Phenolic compounds in Lycium berry: Composition, health benefits and industrial applications

This review provides a comprehensive summary of phenolic compounds in Lycium berry, focusing on their composition, functionalities, potential health benefits, industrial applications and their incorporation into different food products. This review summarizes 186 phenolic compounds in the Lycium berry, featuring the most abundant classes of flavonoids, phenolic acids and their derivatives. According to in vivo and in vitro studies, these phenolic compounds display potent antioxidant activities, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, anti-cancer effects and gut microbiota modulating effect. In the food industry, dried Lycium berry is the most common commodity, where different pretreatments and drying methods are implemented to preserve the fruit, in the meantime, play an important role to modify the phenolics composition and product quality. Recent industrial advances include incorporating Lycium berry into other food products, which could enhance the nutritional value, improve the sensory properties and attract consumers by meeting their health and organoleptic demands.