Goji berries and Vitamin C

This is for anyone researching goji berries, in the hope they’ll come across this page, and not just accept the usual marketing page they come across. Goji berries are a great food. But they do not contain 500 times more Vitamin C than oranges, as is so often misleadingly claimed on marketing sites. Goji berries contain 2500mg/100g, while oranges contain 50mg/100g Vitamin C. That’s 50 times more! Still a great food, but not quite what is claimed.

UPDATE: It turns out goji berries don’t even have 50 times more Vitamin C than oranges. They seem to be up there with lychees and brussel sprouts, i.e. only slightly more!

43 comments

  3. It’s not quite as easy as just popping a few goji berries and getting that A. 🙂 Good food helps you concentrate – goji berries can be a part of that.

    Avoiding junk like Coke will probably help much more!

  4. my 4 year old son loves goji berries. He eats them everyday!!! I just wanted to know if it is safe for him to be eating them?

  5. As far as I’m concerned it’s absolutely safe to be eating them 🙂 The only thing to watch is their sugar content, as they are a dried fruit, and one can easily eat a lot more than if they were fresh. “Dilute” them with some nuts, and make sure he drinks enough water, and your four-year old will be eating fantastically.

  6. regarding vit C. Even your estimate of 2500 mg/100g would seem to be an over-estimate, according to the most reputable wiki entries. A lot depends on the handling of the berries and also their exact origins. Sometimes, goji might even contain less C than orange.

  7. Chris, can you provide a source? Dried goji berries contain from between 29mg to 148mg Vitamin C, and this figure is probably more useful, since that’s how we most encounter them, but the figure for fresh goji berries seems harder to come by. The ‘500 times’ claim is still common in marketing sites, but I see on Wikipedia that the levels for fresh goji berries have been edited down, but I can’t find a definitive source.

  8. How many of these berries should I eat a day for it to be beneficial. I have diabetes.

  9. Marieks, I think you should go chat to a nutritionist for some detailed advice. Most diabetes can be treated nutritionally (have a look at raw food and diabetes in particular), but it’ll take more than just some goji berries 🙂

  10. HI Thanks for your quick response. I may not have made it clear to you what I want to know. I would like to eat some of these berries on a daily basis and not for my diabetes(already eating low Gi diet etc.) Just want to include these for their general health benefits. So how much should I take per day?

  11. Marieks, the only advice I can give you is to follow your body’s signals. If you enjoy them, and feel good while eating them and afterwards, eat more. If you have to force them down, or don’t feel great afterwards, then I’d reduce the number 🙂

  13. Christine, there’s no evidence of any harm, but then there haven’t been specific studies related to breastfeeding. Some suggest caution until studies are done. Others suggest that since it’s a food, not a herb, and has been eaten for thousands of years, and certainly by breastfeeding mothers, it can safely be eaten, and that in fact it’s a healthy food for breastfeeding mothers because of its properties.

  14. Completed a course of radiation therapy three weeks ago.Whilst under treatment I was told that anti-oxidant was a no-no. Is it safe to eat goji berries now?

  15. Hi Roger

    I suggest getting some professional advice. The 2005 book “Beating Cancer with Nutrition”, by Patrick Quillin, is certainly worth researching.

    Best of luck with your treatment.

  23. Johan, the powder can be made either by pulping and drying the resultant juice, or from the pulp itself. These are quite different to each other, and quite different to the whole fruit. I’ve heard that the powdering process can damage some of the properties, but I don’t know the details one way or another.

    It also makes a difference which kind of goji berries. The non-organic variety are usually sprayed with various pesticides, and also treated with sulphur dioxide, like most other dried fruit.

  24. hi, can you please tell me how effective is this berry when it comes to the treatment of poor blood circulation (venous deficiency) in the human body.
    Can this plant be grown in the cape
    Is it best eaten fresh or is the chemist form just as effective.

  25. 50 times more vitamin C than oranges is definitely good news! Of course it’s not like what they claim, but hey, it’s fantastic already….what more can I ask for…they are great.

  26. In SA go to http://www.gojihealth.co.za. I am still sceptical about them and wil enjoy them like i do any other food. But the healthbenefit claims are outlandish.
    Please also be carefull if you are on medications like Warfarin becuase goji berries have anti-coaggulant properties (they make yuor blood more susceptible to flow, i.e bleed)

  30. Rory, perhaps it’s possible. They apparently need sandy soil, and hot, dry summers, so the Western Cape sounds a possibility.

