Review on Determination of Berberine in Biological and Pharmaceutical Matrices: An Analytical and Therapeutic Perspective

Berberine (BRB) is a natural alkaloid of the isoquinoline class, mostly isolated from the Berberis genus, which exhibits antibiotic, immunostimulant, antitumor, cardiovascular protection, endocrine regulator, antidepressant, neuroprotective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and other pharmacological properties. The poor aqueous solubility of BRB is one roadblock in scaling up activities for the clinical drug. However, this can be overcome by its chemical modification into salt form. Extraction of this biologically beneficial component becomes one of the important aspects, and for that, several extraction techniques are available using a variety of solvents. Numerous analytical methods are reported for the quantification of extracted BRB as well as simultaneous estimation of BRB in the presence of other components. Among them, RP-HPLC, LC/MS, and UPLC/MS are the most frequently used methods. The effectiveness and preciseness of these advanced methods could be the reason for analysts’ preferred choice for analysis.