Barberry : benefits, pharmacological properties, and its uses in cooking

 Barberry: benefits, pharmacological properties, and its uses in cooking
Barberry is a shrub known for its thorny branches. The fruit is a small red berry. It is a herbal medicine that has a wide range of uses, including for the treatment of diarrhea, dysentery, and other digestive disorders. It is also used as a diuretic, for the treatment of jaundice and other liver disorders, and for the treatment of skin diseases. Follow this article to know more

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Barberry can become an ornament of any garden or land plot. It is loved by landscape designers for its elegance during flowering, fruiting, and in autumn when the leaves turn scarlet.

Barberry grows in the forest-steppe zone, in mountains, parks, squares, and gardens. In Crimea, the Caucasus, northern Siberia, North America, Central Asia, and Iran - it can be found everywhere.

Botanical features of Barberry

The most common type of this plant is the common barberry. It belongs to the Berber family (Berberidaceae). A branched thorny shrub up to 2.5 m in height. this shrub has the following morphological features:

• The roots are cylindrical and give many shoots.
• The branches are abundantly supplied with triangular spines.
• In young shoots, the color of the bark is yellowish-green, and in the second year, it becomes grayish.
• Intestinal leaves grow from the axils of the spine and are oblique, and serrated. Below, the color of the grass is significantly lighter.

In autumn they become purple, which makes the shrub decorative and attractive.

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• The flowers are light yellow, collected in hanging brushes, and very fragrant, attracting bees and other insects.
• The fruit is a red oblong teardrop-shaped berry, very sour, with 2-3 elongated seeds.
• The shrub blooms in May-June and the fruits are harvested in September-October.

Composition and useful properties of Barberry

This is a rare species of the plant kingdom, in which tops and roots are useful. And all parts of the barberry contain alkaloids. And these. as you know, are biologically active cyclic organic compounds that contain nitrogen and have pharmacological properties. 

The roots of Barberry contain:

Berberine - has a choleretic and antispasmodic effect. It changes the accumulation of bile and normalizes its biochemical composition. An ideal diuretic.

Palmitin is not noticeable, it is part of all vegetable fats.

The roots also contain trace elements:

• Iron and manganese.
• Copper-nickel
• Phosphorus and chromium.
• Zinc.

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Berries are rich in acids:

• Apples
• Lemon
• Wines
• Ascorbic.

Contains in the plant's leaves and bark:

• Essential oil
• Tocopherol.
• Saponins.

Barberry is a whole green pharmacy. This has been known since the time of Hippocrates, who highly appreciated this plant for its healing properties of all its parts.

Pharmacological properties of common barberry

• With hepatitis,
• the gallbladder being inflamed.
• With internal bleeding in women-profuse periods, endometriosis, and postpartum bleeding.

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Berries and barberry juice are indicated for stomach ulcers, diarrhea, and hemorrhoids.

In addition, the infusion of bark and leaves is a wonderful sedative that lowers blood pressure and accelerates blood clotting.

Preparations from barberry are used to treat cystitis, pyelonephritis, the initial stage of nephropathy in diabetic patients.

Barberry in cooking

Dried barberry berries are considered the most popular in cooking. They are used for these purposes as spices, and barberry leaves as herbs. Asian and Caucasian chefs use barberry berries when cooking:

• Meat
• Rice
• Vegetables
• Drinks
• Sweets.

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Often, dried barberry berries are ground into powder, combined with pepper, salt, and other spices, to taste, in the preparation of various foods.

We recommend several recipes for dishes in which barberry is more than suitable.

Recipe number 1. Central Asian pilaf with lamb and barberry

The Uzbeks will say that this is a primitive Uzbek dish, the Turkmens will be offended, they will provide proof that the right to call it their own belongs only to them and the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz will do the same. That's why we simply called it Central Asia. The calorie content of 100 grams of pilaf is 220 kcal.

Ingredients:

• Meat or beef without bone - 600 g 
• Rice - 500 g 
• Carrots - 3-4 pieces 
• Onions - 2-3 heads 
• Seasoning for pilaf-1 tbsp. Spoon
• Dried barberry berries-2 tbsp. spoons. Spoons.
• Garlic-two heads 
• Zira - 1/2 teaspoon 
• Vegetable oil-100 ml.

Cooking method:

1. You will need dishes with thick walls, for Asians, this is a cauldron.
2. We put the cauldron on the fire, heat it, and pour vegetable oil.
3. When the oil warms up, add the meat cut into pieces, and fry until golden brown.
4. Then add the chopped onion and fry until golden brown.
5. Then add carrots, cut into slices, salt, spices, and barberry, pour all this with water so that it covers the meat and vegetables, and boil this mass under a closed lid for 15 minutes.
6. We add the washed rice, level it over the entire surface of the cauldron, and add water so that its level is 3 cm higher than the rice level.
7. Bring to a boil over high heat. Then, over very low heat.

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 pilaf is mixed. closed with a cauldron lid. wrapped in a warm blanket until it is infused, but not cooled.

Recipe number 2. Barberry jam

This jam is not only a delicious dessert but also a wonderful helper for painful sensations during exacerbations of cystitis, cholecystitis, endometriosis, and painful periods. Just like raspberry jam, it is really considered medicinal.

Ingredients:

• Fresh barberry berries - 1 kg 
• Sugar - 1.5 kg 
• Water (3 cups.

Cooking method:

• Thoroughly washed berries are poured with water for 10 hours.
• After that, drain the water and cook syrup on it, that is, pour sugar into it, bring it to a boil, and boil, stirring constantly.
• Pour the berries into the syrup and boil for 5 minutes. Let the jam cool down.
• Repeat this procedure two more times.
• Pour boiling jam into jars and Cork.
• Store in a cool, dark place.

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Contraindications

Barberry, if used as a spice, is not contraindicated for anyone, except for those who have individual intolerance to this plant. But if someone decided to heal with the help of berries, roots, and leaves of Barberry, then you should know:

1. This should not be done by those who suffer from gallstone disease. Because the choleretic properties of Barberry can move stones, which is undesirable.
2. You can not use it for those who have a tendency to thrombosis, because barberry promotes blood clotting, and changes its accumulation.
3. Cirrhosis of the liver and malignant forms of hepatitis are also a reason to abandon barberry.
4. Pregnant and nursing women shouldn't use it.

For everyone else, barberry can become not only a delicious seasoning and dessert but also an assistant in the treatment of various diseases.