Listing description
Lycium barbarum is one of two species of boxthorn in the
family Solanaceae from
which the goji berry or wolfberry is harvested, the other
being Lycium
chinense. It is native to southeastern Europe and Asia.
It is also known as Chinese wolfberry, Chinese
boxthorn, Himalayan
goji, Tibetan
goji, mede berry, barbary
matrimony vine, Duke of
Argyll's tea tree, Duke of
Argyll's tea plant, Murali (in
India), red medlar or matrimony vine.
Detailed description
Description
L. barbarum is a deciduous woody perennial plant, growing 1–3 m high.
It is grown in North China, primarily in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
Leaves and flower
L. barbarum leaves form on
the shoot either in an alternating arrangement or in bundles of up to three,
each having a shape that is either lanceolate (shaped like a spearhead longer
than it is wide) or ovate (egg-like). Leaf dimensions are 7-cm in length by 3.5-cm
broad with blunted or round tips.
The flowers grow in groups of one to three in the
leaf axils. The calyx (eventually ruptured by the growing berry) consists of
bell-shaped or tubular sepals forming short, triangular lobes. The corollaare lavender or light purple, 9–14 mm
wide with five or six lobes shorter than the tube. The stamensare structured with filaments longer than
the anthers. The anthers are
longitudinally dehiscent. Plants are self-pollinating, but may be cross pollinated by
insects. In the northern hemisphere, flowering occurs from June through
September and berry maturation from June to October, depending on the latitude,
altitude, and climate. where frost does not occur fruiting is continuous and
plants do not lose their leaves.
Fruit
L. barbarum produces a
bright orange-red, ellipsoid berry 1–2-cm deep. The number of seeds in each berry
varies widely based on cultivarand
fruit size, containing anywhere between 10–60 tiny yellow seeds that are
compressed with a curved embryo. The berries ripen from July to October in
the northern hemisphere.
Cultivation
China
The majority of commercially produced wolfberries
come from the Ningxia Hui
Autonomous Region of north-central China and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of western China, where they are
grown on plantations. In Zhongning County, Ningxia, wolfberry plantations
typically range between 40 and 400 hectares (100–1000 acres or 500–6000 mu) in area. As of 2005, over 10 million mu have been planted with wolfberries in Ningxia.[7]
Cultivated along the fertile aggradational floodplains of the Yellow River for more than
600 years, Ningxia wolfberries have earned a reputation throughout Asia for
premium quality sometimes described commercially as "red diamonds".[8] Government
releases of annual wolfberry production, premium fruit grades, and export are
based on yields from Ningxia, the region recognized with
·
The largest annual
harvest in China, accounting for 42% (13 million kilograms, 2001) of the
nation's total yield of wolfberries, estimated at approximately 33 million
kilograms (72 million pounds) in 2001.
·
Formation of an
industrial association of growers, processors, marketers, and scholars of
wolfberry cultivation to promote the berry's commercial and export potential.
·
The nation's only source
of therapeutic grade ("superior-grade") wolfberries used by
practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine.[9]
In addition, commercial volumes of wolfberries grow
in the Chinese regions of Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei. When ripe, the oblong, red
berries are tender and must be picked carefully or shaken from the vine into
trays to avoid spoiling. The fruits are preserved by drying them in full sun on
open trays or by mechanical dehydration employing a progressively increasing
series of heat exposure over 48 hours.
Wolfberries are celebrated each August in Ningxia
with an annual festival coinciding with the berry harvest.[7] Originally
held in Ningxia's capital, Yinchuan, the festival has
been based since 2000 in Zhongning County, an important center of wolfberry
cultivation for the region.[7] As Ningxia's
borders merge with three deserts, wolfberries are
also planted to control erosion and reclaim
irrigable soils from desertification.[10]
China, the main supplier of wolfberry products in
the world, had total exports generating US$120 million in 2004. This production
derived from 82,000 hectares farmed nationwide, yielding 95,000 tons of
wolfberries.[8]
Pesticide and fungicide use
Organochlorine pesticides are conventionally used in commercial wolfberry cultivation
to mitigate destruction of the delicate berries by insects. Since the early
21st century, high levels of insecticide residues
(including fenvalerate, cypermethrin, and acetamiprid) and fungicide residues (such
as triadimenol and isoprothiolane), have been
detected by the United States Food and Drug
Administration in some imported wolfberries and wolfberry
products of Chinese origin, leading to the seizure of these products.[11]
China's Green Food Standard, administered by the
Chinese Ministry of Agriculture's China Green Food
Development Center, does permit some amount of pesticide and herbicide
use. Agriculture in
the Tibetan plateau (where many "Himalayan" or
"Tibetan"-branded berries originate) conventionally uses fertilizers
and pesticides, making organic claims for berries originating here dubious.
PRICE
$43.52/KG OR $19.78/IB
For more information:
mobile: +2348039721941
contact person: emeaba uche
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