Goji

The fact, the myth and the fiction.

+ How we grow the berry.

Written and Published by

Mark & Pauline Beaumont
BEAUTANICALS AUSTRALIA

The myth and the facts...

Goji or more correctly... Gou qizi
There seems to be an enormous amount of misinformation circulating regarding the nutritional and healing
properties of the berries and there is also some confusion
as to the geographical origins of the plants.
The Australian climate seems perfectly suited to these
plants, which may or may not have come from the Tibetan plateau, but have certainly flourished in the Ningxia,
Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, and Xinjiang Provinces in China from where 90% of the export market is
sourced.
If there do happen to be amazing crops of the plant
somewhere in the mystic Himalayas then the growers are
keeping the berries to themselves, as there are no recorded exports of any Lycium plant products from that area.
Lyciums also thrive to a great extent in Japan where they
are used in traditional Kampo remedies.
Traditional Chinese and Japanese Medicines holds a
strong belief that this fruit can significantly extend life.
The root bark, (from L.chinense only, not L.barbarum) as
decoction, certainly aids respiratory ailments. We have
and do use it for such complaints.

Goji is really no stranger to Australia though.

Some decades ago, a few bright but lazy farmers brought
the African Boxthorn (Lycium fericossimum) into the
country to use as hedgerows.
Unfortunately, they did not bother to maintain these and
it has become a major weed in many States of Australia.
The berries are very attractive to birds, which naturally
encourages the spread. This problem becomes minimum
at best, if the berry is harvested and the plant maintained.
If properly maintained and trimmed often, these plants
will also produce berries of exceptional quality.
I say this with qualification, because we have actually
grown the herbs and can speak from personal experience.

Lycium barbarum
Growing from seed
If you have purchased fresh lycium berries, (Only possible
during the fruiting season) they will come in plastic zip lock
bags to maintain their moisture and viability.
The following instructions apply if you have picked your
own berries and are wanting to plant on.
Try and spread the pulp of the berry around.
Its a sticky business but well worth the end result. Extracting and planting the individual seeds usually just
cuts down on the viability and is needlessly time consuming.
Three parts fill a tray or pot with seed raising mix, spread
the berry pulp and seed and then sprinkle seed raising
mix and sand lightly over the berry to about 3mm - 5mm
in depth.
If you have purchased dry seed, it will need to be soaked
for at least a day before planting.
Then carry one as above.
Germination is usually around 7 days but will vary with
soil temperature.
Planting dry seed is as effective as presoaking but will
add another week to germination time.

Once they have germinated.......

The pots must not dry out so be careful, but, after they

have broken the soil surface they do not like to be too

wet.
Once they have achieved their second set of leaves you
can tease them apart and give them an individual pot.
Keep them reasonably protected until they have reached
15 cm in height.
They will usually only generate one stem only in pots so
it is best to put them out as soon as the weather allows so
that they can shoot multiple stems.
The more stems, the more berries. As with most young
seedlings, they require regular watering, but also need to
have some air circulation within the pot as well.
If the seed raie mix that you have used, holds onto the
water over the period of a day, then it is possibly too
dense and is retaining too much moisture for the roots to
breathe.
Some coarse potting mix will help to remedy this situation, added to the seed raise mix when you transplant.
The image to the left is a group of seedlings plucked out
and repotted singularly, ready to grow in their own pot.
This is the right age for them to be transplanted.
As with most young seedlings, they require regular watering, but also need to have some air circulation within
the pot as well.
As with most young seedlings, they require regular watering, but also need to have some air circulation within

the pot as well.

If the seed raising mix that you have used, holds onto
the water over the period of a day, then it is possibly too
dense and is retaining too much moisture for the roots to
breathe.
Some coarse potting mix will help to remedy this situation, added to the seed raise mix when you transplant.
The image to the left is a group of seedlings plucked out
and repotted singularly, ready to grow in their own pot.
This is the right age for them to be transplanted.
Overall, they are a very hardy plant but they tend to sulk
a little when posted or transplanted.
Their normal sulking position is drooping, which they
can maintain for one to two weeks.
So dont think that you have done the wrong thing or
that it means certain death.

