Barberry

Medicinal Herb : Barberry

Medicinal Herbs Plant Description

Barberry is thorny plant with red orange fruit like berries. It is a deciduous scrubby shrub with gray yellow grooved stem and yellow roots.

It bears three pronged spines and toothed leaves with yellow flowers and oval red fruits. Its leaves are about two inches long and one-third wide.

This plant herb goes 1-5 m tall with thorny shoots. The deciduous species (b.vulgaris, berberis thunbergii) are noted for good autumn color, the leaves turn pink or red before falling. In some evergreen species in china, leaves turn white making it more attractive.

The flowers grow singly or in more numbers up to 20 on one flower head. They are red or yellow orange of about 3-6mm long.

The small fruit berry is 5-15mm long, ripening red or dark blue often with a pink or violet waxy surface bloom.

Parts Used

Root bark, stem bark, fruit- berries
Constituents

The stem, root bark and fruit of barberry contain chemicals like isoquinoline and protoberberin alkaloids including berberine, columbamine and palmatine. While ripe berries are free if alkaloids.

This herb also contains B-vitamin thiamine, vitaminC, and zinc.
Culinary uses

* Berries are rich in vitamin C, and are sour in taste, since it harvesting is someway difficult so it is not consumed in many places. They are an important source of food for birds.
* In some places, it is used as spice. In Soviet Union it is used to add flavor in candies. It is also used in making jellies and pickles.
* Berberis buxifolia and berberis darwinii are the two species found in Argentina and Chile, here berries are edible and added to jams.
* Zereshk is Persian name for berberis vulgaris given to its dried fruit which are widely cultivated in Iran. It is widely used in cooking and flavoring chicken dishes.

Medicinal uses

Berberis vulgaris is mostly used for medicinal purpose than in food. Barberries have therapeutic uses as it contains berberine alkaloids.

It relieves from infection, skin disorders and various other diseases-

* Berberry is used to ease inflammation.
* Relieves from infections of the urinary, gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts.
* Its extract improves the symptoms of various skin diseases including psoriasis.
* Diarrhea.
* Brain and nervous system conditions – promotes vigor.
* Cardiovascular conditions- affective in high blood pressure.
* Gastrointestinal conditions- constipation, dyspepsia, heartburn.
* Liver conditions.

Other uses

* Berberry is externally used as lotion or ointment for the quick relief.
* It is anti-scorbutic and prevents scurvy.
* It is used to make jelly, candy and pickles.
* The inner bark of the stems are boiled with alum will dye linen yellow.
* Roots boiled in lye will dye leather yellow.
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