Goji berries

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In valleys of Tibet and Mongolia there is a special berry that the locals use and cherish so much that they honor it in special celebrations. Some say they taste between a cranberry and a cherry .... others say they taste of raspberry and plum .... try one and see!
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Goji berries, goji juice, and snack bars and other products containing goji berries have become increasing popular over the past couple of years. Part of this is due to their legendary health-promoting properties. Once only found in health food stores in the U.S. and Western Europe, goji berries are now appearing in supermarkets as well.

The Goji berry grows in profusion in remote wild areas with vines reaching over twenty feet. The small, round, red berries are harvested in the late summer by being shaken onto collection trays, then washed, inspected and oven dried at controlled low temperature; they are inspected and tested again before packaging. Every year's harvest is tested for purity to assure they are free of any contaminants, chemicals, pesticides, sulfur and mold.

Tasty Recipes
• Goji Berry Smoothie

Health Benefits
The Goji berries antioxidant qualities and phytonutrient energy is unequaled.
They have been used for 6,000 years by herbalists in China, Tibet and India to:

* protect the liver
* help eyesight
* improve sexual function and fertility
* strengthen the legs
* boost immune function
* improve circulation
* promote longevity

Goji berries are one of the most nutritionally dense foods known. The list of nutrients, in high concentration, is impressive: plant-derived polyphenolic antioxidants; carotenoids such as beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, lutein, beta-cryptoxanthin, and lycopene; vitamins C, B1, B2, and niacin; more than 30 essential and trace minerals, including zinc, iron, copper, calcium, selenium, and phosphorus; polysaccharides; and 18 amino acids such as isoleucine, tryptophan, leucine, and arginine. Goji is truly the best food to up your body’s antioxidant activity!

Nutritional analysis per serving:
[Serving Size 28g ~1 oz.] Calories 112, Calories From Fat 14, Total Fat 1.4g, Sodium 84mg, Total Carbohydrate 28g, Dietary Fiber 4g - 15% daily value, Sugars 4g, Protein 4g, Vitamin A 170% daily value, Calcium 6% daily value, Vitamin C 20% daily value, Iron 12% daily value.

History
The scientific name for goji berry is Lycium barbarum, and the popularly used name “goji” apparently came from the common Chinese name for the berry. An additional common name often used in the west is “wolfberry”, and the berry has yet several other names, which are not frequently used. The name used most often in Japan in KUKONOMI. Some sources say there are actually two very closely related species, Lycium barbarum and Lycium chinense, whose fruit is called the goji berry; other sites insist there is only one species, Lycium barbarum. Claims for more than one or two species may be just marketing ploys.

The exact origin of the goji plant is unknown, and although goji berries are reportedly grown in several different areas of the world, any goji berries you purchase will most likely come from China, where the berry has been used in traditional herbal medicine for about two thousand years. The berry is of such importance in China that every August in Ningxia a festival is held at the time of the goji berry harvest.