The Goji berry plant grows in several regions across the globe and produces the Goji fruit, which has a great deal of health benefits and has been linked with the prevention and treatment of several different types of diseases recently, and has been used in other parts of the world for thousands of years to treat certain conditions, or just for general health. While the Goji berry has different names in different areas, and the true Goji berry is only grown in one location, most people think of any related berries that offer the same healthy benefits as the Goji fruit.
Etymology of the Goji Plant
Wolfberry is the actually name of the Goji berry from certain areas of the globe. There are actually two different fruits that are called Goji. One is Lycium Barbarum and the other is L. Chinense. Both of these are in the genus boxthorn and in the family Solanaceae. Solanaceae including potatoes, tomatoes, chili peppers and tobacco. Both of these species of Goji are native to the south east part of Europe and Asia.
Lycium Barbarum versus Lycium Chinense
Lycium Chinense is the vine variety of the Lycium plant. This vine can get up to a height of six meters and it will need a wall or some other solid surface. The vine can reach a height of around six meters and then it will start to expand the other way as well. This variety of the Goji plant comes to fruition in the early part of spring and at the beginning of the Winter season. However, when it is not producing berries it does produce leaves that are used to make tea. Lycium Chinense is semi-deciduous and drops off most of the leaves in Summer.
Lycium Barbarum is the shrub form of the Goji plant and this shrub gets to be pretty big on its own, even if it does not reach the same height as the vine form. Most Barbarum shrubs can get no larger than two and a half meters high, and two or three meters wide. This variety of Goji will grow anywhere that there is sunlight for the plant and it flowers during the spring and summer months. Also, you will need to trim this variety of the Goji plant each year and make sure that the soil has the ability to drain.
Regions Where the Goji Berry Plant Grows
Goji berries come from different regions of the world, and they are known by many different names. People that use Goji berries often prefer fruit from one particular area or another over other regions, with factors influencing their choice ranging from the taste of the Goji berry to the amount of nutrients that the fruit contains. Also, the choice often depends upon what type of Goji berries are available to the person buying them, or how expensive one certain Goji berry product is as opposed to others.
Goji Plants From Tibet
Goji berries from Tibet are actually called Tibetan berries, but are also sometimes called the Wolfberry. Tibet and China have been using these berries for a very long time for healing and prevention, as well as the areas of the Bhutan and Mongolia. Goji is extremely popular in these areas, being added to all kinds of foods whether they are hot or cold such as soups, teas and other beverages and the effects that those who take the Goji report include increased energy, a higher desire for sexual activity, aging retardation and treatment for diseases.
Goji berries from Tibet are the berries that actually are called Goji berries. Goji berries from the other two main regions are the variety of Lycium known as Wolfberries. The name Goji was used for all of the varieties of Lycium available today, borrowed in the 1990′s by marketing companies. The Tibetan Lycium Barbarum is different in the nutritional content of the berry itself and the taste and sometimes size differs as well. Many people choose this variety of Lycium over those from other regions, regarding it as the original “Goji” and while it technically is the only berry that can truly be called Goji, the health effects and nutrients differ very little from other types marketed under the same name.
The Goji Berry Grown in Australia
The Goji plant grown in Australia is actually the Lycium Chinense species, called the Wolfberry which is not the same as the L. Barbarum but is often marketed under the name Goji berry. Australia grows the Wolfberry commercially but also has many private parties that grow their own Wolfberry plants. However, there are some private parties that do grow the variety of Lycium Barbarum that are native to Tibet, because they prefer that particular species, but they are not native to the area.
Goji Plants in the Himalayas
There are also Goji plants grown in the Himalayas, and the name of the region is used by marketing companies to market what is sometimes purported to be the most effective and nutritious variety of Goji, but in fact, the Goji berries from the Himalayas are the same species Lycium Chinense that is grown in China, and is commonly called the Wolfberry. These plants grow all over in the Himalayas, and are very resilient. They grow in the Himalayas in all kinds of soil and in extreme weather conditions.
While there are not actually that many differences in the nutritional content between Goji plants from Australia and the Goji plants from other areas, whether they are Barbarum or Chinense species, there is a difference in taste. Many people say that they prefer the Goji berry from the Himalayas because it is sweeter than Goji from other regions. However, as far as the health benefits and the nutrients that the Goji provides, it is nearly the same as the other species of Lycium that you can find growing in Australia, Tibet and other parts of the country. There is one difference that is important. Because of the difference in taste, it is often Himalayan Goji berries that are used to make Goji juice.