South Khorasan Province, Largest Producer of Barberries in Iran

Normal or seedless barberry (Berberis vulgaris) is the fruit of a shrub which is 3-6 meters high with reddish fragile branches that tend brown. It has leathery leaves that are egg-shaped and little red fruits in the form of clusters hanging from the branches. Barberries contain organic acids and phenol compounds that contain anthocyanin and carotenoide pigments as well as phenolase, polyphenolase and glycosidase enzymes.
Mention has been made of barberry in writings of the medieval times (medical books in southern Italy) and probably its origin is Arabic. It seems that Simon Janunsi was the first person who acquainted people with the Arabic name "berberis" in the 8th century. Barberry wood and possibly its fruit were used in the Himalayan slopes since ancient times and in the first century A.C. the Greeks were familiar with its extract which they termed Indian Licium, and the Arabs called it Honduras.
Historical testimonies show that Rhazes was the first person to know about the medical properties of this plant and he advised drinking barberry juice for treating fever, thirst, and inflammation. In Iran people drink barberry juice and use its fruit in preparing food, jam, pickles, syrups, round flat candy, dried barberry concentrate, and Sohan Asali (a traditional Iranian sweet). In recent years in order to make industrial use of barberries much research has been conducted on preparing different products such as beverages, sauce, jelly, candy , pastilles ,colored edible powder etc. from barberries. Due to their cold and dry nature, barberries are used to reinforce the heart and liver, as an analgesic for the stomach and anticoagulant and their leaves are used in affections resulting from the lack of Vitamin C, to treat gastric ulcer, treating diarrhea, edema, and treating scurvy. Based on more studies, the majority of the medical properties of barberries are related to the different alkaloids existing in the different parts of this plant. In Iran, Southern Khorasan province and mainly the cities of Qaen and Birjand are the most important regions where barberries are produced and around 95% of the country's barberries are produced in these 2 cities. The Province's annual barberry production is more than 8400 tons that is obtained from orchards in some 6442 hectares of area.
Cultivation and production of seedless barberry took place in Afin village located in Ghaen city's Zirkooh district for the first time. Until 50 years ago, seedless barberry was mainly cultivated in Efin and Dermian villages, however, ever since seedless barberry is cultivated in most of the villages and regions. South Khorasan province is renowned for the production of seedless barberry as the main agricultural product.
Seedless barberry is best cultivated in areas that are over 1500 meters above sea level.
Production of seedless barberry as a garden product is confined to South Khorasan province, however, seeded barberries grow in various parts of the world. Seedless barberry is resistant to cold weather and grows well in mountain areas with cold winters. Decorative barberry species appear in three categories i.e. perishable, ever green and semi ever green. Yellowish-orange flowers and reddish-bluish-purple fruits hang from the beautiful shrubs of barberry. In fall, you can observe shift of colors in the branches of shrubs which appear in heights ranging from 30 centimeters to 5.2 meters. These shrubs can be used for decorative purposes.