Quality Variation of Goji (Fruits of Lycium spp.) in China: A Comparative Morphological and Metabolomic Analysis

Abstract

Goji (fruits of Lycium barbarum L. and L. chinense Mill.) has been used in China as food and medicine for millennia, and globally has been consumed increasingly as a healthy food. Ningxia, with a semi-arid climate, always had the reputation of producing best goji quality (daodi area). Recently, the increasing market demand pushed the cultivation into new regions with different climates. We therefore ask: How does goji quality differ among production areas of various climatic regions? Historical records are used to trace the spread of goji production in China over time. Quality measurements of 51 samples were correlated with the four main production areas in China: monsoon (Hebei), semi-arid (Ningxia, Gansu, and Inner Mongolia), plateau (Qinghai) and arid regions (Xinjiang). We include morphological characteristics, sugar and polysaccharide content, antioxidant activity, and metabolomic profiling to compare goji among climatic regions. Goji cultivation probably began in the East (Hebei) of China around 100 CE and later shifted westward to the semi-arid regions. Goji from monsoon, plateau and arid regions differ according to its fruit morphology, whereas semi-arid goji cannot be separated from the other regions. L. chinense fruits, which are exclusively cultivated in Hebei (monsoon), are significantly lighter, smaller and brighter in color, while the heaviest and largest fruits (L. barbarum) stem from the plateau. The metabolomic profiling separates the two species but not the regions of cultivation. Lycium chinense and samples from the semi-arid regions have significantly (p < 0.01) lower sugar contents and L. chinense shows the highest antioxidant activity. Our results do not justify superiority of a specific production area over other areas. Instead it will be essential to distinguish goji from different regions based on the specific morphological and chemical traits with the aim to understand what its intended uses are.

Traditional Chinese Medicine: From Aqueous Extracts to Therapeutic Formulae

“…In Yao's group, the antioxidant activities of Daodi Goji and non-Daodi Goji were studied, and the IC50 values of the radical-scavenging effect for both Goji treatment groups were determined to be even higher than the positive control group which was treated by Quercetin. Notably, the Daodi Goji shows the highest anti-oxidant activities of all tested materials in this study [44].…”

“…Traditional Chinese Medicine: From Aqueous Extracts to Therapeutic Formulae DOI: http://dx.doi.org /10.5772/intechopen.85733 was the first, approved by GAP, in China for the large-scale standardised plantation [43]. Goji (fruits of Lycium barbarum L. and Lycium chinense Mill), which has been applied in TCM treatment for millennia to treat imbalance of yin, is now experiencing an increased demand as it is also seen as 'super food' and recommended as potent antioxidant in the Western world [44,45]. The Ningxia province is recognised as the Daodi region for Goji, but the increasing market led to new cultivations in other regions such as in the Hubei, Qinghai and Xinjiang province, where the geographical and climatic conditions are different to the Daodi region.…”

Identification of fruit size associated quantitative trait loci featuring SLAF based high-density linkage map of goji berry (Lycium spp.)

“…In fact, some physiologically associated traits comparison has been done practically and identified similar genetic positions . Before 90s, there was no QTL comparison has been made related to fruit-producing crops until the identification of fruit associated traits in tomato [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. Ben Chaim et al (2001) [3];…”

Identification of fruit size associated quantitative trait loci featuring SLAF based high-density linkage map of goji berry (Lycium spp.)

“…Some physiologically associated trait comparison has been done practically and identi ed similar genetic positions . Before the 90s, there was no QTL comparison has been made relating to fruit-producing crops until the identi cation of fruit associated traits in tomato [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

“…Somehow, due to recent market demand goji cultivation areas have stretched to new regions over different climatic zones covering from 82 o E and 115 o E to 30 o N and 45 o N [11]. Particularly, cultivation of L. barbarum L. is largely extended to semi-arid climate temperate continental; Ningxia, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Plateau continental; Qinghai and Continental arid climate; Xinjiang [12], whereas L. chinense Mill.…”