of the family Solanaceae, is reportedly winter hardy to zone 4, and is also called Chinese boxthorne or wolfberry.  Chinese have used both the leaves and fruits of gogi as a medicinal plant for hundreds of years.  Recently, dried gogi fruit and juice have been imported to the US for sale in health food stores as a dietary supplement.  On a plant collection trip to China in 2004, we collected gogi seeds from the region around Nanjing, China.  Several hundred seeds were planted at Kentland Farm near Blacksburg, VA and selected for flower production, vigor, broad leaf foliage, and fruit production.  Two selections were vegetatively propagated and further evaluated in 2006. Goji berries from a high yielding line produced 308.1  ±1.84 Trolox Equivalents (micromols)/g DW, which was significantly higher than blackberry fruit, 122.3 ±15.0 Trolox Equivalents(micromols)/g DM, an acknowledged as a good source of antioxidants.  The fruit of goji do not have dessert quality and are best used for juicing or with other foods.  Goji is a promising perennial medicinal plant that can be successfully grown in much of the eastern US.