Abstract
Berberine is a natural alkaloid obtained from different species of Berberis like Berberis aristata, vulgaris, aquifolum and so on having family berbediaceae. It is also called barberry. It has multispectral uses but its less oral bioavailability (<1%) limits its use. The water solubility of berberine is 0.000354mg/ml that can be increased by addition of salts like hydrochloride, fumarate, citrate etc. The melting point of Berberine is 193-196 º C and molecular weight is 372.5g/mol. It is used in the treatment of various diseases like diabetes, cancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antiprotozoal and so on. Berberine is available in different dosage forms like tablets, beads, topicals gels and hydrogels pellets and various vesicular delivery systems. The log P, tPSA, %HSA of berberine was found to be −1.5, 40.9 A &25.98%, that means berberine is hydrophilic in nature. Berberine is mainly checked by HPLC, IR/HPLC-UV, HPLC and micro dialysis, CE/ESI-MS, Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), UPLC/MS-MS, HPLC/ESI-MS, HPTLC, HPLC-UV etc. It is mostly analyzed by HPLC and Mass spectrometer. In current we are going to discuss about the Berberine, pharmacokinetic properties, physicochemical properties, uses of berberine, different available dosage forms and the analytical methods used to analyze berberine and its salts.