Pharmacognostical and Pharmaceutical Analysis of Haritakyadi Vataka- An Ayurvedic Herbo-mineral formulation for Amajirna

Abstract

Background: Haritakyadi Vataka is mentioned by Acharya Bhavprakash as a drug for the management of Amajirna. So, for initialization of standardization and assurance of the quality of herbal compounds pharmacognostical and pharmaceutical analysis should be done. Methods: Haritaki and Sunthi Churna were subjected to microscopic evaluation for pharmacognostical and physicochemical analysis like Loss on drying, Specific gravity, Saponification, Refractive index, Acid value and High-performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC). Results: Pharmacognostical study showed the presence of certain identifying characters of the ingredients of Haritakyadi Vataka like Haritaki, Sunthi. In pharmaceutical study, preliminary physiochemical analysis showed that loss on drying in Haritaki and Sunthi Churna was 3.25 and 4.07%w/w, ash value 3.07%w/w and 5.76%w/w, water soluble extract 24.1% and 10.44%, alcohol soluble extract 19.7% and 7.6% and Ph value 5 and 6.5 respectively. Conclusions: Pharmacognostical and physico-chemical observations revealed the specific characteristics of all active constituents of Haritakyadi Vataka and confirmed the purity and genuinity of the drug.