Planting out in the garden

We generally plant our new plants out in the afternoons
and water daily for at least a month.
We use seaweed extract to help them overcome transplant shock and as Spring settles in, we fertilize with fish
emulsion.

There is a natural inclination not to want to prune the

long shoots, but if you do trim off the growing tips, the
plants will send up new stems from the root.
The more stems, the more berries.
Treating the plants this way we always get some flower
and fruit in the first year.

The Goji Seasons

We have them growing in sandy loam, heavy clay and
highly composted soil and each seems to do as well
as the other. They need a good 8 hours of sun per day
though.
Ours are in full sun and even if they get a little limp in
the middle of a scorching summer they brighten back up
after a water.
The images following, show the extent of pruning and
regrowth, once established.
The shrub variety can be prunned back almost to the
ground, but we prefer to prune it to the top of the stake
that keeps it tidy.
The bush sends forth its spring shoots in an umbrella
shape that is convenient from which to pick the berries
with ease.

Summer Growth, pre flowering on a

2 year old Lycium barbarum

Winter prune back to maintain easy shape.

Spring regrowth on old wood.

Growing the Vine variety

Lycium chinense
Lycium chinense or Wolfberry or even Duke of Argyle
Tea, is a very different growing experience to the Lycium
barbarum. There is no denying the close family relationship between the two, L.chinense behaves in the garden
in a very unique way.
It has a growth habit more closely resembling a grape
vine than a bush.
Because of this habit, it is very suited to potted planting,
as long as the pot is large enough to allow the horizontal
expansion of root.
Wider is better than deep.
Then carry on, as with the L.barbarum.
Plants certainly need something for support. The lateral
branches can easily reach up to 6 metres in length.
Once established, they are not bothered by frost or snow
but that will take two seasons in your soil for that to happen.
They do the best in full sun and can cope with a drying
out without any setback as long as they are settled in.
We generally plant our new plants out at the very end of
winter and water daily for at least a month.
We use Kelp extract to help them overcome transplant
shock and as Spring settles in we fertilize with Fish
Emulsion.
The plant responds to humidity by developing a white

coating on the leaves.

This is not a problem for the plant but does worry some
growers as it does look like a rampant fungal infection.
There is no need to deal with this occurence as it will
disappear as soon as the humidity drops.
We generally plant our new plants out at the very end of
winter and water daily for at least a month.
We use Kelp extract to help them overcome transplant
shock and as Spring settles in we fertilize with Fish
Emulsion.
The plant responds to humidity by developing a white
coating on the leaves. This is not a problem for the plant
but does worry some growers as it does look like a rampant fungal infection. There is no need to deal with this
occurence as it will disappear as soon as the humidity
drops.
This variety tend to develop very long lateral branches
from which verticals shoot when seasonal growth is at its
peak.
Allow the horizontals to keep going as they wish, as the
fruit will come on the vertical growth.
Treating the plants this way we always get some flower
and fruit in the first year.
Sometimes 18 month old plants fruit at the beginning
of summer and just as you are about to prune you may
notice that they are flowering again.
If so, the pruning should be delayed while you enjoy the
second fruiting.

