Goji Seed - Appearance and Uses

A Goji seed that germinates properly is about as prized as fresh Goji (Lycium barbarum) produce. Most Chinese herbal stores only offer dried Goji, and the sun-dried seeds in them may be difficult to grow properly.

The best source is, therefore, the fresh Lycium berry, which yields as much as 30 seeds per fruit but may be difficult to source in some parts of the US. Another source is specially packed Lycium seeds, although many of these fetch a rather hefty price.

Goji Seed Characteristics

When germinated, the seeds produce twin embryonic cotyledons, classifying the plant as a Dicotyledon or flowering plant.

Although smaller than the seeds of other plants in the nightshade family, particularly the tomato, Goji produces a tall plant that ranges from a meter to as much as three meters in height. Another Lycium plant used in traditional Chinese medicine, Lycium chinense, is more common to provinces in Southern China, and grows shorter than Goji.

Goji (Gou Qi Zi in Chinese) is most common in the Northern province of Ningxia. Its red, oval berries are around a couple of centimeters long.

China is the world's largest supplier of Lycium berries, tonics, and derivatives, regularly generating way over $100 million in exports each year. China has an annual estimated yield of a hundred thousand tons of Lycium berries harvested from over 80,000 hectares throughout the region.

However, Lycium berries have long been grown in Western countries as well, where they are known by such names as wolfberry, Chinese boxthorn, or matrimony vine.

But whether grown in the East or the West, the important thing is that the seeds you use are from organically grown plants that were never treated by sulfur or other chemical pesticides. The sturdy Goji does not really need chemicals to thrive even during the harsh winter.

Goji Seed - Pharmacological Use

The dark, small seeds of the Goji contain polyunsaturated fats (e.g., Omega-3 and Omega–6 acids).

The oil from Goji seeds are used to make herbal skin soap. When ground, the seeds may also be used as powdered juice concentrate or essential medicinal oil (similar to grape-seed oil extract).

This seed oil is packed with nutrients, most notably phytochemicals, such as Zeaxanthin, the carotenoid, which has been scientifically proven to promote good vision. Goji is said to be, ounce for ounce, the richest food source of Zeaxanthin thus far discovered.

Moreover, the phytochemical polysaccharide is known to be a signature ingredient of the Goji seed and berry, comprising as much as a third of the pulp weight of the latter. Polysaccharides extracted from Goji have been isolated in a couple of scientific experiments documented in the US and Europe, where they were proven to be beneficial to the immune system, particularly in inhibiting the growth of leukemia cells.

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