    Felicity, most sources seem to have it at 29, see here for example, but this could be the same as the Vitamin C misinformation, everyone copying the same flawed info. I haven’t found a definitive source for this yet. 29 is quite low…

  31. Hi,
    Could you please tell me where to buy Goji plants or seeds in Gauteng? I have just returned from a trip to Australia, and most of the nurseries there have the plants, although they couldn’t supply me with seeds.

  34. Got Goji berries in Dischem/Strubens Valley Gauteng. I am sure they will all have them.

  36. Please could you tell me where I could buy goji berry seeds or plants…????

    Thank you
    Karen schaal
    0715492955

  37. Hey greenman keep up the blog. I am from a goji supplier called SOMAMA and will try answer some of the questions. Greenman has answered most of your questions so I will add to what you have said.

    @Ansonet – yes they will give you energy and sustained energy because of the low GI carbs.

    @concerned mother – very good for him to be eating them! Not many kids love goji, way better for him than sugar filled sweets (dosage “handful a day”)

    @Marieks – handful a day or 20g

    To other questions. Powder is not as good as the dried fruit in terms of the nutritonal content.

    Goji berries should be available at your nearest health shop. Visit our site if you want to find one http://www.SOMAMA.co.za

    Any heat will decrease the anti-oxidant and nutritional contents of goji berries. Best eaten raw. Try a goji salsa or on muesli YUM!

    @Karen hope my early answers answered your question.

    And for anyone else if you have questions please feel free to email me. Address is on our website.

    Thanks Gogee Grant

  38. While searching the web for Goji berries I saw your blog – I am in a battle for 3 years now with Osteoarthritis . I tried many different medication from – my GP, Rheumatologist, Homeopath etc etc . no relieve – yesterday a client say that I must try Goci- berries – do you perhaps have any knowledge if this will help ? Thanks

  39. Hi Jan have you tried Omega 3 oils before? Goji berries may help you by moving your body to a state of being uninflammed through the high anti-oxidant content. But Omega 3 helps by lubricating the joints. Try Jiont Vibrance at your local health shop. I know its available at http://www.lifestylehealth.co.za and they can send it to you.

    Gogee Grant

  40. I have germinated a lot of goji berry seed and want to grow them in the Gauteng area. I am interested in making the juice and possibly marketing it to healthshops. Could you please let me know what growing conditions the plants like? Do they need to go into a tunnel for winter? Also how would I go about juicing them and what do I need to add to the juice, if anything, when I bottle it to sell it?
    I would really appreciate information.
    Thanks.

  41. Hi, I buy mine from a Chinese store, they only charge R28 per 500g, whereas health food shops are ripping us off with 500g packs costing anything up to R90. The Chinese shop owner said he’s even embarrassed selling them at R28, so I can’t imagine what a mark up the health food stores are making.

    One thing that has worried me, especially with regards to the food safety scares regularly eminating from China(and even more so now that I’ve read the Wiki article)is the question of pesticide residue. There’s no real knowing what was used nor how much of it.

    I’d also like to try growing my own. I live in Durban, please email me if you’ve had any success.

    Mike (namzom@hotmail.com)

  42. Hi Mike,

    Please could you tell me were I can purchase Gogi berries in cape town as i live here and where i could find some seeds?

    kind regards
    Karen Schaal
    0820592240

  43. Hi all…

    I have been involved in the goji berry market for 4-5 years, visited China and eaten many varieties and many kgs of goji berries.

    What I have found is that not all goji berries are the same. Goji berries are classified by quality, moisture content, berries/50g and by organic status. The pricing across the range is drastically different with the premium quality, organic certified, bigger berries (280-380berries/50grams) being the most expensive variety.

    Concerning for me as a consumer of goji berries is that China is notorious for its high pesticide usage. And it is really counter-productive to eat a health food that is full of pesticides. Goji berries have been associated with reducing the risk of and fighting cancer in clinical studies and pesticides have been shown to increase the risk hence why for me it makes sense to pay more and be sure that I am consuming something that is only doing good and not neutrally beneficial.

    But it comes down to personal preference and whether you think there is a risk or not. I have tasted many packets and some of the ones in a Chinese packets were disgusting, smelt like chemicals – I spat them out as soon as I could find an appropriate place.

    As the saying goes “You get what you pay for”

    And to Karen visit your local Wellness warehouse.

    Hope that helps Grant

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