Berberis lycium: A Miracle Medicinal Plant with Multifaceted Health Benefits

Throughout history, medicinal plants have been used to treat different ailments. About 70 to 80% of the world population rely on medicinal plants for healthcare and some use it for income generation. The annual sale of medicinal plants increases over time. In plants, Berberis vulgaris f. lycium (Royle) Parsa (Berberis lycium), also called boxthoran barberry, Indian barberry, or Indian lyceum contains key alkaloids such as berberine, camptothecin, koumidine, salutaridine, luteanine, palmatine, and protopine. Significant steroidal compounds include sitosterol and B-sitosterol. The plant is rich in flavonoids such as isorhamnetin, formononetin-7-O-glucoside, and velutin and anthocyanins such as cyanidin-3-glucoside and delphinidin-3-glucoside. It also includes phenolic compounds such as chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, and quercetin. B. lycium possesses dual utility due to its delicious fruit and has high value with known history in treatment of different disease and use in folklore medicines. Ethnobotanical surveys reveal that the B. lycium is used to treat jaundice, hepatitis, typhoid, fever, tuberculosis disorders, eye lotion, chronic diarrhoea, tonic, skin diseases, blood purifier, piles, eye infections, gum problems, diabetes, and kidney problems. Experimental studies have demonstrated that the B. lycium possesses antibacterial, antihyperlipidaemia, antidiabetic, anticolitis/inflammatory, anticancer activities, antiviral activities, and anthelminthic activities. According to our literature survey, there is no review with a mechanistic summary on B. lycium; therefore, the current review is an effort to provide the available literature on B. lycium in summary form for future research.