Growing Goji Commercially in Australia

The idea of growing Goji berry for the commercial market, either as dried berry or fresh, has been considered by
many over the last few years.
The Australian climate is certainly accommodating to the
plant, but unfortunately Australias labour market is not.
Both varieties of Goji, fruit on a progressive basis, that is,
they fruit along the branches, one at a time. This means
that some fruit will be picked today but more will be
ready tomorrow. This form of fruiting requires daily visitation as the fruit must be ripe to pick. It will not ripen
off the bush.
If the effort of picking is not an issue for you then it can
be quite a rewarding bush to grow.
Plant bushes 1.5 metres apart in rows 3 metres apart.
This will allow for convenient picking of berry. Lycium
barbarum will sucker up between the bushes in the second and third year, and these new bushes will replace the
old ones after six to seven years.
Lycium chinense will also send up suckers and, if these
are supported on a fence arrangement, they can be woven into the existing vines, creating quite a dense area of
fruiting branches.
Fertilization can be applied twice per year, just before
flowering, but little else is required.
Winter prunning of L.barbarum is essential if shape and
viable branches are to be expected.

Herbal Applications
Eastern & Western
According to a 1997 herbal publication by Hale Publishing and written by Brigitte Mars, the correct listing of
the herb is as such:
Latin Name: Lycium chinense
Alternate Names:
Matrimony Vine, Boxthorn, Wolfberry, Kou Chi Tzu
Family: SOLANACEAE
Parts Used: Berries, root bark.
Properties:
Alterative, Antitussive, Aphrodisiac, Blood Tonic, Energy
Tonic, Eye Tonic, Febrifuge, Hemostatic, Immune Stimulant, Liver Tonic, Nutritive, Rejuvenative, Yin Tonic.
Internal Uses:
Anemia, Asthma, Back Weakness, Bronchitis, Convalescence, Diabetes, Excessive Thirst, Fever, Hiccups,
Impotence, Knee Weakness, Leukorrhea, Night Sweats,
Nocturnal Emissions, Pneumonia, Spermatorrhea, Tuberculosis, Vertigo
Internal Applications: Tea, Tincture, Berries.
Improves night blindness, blurred vision and poor vision
due to malnutrition.
Lycii helps to remove toxins from the kidneys and liver.
It can also protect the liver from damage as a result of
toxin exposure.

Topical Uses: Insect Bites

Topical Applications:
Leaves used as a poultice to treat insect bites.
Culinary uses:
Cook Lycii berries into soups or grain dishes. Use instead of raisins to add to oatmeal. Use in trail mix, wine.
Young leaves and shoots are edible.
Energetics: Sweet, Neutral, Moist.
Chemical Constituents: Beta carotene, vitamin C, B-1,
and B-2, linoleic acid, betaine, beta-sitosterol, physaline.
Contraindications:
Avoid in cases of acute fever as it may drive the illness
deeper. Do not use in instances where one is excessively
hot, or in cases of diarrhea or bloatedness. Safe for daily
consumption.
We have completed BRIX readings on our fresh fruit
and can confirm that the fruit is consistently at least 36
on the scale.
By way of comparison, Cherries, in excellent condition
rate at 25.
Both varieties are deciduous but at different times of the
year.
The dried berries are usually for sale in the health food
stores as Goji, but that frequently means a combination
of L.chinense and L.barbarum and L.fericossimum.

Herbal Applications
Eastern & Western
These excerpts have been taken from the Materia Medica
of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and I see no reason to
doubt any of the traditional research into the herb by the
Chinese as they have been in contact with the plant for
thousands of years and have used it on an amazing range
and variety of people over that time.
Experience has to count above wishful thinking.
The Chinese practictioners have never differentiated between varieties and use the two interchangeably.
The medicinal properties of the plant however, are
treated very differently.

