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The Medicinal Herb Info site was created to help educate visitors about the often forgotten wisdom of the old ways of treating illnesses. Many of today's drugs and medicines were originally derived from natural ingredients, combinations of plants and other items found in nature.

We are not suggesting that you ignore the help of trained medical professionals, simply that you have additional options available for treating illnesses. Often the most effective treatment involves a responsible blend of both modern and traditional treatments.

We wish you peace and health!

Indian Barberry

Scientific Names

Indian barberry

  • Berberis lycium Royle
  • Berberis aristata
  • Berberis vulgaris f. lycium (Royle) Parsa

Common Names

  • Indian barberry
  • Indian lycium
  • Boxthoran barberry
  • Kasmal
  • Sunbal

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Parts Usually Used

The root bark, fruits, leaves, and stems
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Berberis lycium is an evergreen shrub growing to 3-4 meters tall. It has pale whitish to greyish branches with internodes 1.5-3.5 cm long and yellowish spines 10-20 mm in length. The leaves range from oblanceolate-oblong to obovate, 3-6 cm long and 6-12 mm wide, with grey or white undersurface. Flowers are pale to yellow, 6-8 mm across, with pedicels 6-12 mm long. The berries are obovoid-subglobose, 7-8 mm long and 5 mm broad, containing 3-4 seeds.
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Where Found

Indian barberry

Native to the Himalayan region, particularly found in Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central and North India. It grows on mountain slopes and hot dry slopes up to 3000 meters elevation, particularly in Kashmir. The plant thrives in light, medium, and heavy soils, including clay, and can grow in nutritionally poor conditions.
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Medicinal Properties

Berberis lycium possesses multiple medicinal properties including antibacterial, antidiabetic, anticolitis/inflammatory, anticancer, antiviral, antihyperlipidemic, antioxidant, and anthelminthic activities. The plant demonstrates significant therapeutic benefits in treating various conditions through different biochemical pathways.

It has shown effectiveness in treating diabetes, arthritis, joint pain, stomach ulcers, eye infections, broken bones, jaundice, hepatitis, and various skin diseases. The plant also exhibits properties beneficial for treating chronic diarrhea, internal wounds, and blood purification.
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Indian barberry

Biochemical Information

The plant contains various bioactive compounds including:

  • Alkaloids: berberine, palmatine, chinabine, gilgitine, punjabine
  • Steroids: sitosterol and B-sitosterol
  • Flavonoids: isorhamnetin, formononetin-7-O-glucoside, velutin
  • Anthocyanins: cyanidin-3-glucoside, delphinidin-3-glucoside
  • Phenolic compounds: chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, quercetin

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Uses

Traditional uses include:

  • Treatment of diabetes and blood sugar management
  • Healing of broken bones and joint pain
  • Treatment of eye infections and disorders
  • Management of stomach and intestinal problems
  • Treatment of skin diseases and wounds
  • Blood purification and liver disorders
  • The fruit is consumed fresh, cooked, or preserved
  • Leaves and young shoots are used as food and tea substitute

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How Sold

Available as root bark powder, fruit extracts, and various medicinal preparations. The market price is approximately 3-6 USD/kg in some regions.
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Warning

While generally considered safe, high doses should be avoided without proper medical supervision. The plant is currently under pressure from overexploitation and unsustainable harvesting practices, which threatens its natural populations.
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Resource Links

Indian Barberry Benefits Health with Powerful Medicinal Properties

Wikipedia – Berberis lycium

National Library of Medicine – Ethnobotanical and Biochemical Study of Berberis lycium Royle Collected from Different Areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir

PubMed – Berberis lycium fruit extract attenuates oxi-inflammatory stress and promotes mucosal healing by mitigating NF-κB/c-Jun/MAPKs signalling and augmenting splenic Treg proliferation in a murine model of dextran sulphate sodium-induced ulcerative colitis

Journal of Food Quality – Berberis lycium: A Miracle Medicinal Plant with Multifaceted Health Benefits

Global Biodiversity Information Facility – Berberis lycium Royle

Plants for a Future – Berberis lycium – Royle

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