Thursday, September 3, 2015

Domesticated vs. Wild Goji

Goji berries seem to be everywhere these days in the fancier markets and in the health food stores.  They're putting them in energy bars and fancy $5 sports drinks.  They provide a nice deep red color and are supposed to contain a high ratio of plant based protein as well as other nutrients like beta-carotene that are important for health and wellness.

Here at Silverleaf, we are experimenting with two different types.  Our research indicates that these two varieties are known as Lycium barbarum, or Ninxia goji, and Lycium chinense which is a wilder plant, called chinese boxthorn and is grown for it's foliage as well as for the bright red berries which adorn both types of plants.  We will refer to Lycium barbarum as goji and Lycium chinense as boxthorn.

Goji (domesticated)

Goji is grown commercially in the Ninxia region and in the surrounding area for it's berries and has proven effective at reducing run-off and erosion in these areas.  It is a highly domesticated plant and we purchased our genetic material from a vendor who called it the supergrade variety, most likely due to it's ability to produce higher quantities of berries that are capable of achieving the highest grade for goji of the same name.

The domesticated variety was developed in the 70's in order to produce fruit which was more useful commercially.  The result is a plant which has proven to be an amazing plant which is capable of producing a wonderful product with minimal inputs and has proven useful at mitigating erosion in degraded soils.

Boxthorn (wild)

Also known as wild goji, Chinese Boxthorn is a plant which survives in the wild, both throughout China and here in the Americas wherever Chinese immigrants lived and worked over the past several hundred years.  The leaves are wider then the commercial varieties of goji and the fruit is softer, with a 'more interesting' kind of flavor.

Wild boxthorn is a varied type of plant that grows all over the world in various forms, including the US, both imported varieties and a variety in the southeast, known as The Christmas Berry.  Perhaps because the berries tend to remain on the vine until well into Christmas in North Carolina, where it is native.  

This plant is also the Fructus Lycii that is spoken of in the ancient chinese medicinal texts, although most of what is currently sold in asian markets as Fructus Lycii is actually the commercial variety of goji berry and not this heirloom type of variety.  The leaves, flowers and even the root of this plant are used in traditional medicine.

Both

Goji plants are capable of surviving extreme drought, both because of their ability to send down roots deep into the soil and because of their small leaves, which will progressively die back when water becomes scarce, protecting the parent plant's water supply.

Our experiments show that Goji is capable of growing in complete shade and even tends to thrive without direct sunlight.  It also makes an excellent houseplant.

Goji is being used currently all over the entire world to fight back against desertification and to reclaim arid soils.  Goji can be an effective food source under a great variety of conditions.  Actual nutritious content of goji berries varies greatly depending on the growing techniques used and the quality of soil.  Goji berries are delicious dried, or as they are currently being produced in eastern europe, as jams and jellies.


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