Myrica esculenta (Myricaceae), often known as box berry or kaifal powder, kaifal is an important medicinal plant in India. It can be found in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas, Meghalaya, Nepal, China, and Pakistan. Its fruits are mostly used by local tribes to make pickles and cooling drinks.

The bark has traditionally been used to treat cough, asthma, fever, chronic bronchitis, diarrhoea, rheumatism, and inflammation; the roots have been used to treat bronchitis, asthma, and cholera; and the flowers have been used to treat earache, dysentery, and paralysis.

Phytochemical research on diverse plant parts revealed the existence of bioactive phytoconstituents such as phenolic compounds, alkaloids, glycosides, triterpenoids, and volatile oils. The plant has also been shown to have numerous major pharmacological effects such as analgesic, anxiolytic, antiallergic, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, antiulcer, antioxidant, and antiinflammatory activity in animal models.