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Berberis, Barberry

Lycium (classical name)
Barberry root:
–Xiao Bo (TCM)
–Daruharidra (Ayurveda)
–Skyer pa  སྐྱེར་པ  (Tibetan)
Bark:
–Skyer shun  སྐྱེར་ཤུན  (Tibetan)
Concentrated Extract:
–Rasanjana (Ayurveda)
–Rasaut (Unani)
–Skyer ba'i khan ta  སྐྱེར་པའི་ཁཎྜ (Tibetan)
Fruit:
–Zarishk (fruit, Unani)
Seed:
–Skyer ba'i 'bru  སྐྱེར་པའི་འབྲུ  (Tibetan)
Ortus Sanitatis, Cube, Johann von, 1501

New Kreuterbuch, Matthiolus, 1563
Medical Botany, Woodville, Hooker, Vol. 3, 1832
B. vulgaris
Flora von Deutschland, Kohler, 1886

Barberry extract as available on the Indian Market (Adam, 2006)
Barberry Wood (Culcutta Unani College, 2019)
Botanical name:
Berberis spp.
  1. B. vulgaris (standard species of West and Unani)
  2. B. asiatica, B. lycium, B. asiatica (Indian Barberry, Ayurveda)
  3. B. amurensis (Chinese Barberry, TCM)

B. chitria, B. tinctoria and B. umbellata have also reportedly the Indian market.

In Tibetan Medicine, several types of Berberis are used:
  i. Skyer pa  སྐྱེར་པ : B. aristata
  ii. Skyer pa dkar po ('White' variety)  སྐྱེར་པདཀར་པོ : B. lycium
  iii. Skyer pa nag po ('Black' variety)  སྐྱེར་པནག་པོ : B. concinna

Parts used:
Root, Root-Bark, Fruit;
in India, the extract formed by boiling down the root and stems, or whole plant.

Temperature & Taste:
Fruit: cool and moist when fresh; cool and dry when dry;
Bark: Cold, dry. Bitter of thin parts, gently binding

Classification:
2B ATTENUATER.   2F. PURIFYING.   2N. REPELLENTS
3B. FEBRIFUGE & ANTIPYRETIC.   3L. ANTI-TUSSIVE
4b. OPTHALMIC.   4e. STOMACHIC.   4g. HEPATIC

Uses:
1. Clears Heat and Damp:
-benefit the Stomach and Liver, promotes Appetite
-good when cooling and binding is needed: Enteritis, Diarrhea, Dysentery etc.
-cholecystitis, Gall stones, Jaundice, Hepatitis
-Liver headache, migraine, hypertension
-painful urination, strangury, Urinary Tract Infection
-red, hot swollen, painful joints: Arthritis, Gout, Rheumatism
-red or painful eyes; mouth sores

2. Clears Heat and Phlegm, Stops Cough:
-acute respiratory tract infection; Cough, Bronchitis

3. Clears Heat, Quenches Thirst:
-Fevers, Malaria, Cholera
-Thirst, Consumption
4. Cools the Blood, Stops Bleeding:
-Itch, Eczema, Erysipelas
-excess Bleeding from Heat

5. Resists Poison:
-Poisoning
-Rabies
-Toxic Swellings

6. Kills Worms:
-adjunct for Worms

7. Externally:
i. The fruit is used topically to strengthens the gums and fastens the teeth;
ii. a weak infusion makes a good compress for heat and inflammation of the Eyes; used for Conjunctivitis, starting Cataracts and Trachoma. The extract is used in India for opthalmia, conjunctivitis
iii. a wash is used externally for Eczema and Neuro-dermatitis.
iv. strong decoction is used topically to promote hair growth
v. used for Herpes and other skin infections.
vi. applied to Malignant Ulcers.
vii. used for Ear infections with Pus, and for Ulcers of the Ear
viii. used for Sores, Inflammations and Ulcers of the Mouth, Palate and Gums (bark, extract)


SPECIFIC USES:
1. Jaundice and Liver complaints; BHP lists Gall Stones.
2. Eye diseases
3. ‘Chronic blood dyscrasia, with scaly skin eruptions and impaired nutrition and waste’. (J. W. Fyfe, M.D. Specific Medication).
NOTE:
1. In India the extract prepared by decocting the whole plant down until thick, then evaporating until dry is used. It has similar effects to the bark, being bitter, cholagogue, antipyretic, antiseptic and anti-diarrhoeal. It is especially use externally for eye diseases.
2. The berries are cooling, used for Fever.

CORRECTIVE:
Sugar, Clove (Unani)

SUBSTITUTE:
1. Scutellaria Huang Qin can usually be used in place of Barberry root-bark.
2. White Sandalwood (Unani)

