Barberry as a lollipop is familiar to everyone from childhood. But candies have little to do with the plant itself. Barberry is a useful plant that is used in both official and traditional medicine.
Grapes of oblong berries are red, thin thorns are barberry. Expanded lush green bushes of this plant can be found on the slopes of ravines or gullies, on forest edges or glades. However, you can see the barberry on the street of the city, as it has perfectly proven itself as an ornamental plant. It can also be used as a hedge, because through these thorns no one will definitely venture to the dacha or house. And still barberry - a melliferous and very useful plant, this will be discussed in the article.
Useful properties of barberry
Barberry and its useful properties are known since ancient times. Virtually the whole bush can be used for medicinal purposes. For example, in leaves, roots and bark of barberry contains substances such as alkaloids, and the main one is berberine. And in the roots and bark berberina most. These same parts of the plant contain tannins, vitamins C and E.
Berries of barberry are rich in acids (lemon, tartaric, apple, etc.), sugars, useful pectins, plenty of vitamin C and K, as well as carotene, mineral salts. In unfertilized fruits there are also alkaloids.
Barberry in medicine
In pharmacies, you can buy leaves, roots and bark barberry ordinary. On the basis of barberry produce drugs to get rid of bleeding, with hypotension of the uterus in the postpartum period, as a choleretic agent in the discoloration of bile ducts, with problems with the liver and gall bladder, cholecystitis. Barberry preparations also help with cancer, diabetes and other diseases.
In folk medicine, fruits of barberry are used as a hemostatic, choleretic, exciting appetite and tonic for the intestines. Fruits can be used as a diuretic, easily laxative, antipyretic, soothing, astringent and anti-inflammatory. Drugs of fruits are recommended for use to strengthen the muscles of the heart.
Due to pectins in its composition, barberry is able to purify the body of toxins, as pectin is able to draw heavy metals, salts and other harmful compounds into itself.
How to prepare medicinal products from barberry
The most useful in barberry is its bark. It is dried in drafts indoors or in a special dryer at a temperature of 40-50 ° C. Collect bark is necessary during the movement of juices, and roots - in the early spring or in October. A significant part of the roots should be left to prevent the plant from perishing. It is not necessary to wash the roots, the alkaloids dissolve in water.
Folk remedies with barberry
Barberry leaves
10 grams of crushed leaves (about 1 tbsp.) Pour 1 stack. boiling water, boil on a water bath. The infusion is heated under the lid, then cooled for 1 hour naturally. Strain and bring the amount of infusion to the original. Take a quarter cup, 3-4 times a day for diseases of the bile duct and liver as an anti-inflammatory.
Barberry bark
20 grams of bark pour 2 cups of boiling water, boil for 15 minutes and allow to infuse for 3-4 hours, drain. Take a quarter of a cup with internal bleeding 4 times a day. With severe bleeding, it is recommended to drink 2 tablespoons. spoons in an hour or two.
Root of barberry
Decoction from the root of barberry is done in the same way as a decoction of the bark. These broths are used to rinse gums in inflammatory processes, since the properties of barberry consist in preventing the development of microbes and bacteria.
Berries of barberry
Fruit jelly, jam, jelly and syrups, these are all products from berries of barberry, which are not only delicious, but also very useful. On the basis of berries, you can prepare a drink that quenches thirst, improves appetite and exerts a febrifuge effect. Or you can prepare a jam that helps to get rid of constipation, hemorrhoids, helps the liver and bladder, improves blood circulation.
Doctors say that due to its beneficial properties, barberry does not give side effects and is well tolerated by all people.