1. Lycium barbarum L.

Berries are generally known as small edible fruits brightly colored in shades of red, blue, and purple due to the presence of anthocyanins. However, not all berries contain anthocyanins, such as wolfberries or goji (Lycium barbarum L.) [1].

Lycium species are shrubs or small trees, often showing thorns on the stem and leaves, which can be found in the arid and semi-arid regions of North and South America, Africa, and Eurasia [2]. In China, there are seven species and three taxonomic varieties, distributed in Gansu, Qinghai Provinces, Xinjiang, and Ningxia Autonomous regions [3]. It has been hypothesized that the genus Lycium originated in South or North America, and then dispersed to southern Africa, and the Eurasian and Australian species of Lycium are from southern Africa [4].

Lycium barbarum L. is a perennial deciduous shrub that can be found in arid and semi-arid regions of northwestern China, and in southeastern Europe and Mediterranean areas [5,6]. The fruit of this species is known as wolfberry or goji berry, which is orange-red in color, ellipsoid, approximately 2 cm deep, and with a sweet-and-tangy flavor [7]. It is listed in the Traditional Chinese Pharmacopeia [6]. It is also traditionally used in Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese medicine [8]. The Ningxia Hui autonomous region of China is considered the global birthplace of the wolfberry. However, the cultivation of the species has grown a lot and the great concern of the producers is to guarantee the quality of fruits according to their distinct geographical origin. Therefore several physicochemical methods have been developed generally combined with statistical analysis to discriminate the wolfberries beyond color, shape, odor, taste, and other qualities highly dependent on personal sensorial impressions [10-17].

The importance of this culture has led to the development of mechanized harvesting technologies that accelerate the harvesting process without damaging the fruits, and robots able to replace manual labor [18–20]. In addition, fresh wolfberries are perishable with high water content deteriorating quickly after harvesting, by the microbial attack and mechanical damage [21]. In this context, several strategies have been developed to increase the shelf life of fresh fruits without losing quality [8, 21-23]. However, the dried berries are more popular than the fresh ones, because they can be preserved for longer periods with minimal chemical deterioration and microbial spoilage. Therefore, several drying technologies have been checked beyond the solar drying or hot air [24-34]

Polysaccharides are the most significant metabolites in wolfberries with several biological properties (antioxidant, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective effect, hypoglycemic and immune activities, among other biological attributes) [35–37]. They are generally complex glycoproteins with different composition, although the monosaccharides are generally the same (rhamnose, arabinose, mannose, xylose, galacturonic, glucose, and galacturonic acid) [38]. The polysaccharides are complex, with an approximate molecular weight (MW) of 10–2300 kDa, is mostly composed of (1→3)-β-D-galactopyranosyl, (1→6)-β-D-galactopyranosyl, and (1→4)-α-D-galactopyranosyluronic acid residues. A glycan-O-Ser glycopeptide structure has been mostly considered for the efficacy of L. barbarum as well as 2-O-(β-D-glucopyranosyl) ascorbic acid (could serve as a stable vitamin C substitute) [36,39,40]. Other organic and inorganic components have been detected in wolfberries: carotenoids [40], polyphenols and their derivatives, monoterpenes, alkaloids and spermidine alkaloids [38,41,42], vitamins, dietary fibers, diverse minerals, fatty acids, amino acids and non-protein amino acids [43]. The chemical profile of these berries is dependent on environmental conditions, pre- and post-harvest factors, rhizosphere bacterial community structure and genetic heritage [43,44].

The biological properties of wolfberries have been largely reported and reviewed (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities, modulation of gut microbiota, neuroprotective, neuroprotective effects on retinal ganglion cells, immunomodulatory, positive effects on cognitive impairment, anti-fatigue effect, hepatoprotective, wound healing, and anti-tumor effect [45–63]. There are many scientific studies involving the chemical composition, biological properties, conservation, and drying methods of the L. barbarum fruit, resulting in more than 20 review articles in indexed scientific journals, in 2022. The same cannot be observed for other species, such as L. europaeum, L. intricatum and L. schweinfurthii. The chemical profile and biological properties of these species predominantly found in several Mediterranean countries and Portugal, have been scarcely studied.

2. Other Lycium Species

According to the review made by Yao et al. [2], there are four species of Lycium that can be found in several places of Europa, Asia, America and Africa. One example is L. europaeum L. that can be found in Portugal, Spain, France, Israel, Palestinian Territory, India, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt. Lycium schweinfurthii Dammer is another species reported by Yao et al. [2] as being detected in Portugal but also in Spain, Israel, Morocco, Greece, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Cyprus; and L. intricatum Boiss has been was registered in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico [2]. Despite this relatively wide distribution across several countries and continents, there is very little research on the chemical composition of the various organs of these species as well as their biological or pharmacological properties. Lycium infaustum Miers grows in several countries of South America (Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay), Central America (Dominican, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Jamaica), and Portugal [2]. The application of L. infaustum as food or medicine is unknown and no record could be found, thereby making any type of revision unfeasible in the present review.

