LYCIUM FRUIT

(Syn. Wolfberry; gouqizi)

Plant Source: Lycium barbarum L. and L. chinense Mill. (Family Solanaceae).
Part Used: Ripe fruit.

Properties: Yin tonic, improves vision, benefits complexion, nourishes Liver and Kidney, replenishes vital essence (semen), antioxidant, antimutagenic.

Most Common Traditional Uses: General weakness, lack of energy, aching back and knee, tinnitus, dizziness, diabetes, blurred vision, cough, wet dreams, sexual inadequacies.

Modern/Recent Uses:

Internal - Toxic side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

External - Burns, ulcers, bedsores, frostbite, furuncles.

One of the most well-known traditional properties of lycium fruit is its ability to improve vision. This has been documented for over fifteen centuries. Modern scientific studies have finally supplied some substantiation to this property. It turns out lycium fruit not only contains high amounts of b -carotene (~ 8 mg/100g) but this b -carotene is in a highly biologically active form which is readily utilized by the body.

However, b -carotene is not the only nutrient in lycium fruit. It is also reported to be very rich in amino acids (half in free form), other vitamins (B1, B2, C, nicotinic acid, etc.), and polysaccharides that have antioxidant and immunomodulating effects in experimental animals as well as other nutrients. Since oral administration of lycium fruit to humans in various studies have also improved their immune functions, raised the serum levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and hemoglobin but lowered the level of lipid peroxides as well as reduced senility symptoms, the polysaccharides obviously are an important active component of lycium fruit. Yet only about 25 years ago, scientists in America were still viewing polysaccharides only as carbohydrates (like starch and sugars) that supply our body with energy and had no other functions. They were so used to looking for instant response in their search for fast-acting drugs from nature that they either didn't know how to deal with anything slow-acting or did not have the patience that is normally a characteristic of the Old World. It was only when more and more evidence of these other properties of polysaccharides kept emerging from Japan, China and Europe that American scientists started to pay attention. Now, they have finally acknowledged that certain carbohydrates (polysaccharides) play important roles in our health other than simply supplying energy.

Another well-known and long-documented traditional property of lycium fruit is its ability to "benefit complexion and maintain one's beauty"; it is also considered to have anti-aging properties. To drug-oriented American scientists, this certainly sounds ridiculous. But various studies have shown lycium fruit to have numerous beneficial effects, including, antioxidant, immunopotentiating, antimutagenic, hypoglycemic, hypolipemic, hypotensive, etc., all of which contribute to the slowing down of the aging process or help us live longer.

The beautifying property of lycium fruit may have some scientific basis after all which may justify its use in skin-care cosmetics, as recent laboratory studies not only demonstrated its antioxidant effect but also its ability to increase dermal hydroxyproline level in mice, indicating increased collagen synthesis. All these effects are good for the skin.