Goji Berries

[fluffy_stitch]

hi,i just ordered something called Goji Berries,supposedly one of the most nutricious foods in the world,ive never heard of them before but has anyone here ever used them for their birds??

[dwiseley]

Yes, I put them in birdie bread and mix it with other foods. My caique likes to dunk them before she eats them.

[CALVINS MOM]

I looked up some nutritional facts on line:

* 19 amino acids, 6 times more than Bee Pollen
* 21 trace minerals, including Germanium
* 6 essential fatty acids
* Vitamins B1, B2, B6, C, E
* More beta carotene than carrots
* More antioxidant power than any other known food source
* 500 times more Vitamin C than oranges
* 4 Unique Polysaccharides (Master Molecules) found in no other food source
* Linoleic acid*, which significantly promotes body fat loss
* 15 times more nutritional iron than spinach

Some facts on Linoleic acid (I was not sure what it was, so here it is):

*Basically, fatty acids differ in saturation and chain length. "Essential" fatty acids are those not synthesized by the body, so must be supplied, therefore, by the diet. There are three - Linoleic, Linolenic, and Arachidonic (are you board yet?).

Because these must be fed, they are "Essential" - for growth, for the health of nerves, arteries, blood, for visual function, and suppleness of the skin and healthy feathers. The "Queen" of these are the Omega 3 Fatty Acids (linolenic) abundant in flax seed oil and fish. Omega 6 acids (linoleic) are important for transportation and processing cholesterol and are found in corn, safflower, and soybeans. Both Omega 3 and 6 should be supplied...

[jimpierce7]

sounds like something to be looked into!!! Where did you order them from?

[fluffy_stitch]

i saw them on a site for pet foods and just googled them to see what they were,because im in ireland i ordered them on Goji Berries from £14.90/kg but they have loads of american sites too.

[hollyhawkz]

Huh! Well whata know. They have "also known as" wolf berries at the local health food store in our little town, just two minutes away. I'll have to get some for me and Wawa!
I'm on my way now. Again wow... you guys are amazing with info. I have recommended this site to several of my grades 5, 6 and 7 students, who are thinking of getting either conures or lovebirds, or cockatiels..... I told them "ask lot's of questions first before you buy!"

[Bonesy]

I've heard they're a load of hyped piffle that the farmers of the area simply feed to cattle once they drop off trees

[fluffy_stitch]

well i got them and they taste like cooked raisins and look like them too except they are redder,the bird doesnt seem to care about them one way or the other,sometimes she will eat them and sometimes she will just drop them,ill keep giving her them though and maybe she will get a taste for them.

[hollyhawkz]

Well I went out and bought a whole bunch, but after seeing Bonesy's note, I looked them up. Look up Wolf Berry on the on line encyclopedia.
Here is a heads up (now I don't know if I should feed them to Wawa, and he likes them)

Pesticide and fungicide use
Organochlorine pesticides are conventionally used in commercial wolfberry cultivation to mitigate destruction of the delicate berries by insects. Since the early 21st century, high levels of pyrethroid insecticide residues (including fenvalerate and cypermethrin) and fungicide residues (such as triadimenol), have been detected by the United States Food and Drug Administration in some imported wolfberries and wolfberry products of Chinese origin, leading to the seizure of these products.[25] Due to the demand for organic products in the West, some Chinese growers are beginning to experiment with integrated pest management and to explore the possibility of obtaining organic certification, something that has not yet been publicly disclosed for Chinese wolfberry farms and products.

Some Western resellers may state that their wolfberries are organically grown when in fact they are not. The Green Certificate claimed by some wolfberry marketers to be the equivalent of the United States Department of Agriculture's "USDA Organic" seal[26] is in actuality simply an agricultural training program for China's rural poor.[27] China's Green Food Standard,[28] administered by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture's China Green Food Development Center, does permit some amount of pesticide and herbicide use.[29][30][31]

Despite some claims that wolfberries sold in Europe, the United States, and Canada meet organic standards[citation needed], there is no public evidence for standardized organic certification of wolfberries from the Asian regions where they are commercially grown. Often, these berries are marketed as Tibetan or Himalayan Goji Berries that have been "wild crafted" or "wild harvested". On the contrary, however, Tibet's agriculture conventionally uses fertilizers and pesticides, and neither wolfberries ("goji") of Tibetan or Himalayan origin sold outside Tibet nor organic certification of such berries have been proved[32].


Hmm.... what do you guys think?

[fluffy_stitch]

.......i dont know now,the site says that they are chinese,what to do...use them or not??