Nutrient Dense Ingredients: Wild / Organic Goji Berry Fruit
Read a detailed breakdown of the taste, culinary use and recipes, main nutrient levels, scientific research and health benefits, top quality online sourcing options, how to grow organic goji berries in a garden, and where to wildcraft.
Goji Berry Taste, Culinary Use, and Recipes
Goji berries, when dried, have a rich, flavorful, slightly sweet, and slightly tart flavor. When fresh, such as is if you grow them at home (see details below), they have an even better flavor in my opinion.
They can be used in many different ways such as on their own as a snack, juiced, with smoothies, in a healthy breakfast cereal, as a tea or with other herbal infusions, cooked in soups, raw in salads, and to lightly sweeten healthy desserts.
Nutrient Dense Recipes With Goji Berry
~ Mixed Berry Smoothie
~ Mixed Berry Compote
Goji Nutrient Levels
Data below is for 10 grams (handful) of dried goji berries and is compiled from the USDA FoodData Central and CheckYourFood.com.
Macronutrients
~ Carbohydrates: 6g (5% RDA)
~ Amino acids: 1g (3% RDA)
~ Fatty acids: 0g
Micronutrients
~ Vitamin A: 800µg (100% RDA)
~ Iron: 0.68mg (6% RDA)
~ Fiber: 1.3g (5% RDA)
~ Calcium: 19mg (2% RDA)
~ Good source of the phytochemicals lutein, zeaxanthin, myricetin, and quercetin.
Goji Berry Research and Benefits
Goji berries have many proven health benefits with the most well researched being support of eye health.
Clinical Study Title: Goji Berry Intake Increases Macular Pigment Optical Density in Healthy Adults: A Randomized Pilot Trial. (Source)
Clinical Study Title: Goji berry effects on macular characteristics and plasma antioxidant levels. (Source)
Clinical Study Title: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical study of the general effects of a standardized Lycium barbarum (Goji) Juice, GoChi. (Source)
Clinical Study Title: Lycium barbarum (goji) juice improves in vivo antioxidant biomarkers in serum of healthy adults. (Source)
Goji Berry Sourcing, Growing, and Wildcrafting
Online Sourcing
Below is the source I use and recommend:
Growing Organically at Home
Because goji bushes take 2 – 3 years before they will fruit when starting from seed, I recommend purchasing a fruiting bush online and planting on the top level of a Garden Tower 2. The bush can be grown outdoors in USDA zones 5 – 9. Because the bush has vine like qualities, one bush can produce hundreds of berries! Here is a great free masterclass from Ron Finley about growing goji berries.
Wildcrafting
While native to China, goji plants now grow wild throughout Asia, Turkey, Russia, and even occasionally in the Americas. I had the good fortune to harvest wild goji berries in Arizona and Colorado. Eating them straight from a wild bush is an amazing experience.