Medicinals
gǒu qǐ zǐ / 枸杞子 / 枸杞子 / lycium [berry];
Latin pharmacognostic name: Lycii Fructus
Alternate English names: matrimony vine [fruit]; goji fruit
Alternate Chinese names: 杞子 qǐ zǐ; 枸杞 gǒu qǐ; 茍起子 gǒu qǐ zǐ; 狗奶子 gǒu nǎi zǐ; 枸杞果 gǒu qǐ guǒ; 枸茄茄 gǒu qié qié; 血枸子 xuè gǒu zǐ; 血杞子 xuè qǐ zǐ; 枸杞豆 gǒu qǐ dòu
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal and alimentary
Category: Supplementing agents / Yīn-supplementing agents
Properties: Sweet; balanced.
Channel entry: liver and kidney channels. (some sources also say lung channel.)
Indications:
Supplements the liver and kidney, brightens the eyes: Insufficiency of the liver and kidney, manifesting in conditions such as aching lumbus, seminal emission, dizziness, loss of visual acuity, clouded vision, or dispersion-thirst.
Dosage & Method:
Oral: 5–15g in decoctions.
Warning:
Contraindicated in externally contracted repletion heat, in spleen vacuity with dampness, and in diarrhea.
Product Description:
The dried fruit is ovate, spindle-shaped, or elliptical. It is 1–1.6 cm long, and 5–7 mm thick. The skin is bright or dark red with a good sheen, turning black and dull when stored for a long time. At one end is the vestige of a stalk, appearing as a white fleck, and at the other there is a small, nipple-like protuberance. Amid the soft, moist, semitranslucent flesh are 10 kidney-shaped seeds, 2.5 mm long, and 2 mm wide, and 0.5 mm thick. These are earth color, sometimes darker at the edges, and bear fine depressions on the surface, and hilum on the indented side.
Quality:
Large red fruits with few seeds and sweet flesh are best.
Product Area:
Lycium chinense: Most parts of China. Lycium barbarum: Níngxià, Gānsū, Qīnghǎi, Inner Mongolia.