Wolfberry bark (Dig upi)

Pharmaceutical Name: Cortex Lycii

Botanical Name: 1. Lycium chinensis Mill.; 2. Lycium
barbarum L.
Common Name: Wolfberry bark, Lycium bark
Source of Earliest Record: Shennong Bencao Jing
Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:
The roots are dug in spring or autumn. The bark is peeled
off the roots, dried in the sun and cut into pieces.
Properties & Taste: Sweet or tasteless and cold
Meridians: Lung and kidney
Functions: 1. To cool blood;
2. To clear heat in the lungs

Indications & Combinations:

1. Heat in the blood and deficient yin manifested as afternoon fever and night sweating. Wolfberry bark (Digupi)
is used with Anemarrhena rhizome (Zhimu) and Turtle
shell (Biejia).
2. Heat in the lungs and deficient yin manifested as
cough, asthma and cough with blood. Wolfberry bark
(Digupi) is used with Imperata rhizome (Baimaogen)
and Biota tops (Cebaiye).
Dosage: 6-15 g
Cautions & Contraindications: This herb is contraindicated in cases with fever due to common cold or weakness of the spleen accompanied by diarrhea.

Wolfberry fruit (Gou qizi)

Pharmaceutical Name: Fructus Lycii
Botanical Name: Lycium barbarum L.
Common Name: Wolfberry fruit, Lycium fruit
Source of Earliest Record: Shennong Bencao Jing
Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:
The ripe fruit is gathered in the period around the Summer Solstice (tenth solar term), and then it is dried in the
shade.
Properties & Taste: Sweet and neutral
Meridians: Liver, kidney and lung
Functions:
1. To tonify kidneys and promote the production of es-

sence;
2. To nourish the liver and brighten the eyes;
3. To moisten the lungs.
Indications & Combinations:
1. Deficient yin of the liver and kidneys manifested as
dizziness, blurred vision and decreased eyesight.
Wolfberry fruit (Gou qizi) is used with Chrysanthemum
flower (Ju hua) and Prepared rehmannia root (Shudihuang) in the formula Qiju Dihuang Wan.
Dosage: 5-10 g

RECIPES
Wolfberry Soup
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons oil
250 g/8 oz tender pork, sliced thinly
3 cups Lycium leaves, washed and dried
1 cup of Lycium berries (fresh or re-hydrated)
6 slices fresh ginger
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
1.5 litres/3 pints/6 cups chicken or pork stock
2 teaspoons sugar
salt and pepper to taste
few drops sesame oil
METHOD
Heat oil and stir-fry the pork slices until they lose just
their pinkness.
Add leaves and stir-fry until wilted.
Add ginger slices and juice squeezed from the tablespoon
of grated ginger.
Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer.
Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste and just before serving stir in the sesame oil.

Paulines Goji Chutney

This recipe is made from the fresh berries and herbs and
spices that we grow in our garden.
6 Delicious Apples - cut small
1 cup of Lycium Berries
2 inch long piece of Ginger - finely chopped or half a
teaspoon of dried Ginger
4 cloves of Garlic - finely chopped
2 fresh Red Chillies - finely chopped
2 cups of White Sugar - White sugar is best as it creates a
beautiful colour
Half a cup of White Vinegar
2 teaspoons of Nigella Seeds
4 Cardamon Pods - open and use just the seeds
1 teaspoon of Mixed Spice
Put apples, sugar and 2 cups of water in a heavy stainless
steel pan over a medium heat.
Heat and stir until sugar is dissolved.
Add all the other ingredients and bring to boil, turn on
low and simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes or until thick.
You can remove it at the 20 minute stage and blend the
mix if you would like it a bit smoother.
If you wish to do this keep a quarter of the Lycium Berries aside or add more berries after you have blended the
mix.
I usually add more after blending, as this adds colour and

a burst of flavor upon eating.

Return to a low heat for about 5 or 10 minutes after
blending to heat the newly added berries through.
Remove from stove and let stand for 30 minutes before
bottling.
Serve with Meats (hot or cold)
Chicken and Fish.
Use as a salsa with chips or biscuits.
Sandwiches or fresh crusty bread.
Makes a fresh salad sing!
This quantity makes approximately 3 x 500g jars and
keeps for about two months in the
refrigerator if you sterilize your jars properly and can
stop yourself from eating it!
Hope you enjoy.

Written and Published by

Mark & Pauline Beaumont
BEAUTANICALS AUSTRALIA