Main Combinations:
Barberry & Tumeric

1. Fever; Heat of the Liver, Bladder, Breast, Stomach, combine Barberry concentrated juice, Licorice, Tabasheer, Rose, Purslane seed, Tragacanth, Camphor (as in Troches of Barberries)
2. Recurring or Daily Fever:
i. Barberry, Gentian, Yarrow, Wormwood, Licorice
ii. Barberry with Rose, Tabasheer, Agrimony, Dodder seed, Endive seed, Tragacanth, Wormwood, Aniseed (as in Troches for Daily Fever of Galen)
3. Bronchitis:
i. Barberry, Thyme
ii. Barberry, Echinacea, Golden Seal, Licorice
4. Jaundice:
i. Barberry with Centaury
ii. Barberry with Turmeric, Celandine, Saffron;
iii. Barberry with Turmeric, Dandelion, Agrimony
iv. Barberry with Wormwood, Dandelion, Rhubarb
5. Cholecystitis: Barberry with Dandelion, Wormwood
6. Liver Heat and Gall Bladder disease:
i. Barberry with Dandelion, Turmeric, Agrimony
ii. Barberry with Sandalwood, Rose
iii. Barberry root with Turmeric, Picrorrhiza, Bishop's Weed seed (Ayurveda)
7. Eczema:
i. Barberry, Dandelion, Rhubarb, Licorice
ii. Barberry, Fumitory, Violet
8. Skin conditions associated with Liver heat, Barberry, Madder, Neem, Eclipta, Psoralea (Ayurveda)
9. Poor Appetite related to Liver, Barberry with Chicory, Wormwood, Blessed Thistle, Centaury (Weinhart)
10. Indigestion:
i. with food sensitivity, Barberry fruit, Wormwood, Ginger
ii. with Depression, Barberry fruit, Rosemary, Balm
11. Gastric Ulcer, Golden Seal, Calendula, Licorice
12. Dysentery
i. Barberry with Tragacanth, Galls, Red Earth
ii. Barberry, Chebula, Boerhaavia, Tinospora, Ginger (Unani, proven effective)
13. Hemorrhoids, Barberry with Aloe, Triphala, Neem, Tinospora (Ayurveda)
14. Excess Menstruation, Uterine Bleeding from Heat:
i. Barberry root decocted in red wine (Herbarium Horstianum, 1630)
ii. Barberry seed with Tormentil, Comfrey, Sorrel, Gum Arabic, Tragacanth, Plantain juice
15. Acute sore throat, combine Barberry with Sage
16. Influenza, Barberry with Yarrow, Elder flower
17. Consumption, Barberry with Raspberry leaf and Agrimony
18. Oil for Skin diseases, Barberry with Turmeric, Rock Salt, Psoralea, boiled in coconut milk (Siddha)

Major Formulas
Decoction of Dandelion
Decoction for Excessive Menstruation
Troches of Barberries (Trochisci de Berberis) (Mesue)
Troches of Gum Lacca (Trochisci de Lacca) (Mesue)
Troches of Spodium (Trochisci Spodii) (Avicenna)
Troches of Sandalwoods (Trochisci Santalon) (Mesue)
Troches for Hardness of the Liver (Nicholas)
Electuary for Quotidian, Tertian and Quartan Fever (Galen)

Barberry 8 Powder (Skyer sun brgyad pa) (Tibetan Medicine)
Emblic 6 (Kyu ru duk pa) (Tibetan Medicine)
Tumeric Decoction 4 (Yung ba 4) (Tibetan Medicine)
Chebula 18 for Urinary Incontinence (Gcin snyi a ru 18) (Tibetan Medicine)
Possessor of Ruby Color (Pad rag mdog ldan) (Tibetan Medicine)

Cautions:
1. Not used in Cold and weak digestion
2. Generally not used in Pregnancy

Main Preparations used:
Dried or prepared Fruit, clarified Juice of the Berries, Rob, and Troches were used

Rob of Barberries:
i. take ripe barberries, bruise them, then set aside for 3 days; express the juice and evaporate over a gentle heat to the thickness of Honey with one-quarter sugar. (Pharmacopoeia medici practici universalis, Bruxelles, 1817)
History
'The medical practitioners of ancient Greece and Italy made use of a substance called Lycium of which the best kind was brought from India. It was regarded as a remedy of great value in restraining inflammatory and other discharges; but of all the uses to which it was applied the most important was the treatment of various forms of ophthalmic inflammation.

Lycium is mentioned by Dioscorides, Pliny, Celsus, Galen, and Scribonius Largus; by such later Greek writers as Paulus Aegineta, Aetius, and Oribasius, as well as by the Arabian physicians.

The author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea who probably lived in the 1st century, enumerates [Lycium] as one of the exports of Barbarike at the mouth of the Indus, and also names it along with Bdellium and Costus among the commodities brought to Barygaza :— and further, lycium is mentioned among the Indian drugs on which duty was levied at the Roman custom house of Alexandria about A.D. 176—180.'

An interesting proof of the esteem in which it was held is afforded by some singular little vases or jars of which a few specimens are preserved in collections of Greek antiquities. These vases were made to contain lycium, and in them it was probably sold; for an inscription on the vessel not only gives the name of the drug but also.that of a person who, we may presume, was either the seller or the inventor of the
composition. Thus we have the Lycium of Jason, of Musccus, and of Heracleus). The vases bearing the name of Jason were found at Tarentum, and there is reason to believe that that marked Heradeus was from the same locality. Whether it was so or not, we know that a certain Heraclides of Tarentum is mentioned by Celsus on account of his method of treating certain diseases of the eye; and that Galen gives formula; for ophthalmic medicines on the authority of the same person.

Innumerable conjectures were put forth during at least three centuries as to the origin and nature of lycium, and especially of that highly esteemed kind that was brought from India.

In the year 1833, Royle communicated to the Linnean Society of London a paper proving that the Indian Lycium of the ancients was identical with an extract prepared from the wood or root of several species of Berberis growing in Northern India, and that this extract, well known in the bazaars as Rusot or Rasot, was in common use among the natives in various forms of eye disease. This substance attracted considerable notice in India, and though its efficacy per se1 seemed questionable, it was administered with benefit as a tonic and febrifuge. But the rasot of the natives being often badly prepared or adulterated, the bark of the root has of late been used in its place, and in consequence of its acknowledged efficacy has been admitted to the Pharmacopoeia of India. (Pharmacographia, Fluckiger & Hanbury, 1879)