Plants belonging to
Berberis
are reported in several folklore medicinal pharmacopeias and are used in
traditional medicines in Asia and European countries. The plants have been used in the preparation of
various traditional and synthetic medicines since pre-historic times for wound healing, fever, eye
disease, jaundice, vomiting during pregnancy, rheumatism, kidney and gall balder stones, and several
other illnesses. Their healing properties are appear to be due to the presence of secondary metabolites
and important alkaloids with different pharmacological activities. Their antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral,
anti-diabetic, and anti-tumor activities as well as positive effects on the cardiovascular and body
immune systems have been reported. Root extracts of some species of the plant genus contain quinine
which acts as a powerful anti-malarial agent. The main chemical constituents of
Berberis plants are
alkaloids, steroids, glycosides, flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids and reducing sugars. Of these
alkaloids, berberine is the most important. The present review focuses on recent advances in
phytopharmacological and ethnomedicinal uses of plants belonging to Berberis genus.
