Lycii Berry Powder (Lycium chinensis; Gou Qi Zi) 25 kg (55 lbs): Q

Also called Lycium barbarum; Wolfberry; Matrimony Vine. Lycii berries are dried fruits with a distinctive, slightly sweet flavor. They are excellent in desserts (rehydrate and bake into muffins or scones), and add to the taste and appearance of grain dishes. Lycium fruit contains vitamins, minerals, beta carotene, polysaccharides and amino acids. For thousands of years, people in Asia have used lycium fruit and licorice to help maintain good health. Lycium helps improve vision and prevent headaches and dizziness caused by liver and kidney deficiencies. Modern science does indeed confirm that the berries exert a beneficial effect on the liver, protecting it from damaging toxins. The root stimulates the involuntary nervous system that governs the internal organs. The root also relaxes the walls of the arteries, allowing them to expand and thus lowering blood pressure. Lycium has also been shown effective in mild forms of diabetes. www.herbmed.org/Herbs/Herb168.htm#Category1Herb168: Seventy nine advanced cancer patients in a clinical trial were treated with LAK/IL-2 combining with Lycium Barbarum polysaccharides (LBP). Initial results of the treatment from 75 evaluable patients indicated that objective regression of cancer was achieved. [Article in Chinese] Cao 1994 Results indicate treatment with a Chinese herbal decoction (Viscum coloratum, Psoralea corylifolia, Eucommia ulmoides, Lycium chinense, Tussilago farfara, Artemisia capillaris, and Pogostemon cablin) helped reverse airway obstruction of asthmatics. [Article in Chinese] Fu 1989 Lycium chinense cerebroside treatment of cultured rat hepatocytes injured with GalN markedly blocked the release of both glutamic pyruvic transaminase and sorbitol dehydrogenase into the culture medium in a dose-dependent manner. Kim 2000 The hepatotoxicant, CCl4, routinely decreased levels of total and reduced glutathione. The levels of these compounds were significantly maintained at the levels of the control cultures following treatment with Lycium chinense cerebroside. Kim 1999 The results suggest that total flavonoids of Lycium barbarum can scavenge O2-. in xanthine/xanthine oxidase system, scavenge OH produced in Fenton reaction and that these effects were concentration-dependent. [Article in Chinese] Huang 1998 These results suggest that zeaxanthin dipalmitate (Lycium chinense) exerts a potent hepatoprotective activity by inhibiting Ito cell proliferation, collagen synthesis and by inhibiting certain biochemical functions of Kupffer cells. Kim 1997 Incubation of CCl4-intoxicated hepatocytes with two cerebrosides isolated from Lycium chinense significantly reduced the levels of glutamic pyruvic transaminase and sorbitol dehydrogenase released by injured cells. Kim 1997