naturfoods™ - the nutritional power of the chinese wolfberry or goji berry

The Goji berry (Chinese Wolfberry or Lycium chinense) gets amazing comments from people who are following a natural lifestyle and who have added a small quantity of the dried berries to they’re daily eating habit. From improvements in vision and heart function to enhanced energy and reduced skin inflammation the berry is action packed and an almost critical addition to anyone looking for maximum nutritional benefit from the minimum of foods quantities – sustainable eating and maximal health and wellbeing at its finest.

The following nutritional breakdown on Goji berries is derived from Wikipedia and is added here for convenience – the original wiki post can be found here

Nutrient content

[edit] Macronutrients

Wolfberry contains significant percentages of a day’s macronutrient needs – carbohydrates, protein, fat and dietary fiber. 68% of the mass of dried wolfberries exists as carbohydrate, 12% as protein, and 10% each as fiber and fat, giving a total caloric value in a 100 gram serving of 370 (kilo)calories,^[31][32] of which 272 come from carbohydrates, and 90 of which come from fat.^[33]

[edit] Micronutrients and phytochemicals

Wolfberries contain many nutrients and phytochemicals^[31][32] including

• 11 essential and 22 trace dietary minerals
• 18 amino acids
• 6 essential vitamins
• 8 polysaccharides and 6 monosaccharides
• 5 unsaturated fatty acids, including the essential fatty acids, linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid
• beta-sitosterol and other phytosterols
• 5 carotenoids, including beta-carotene and zeaxanthin (below), lutein, lycopene and cryptoxanthin, a xanthophyll
• numerous phenolic pigments (phenols) associated with antioxidant properties

Select examples given below are for 100 grams of dried berries. Other nutrient data are presented in two reference texts^[31][32]

• Calcium. Wolfberries contain 112 mg per 100 gram serving, providing about 8-10% of the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI).
• Potassium. Wolfberries contain 1,132 mg per 100 grams dried fruit, giving about 24% of the DRI.
• Iron. Wolfberries have 9 mg iron per 100 grams (100% DRI).
• Zinc. 2 mg per 100 grams dried fruit (18% DRI).
• Selenium. 100 grams of dried wolfberries contain 50 micrograms (91% DRI)
• Riboflavin (vitamin B2). At 1.3 mg, 100 grams of dried wolfberries provide 100% of DRI.
• Vitamin C. Vitamin C content in dried wolfberries has a wide range (from different sources) from 29 mg per 100 grams to as high as 148 mg per 100 grams (respectively, 32% and 163% DRI).

Wolfberries also contain numerous phytochemicals^[31][32] for which there are no established DRI values. Examples:

• Beta-carotene: 7 mg per 100 grams dried fruit.
• Zeaxanthin. Reported values for zeaxanthin content in dried wolfberries vary considerably, from 25 mg per 100 grams [51] to 200 mg per 100 grams [52]. The higher values would make wolfberry one of the richest edible plant sources known for zeaxanthin content.[53] Up to 77% of total carotenoids present in wolfberry exist as zeaxanthin.[54]
• Polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are a major constituent of wolfberries, representing up to 31% of pulp weight.

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