What are the latest production area distributions of goji berry?
The goji berries that people consume daily and use medicinally are mostly the fruit “goji berry” of Ningxia goji (Lycium barbarum). Ningxia goji has the largest cultivation area in China. The production areas of Ningxia goji are mainly distributed in northwest China, while the production areas of Chinese goji (Lycium chinense) are mainly distributed in northeast China, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, southern Gansu, as well as the provinces and regions of southwest, central, south and east China.
Chinese goji (Lycium chinense)
The production areas of Chinese goji (Lycium chinense) are distributed in northeast China, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, southern Gansu, as well as the provinces and regions of southwest, central, south and east China; it is cultivated or has escaped into the wild in Korea, Japan and Europe. It often grows on hillsides, wasteland, hilly land, saline-alkali land, roadsides and around village houses. In our country, besides being widely wild, it is also cultivated in various places for medicinal use, as a vegetable or for landscaping.
Ningxia goji (Lycium barbarum)
Ningxia goji (Lycium barbarum) evolved from wild goji in northwest China, and the existing cultivated varieties can still grow wild under suitable conditions. The medicinal goji in early China was the product collected from wild goji in the northwest region, and records of medicinal goji already appeared in medical books of the Qin and Han dynasties. Sun Simiao, a famous medical scientist in the early Tang Dynasty, stated in “Qianjin Yifang”: goji “from Ganzhou (present-day Zhangye area of Gansu Province) is the genuine one, and the one with thick and large leaves is the best.” Shen Kuo, a scientist of the Northern Song Dynasty, recorded in “Dream Pool Essays”: “Goji grown at the extreme border of Shaanxi is over one zhang tall and is sweeter and more beautiful than those from other places.”
Identification methods
According to the distribution characteristics of the two kinds of goji, a simple judgment can also be made: if found in eastern, central or southern China, it is basically Chinese goji (Lycium chinense) or its variety; if found in the northwest, it is basically Ningxia goji (Lycium barbarum) or its variety.