ABSTRACT
For some years, the goji berry (also known as the wolfberry), has been a traditional food and medicine in East Asia, has become increasingly popular in Europe and North America. A lot of products are commercialized under the name goji (derived from the Chinese name gouqi) on the health food market. Goji is a relatively new name given to Lycium barbarum and L. chinense, two close species with a long tradition of use as medicinal and food plants in East Asia, particularly in China [1]. L. barbarum is a solanaceous defoliated shrubbery that grows in China, Tibet, and other parts of Asia, and its fruits are 1-2 cm long, bright-orange-red ellipsoid berries. The fruits are collected in the summer and autumn, dried in the shade till the skin shrinks, and are then exposed to the sun until the outer skin becomes dry and hard, but the pulp is still soft. The fruits are either dried, or the fresh fruits may be squeezed for their juice that is then concentrated to preserve it for future use in making various beverages [2]. This chapter highlights the nutritional characteristics, antioxidant activity, health effects, and novel formulations of goji berry juice.
The goji berry is normally mixed with other fruits, in order to yield a more acceptable avor, and consumed as a juice. It is recognized for its high content of polysaccharides and protein, higher than those of the raspberry, blueberry, or black currant, but it is difcult to know its exact nutritional composition from
