Botanical species · safety record

Berberis vulgaris

The EFSA Compendium of Botanicals holds 11 constituent measurements and 4 adverse-effect records for Berberis vulgaris. This page reports what those source records contain and how to reach them. It carries no effect estimate, no dose and no recommendation.

Accepted name in source: Berberis vulgaris L.

11Constituent measurements

4Safety records

7Cited sources

319Licensed products (Canada)

Regulatory presence

Health Canada's Licensed Natural Health Products Database holds 319 licensed products naming Berberis vulgaris as a medicinal ingredient, matched on the exact Latin binomial. A licence records that a product met the regulator's requirements for sale in Canada. It is not evidence that the product works.

Extract types on licence

Dry
Extract Type TBA

Source material stated

Aerial parts
Aged bark
Barberry Root extract
Bark
Bark (powder)
Bark and berries
Bark and roots
Bark extract

What the records describe

Constituents measured

Plant parts

Preparations

Effect types

Target tissues

Recorded constituents

What analytical work has found in this species, at which plant part and preparation. A measured constituent is a fact about material, not about effect.

Substance	Plant part	Preparation	Concentration	Analytical method	Source
Tannins	Unspecified	—	—	Unspecified	Resolve DOI
Alkaloids	Fruit unspecified	Solvent extraction	0.05 Percent	Standard Chromatographic tests (paper- thin layer- and column chromatography)	No resolvable identifier
Alkaloids	Leaves	Solvent extraction	0.1 Percent	Standard Chromatographic tests (paper- thin layer- and column chromatography)	No resolvable identifier
Alkaloids	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	2.19 Percent	Standard Chromatographic tests (paper- thin layer- and column chromatography)	No resolvable identifier
Alkaloids	Stem / stalk	Solvent extraction	1.48 Percent	Standard Chromatographic tests (paper- thin layer- and column chromatography)	No resolvable identifier
Berberine	Roots and other underground parts	—	—	—	No resolvable identifier
Berberine	Unspecified	Solvent extraction	—	Colorimetry, Spectroscopy (Spectrometry) and Photometry	No resolvable identifier
Berberine	Stem / stalk	Solvent extraction	2.01 Percent	Unspecified	No resolvable identifier
Hydrastinine	Unspecified	Solvent extraction	—	Colorimetry, Spectroscopy (Spectrometry) and Photometry	No resolvable identifier
Isoquinoline alkaloids	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	—	Standard Chromatographic tests (paper- thin layer- and column chromatography)	No resolvable identifier
Oxyacanthine	Stem / stalk	Solvent extraction	1 Percent	Unspecified	No resolvable identifier

Recorded adverse effects

Adverse effects reported in the source literature, most often in animal or laboratory models at a stated preparation and dose.

Effect	Target tissue	Plant part	Preparation	Test organism	Test type	Source
Not reported	—	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	Rat (as animal)	Acute toxicity	Resolve DOI
Not reported	—	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	House mouse (as animal)	Acute toxicity	Resolve DOI
Nephrotoxicity	Urogenital: kidneys	Unspecified	Raw, no heat treatment	—	Case report	No resolvable identifier
Not reported	—	Aerial part of plants	Drying (dehydration)	House mouse (as animal)	Acute toxicity	No resolvable identifier

Cited sources

The literature the compendium cites for this species. Metatron Health has no relationship with these authors or journals and earns nothing from citing them.

Rad, Seyede Zohre Kamrani., Rameshrad, Maryam., Hosseinzadeh, Hossein. Toxicology effects of Berberis vulgaris (barberry) and its active constituent, berberine: a review . Iranian journal of basic medical sciences, 2017, vol. 20, no. 5, p. 516-529. DOI
Velluda, C. C., Goina, T., Ticsa, I., Petcu, P., Pop, S., Csutak, W. Effect of Berberis vulgaris extract, and of the berberine, berbamine, and oxyacanthine alkaloids on liver and bile function. Lucrarile prezentate conf. natl. farm., bucharest, 1958, p. 351-4.
Bastos, Milton Lessa. Simultaneous identification of berberine, hydrastine, and hydrastinine in plant material. Boletim do instituto de quimica agricola, rio de janeiro, 1956, vol. No. 46, p. 9-13.
Yusupov, M. M., Karimov, A., Lutfullin, K. L. Alkaloids of Berberis vulgaris. XII. Khimiya prirodnykh soedinenii, 1990, vol. (1), p. 128-9.
Peychev, L. Pharmacological investigation of cardiovascular effects of Berberis vulgaris in experimental animals. Farmatsiya (sofia, bulgaria), 2005, vol. 52(1-2), p. 118-121.
Stimpson, H. S. Berberis vulgaris. Journal of the american institute of homeopathy, 1926, vol. 19, p. 235-6.
Raymond-Hamet. Does oxyacanthine, an alkaloid of Berberis vulgaris, possess a sympathicolytic action?. Compt. rend., 1933, vol. 197, p. 1354-7.

Boundary

A constituent measurement is a fact about material at a stated preparation, not a statement about what that material does in a person. An adverse-effect or genotoxicity record is an observation reported in a source, most often in an animal or laboratory model. Neither is a Metatron Health conclusion about causality, human risk or benefit, and the absence of a record is not proof that a preparation is safe. Nothing here is diagnosis, prescribing or individual medical care.

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Independent literature