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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

Kingdom: Plant

Origin in PRC Pharmacopoeia: Lycium barbarum L. (PRC Pharmacopoeia)

Origin (other sources): Lycium chinense Mill.; Lycium barbarum L.* [= L. halimifolium Mill.]; Lycium dasystemum Pojark.; Lycium potaninii Pojark.

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.

Warnings: 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.

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