2.1. Lycium europaeum L.

So far, only very few dozen of constituents were identified in L. europaeum, which are distributed by the several groups: polyphenols, fatty acids, polysaccharides, carotenoids, sterols, terpenoids, tocopherols, and alkaloids [64, 65]. There are diverse biological properties attributed to this species such as antioxidant, antinociceptive, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, hypolipidemic, and cytotoxicity activities, nevertheless without a correspondence between the constituents identified and the biological properties [66]. During 2022, there were no appreciable advances in chemical and biological activities of L. europaeum, only some records focusing: a) ethnobotanical studies; (b) detection for the first time of an infection by a specific fungus of Lycium species in Iran; (c) in vitro antioxidant, anti-acetylcholinesterase, anti-butyrylcholinesterase and anti-urease activities of crude extracts and their fractions; and d) antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of fruit methanolic extracts [67-73].

2.2. Lycium schweinfurthii Dammer

The chemical composition of diverse parts of L. schweinfurthii is scarce, nevertheless it has been identified flavonoids and their glycosides, phenolic acids, terpenes including phytosterols and their glycosides, and tyramine derivatives in different parts (roots, stems, leaves, and flowers) of L. schweinfurthii [74-7781-84]. Regarding the biological properties, some compounds (diosmetin, kaempferol, gallic acid and vaginatin) were potent cytotoxic on a skin cancer (G-361) cell line, whereas for colon cancer HCT-116 cells, apigenin was the most effective. Apigenin and diosmetin were the most active against the colon cancer CaCo-2-cells [77]. Nevertheless, the authors also found that the dichloromethane extract was much more toxic towards G-361 cell line than the isolated compounds, indicating a possible synergism effect among the constituents present in the extract [77]. Diosmetin, luteolin, quercetin and 3-methoxy-4-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-methylbenzoate had a potent α-glucosidase inhibitory activity [77].

Taking into account the secondary metabolites previously found by diverse authors for the Egyptian L. schweinfurthii [76-7983–86], Mamdouh and Smetanska [79] aimed to obtain callus and cell suspension cultures of this species for producing secondary metabolites with biological properties. In vitro production of micropropagated plants was another biotechnological approach to produce secondary metabolites (phenols such as ferulic acid) with antioxidant activity [80].

2.3. Lycium intricatum Boiss.

In 2015, and for the first time, Abdennacer et al. [81] reported that polyphenols, including flavonoids, predominate in L. intricatum leaves collected in Tunisia. Nineteen phenolic compounds were isolated and fifteen were identified. Only chlorogenic acid, caffeoylputrescine, p-coumaroylquinic acid, feruloylquinic acid and rutin could be detected in both leaves and fruits. Although the authors reported that anthocyanins predominate in fruits, they did not present the identification of any anthocyanin. The absence of structure elucidation of the anthocyanins quantified by Abdennacer et al. [81] must be the object of further studies, since so far anthocyanin identification in fruits of Lycium species were only reported in L. ruthenicum [82]. Later on, Bendjedou et al. [83] reported new compounds in leaf extracts of L. intricatum from Algeria: (1R,3aR,7aS)-3a,7-dimethyl-1-(E)-prop-1-en-1-yl-1,3a,4,7a-tetrahydroisobenzofuran-5(3H)-one; isoscopoletin; 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzyl alcohol; and (+)-isolariciresinol. Boulila and Bejaoui [84], reported the chemical composition of the seed oil of L. intricatum from Northern Tunisia. Linoleic, palmitoleic and erucic acids were the main fatty acids; and the hydrocarbon squalene, and the triterpenic alcohols erythrodiol and uvaol were also found in the seed oil. The sterolic fraction had stigmasterol, β-sitosterol and ergosterol.

Seeds of L. intricatum have been used in helminthiasis, as a digestive, whereas the fruits have been used in eye diseases [2]. A decoction made with leaves have been used in stomach pain and intestinal diseases, with a relative strong Fidelity Level (72%) [85] One citation was reported by the ethnobotanical study made by Fatiha et al. [86] for the utilization of L. intricatum in some genitourinary ailments in the Middle Oum Rbia (Morocco).

The present study can be the trigger for the beginning of more in-depth studies on these species with the aim of knowing if they can have the same uses of L. barbarum or even new applications.

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This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/metabo12121265