Rasa Shastra Research Articles

Chemical Analysis of an Ayurvedic Herbo-Metallic Preparation Containing Mercury: Speciation of Mercury

Ayurvedic medicine is a traditional medicine native to the Indian subcontinent [1] and is practiced in other parts of the world as alternative medicine. Ayurvedic practitioners developed a number of medicinal preparations from plants, animal products, fats and minerals. The majority of Ayurvedic medicines are plant based medicines, where as one group of medicine adds minerals to herbal medicine is known as rasa shastra [2]. Arogyavardhini Vati (means improves good health, AVV) is a one of the most commonly used multi-ingredient formulation in Ayurvedic system of medicine. AVV formulation has been successfully used by traditional practitioners for the treatment of various disorders especially to eliminate toxins by laxative action, therefore it is recommended in chronic constipation and skin disorders. Moreover, it possesses cholagogue, hepatoprotective [3] and liver stimulant action and is widely prescribed for jaundice, hepatitis [4] and chronic indigestion. Chemically, AVV is a mercury metal based formulation found to be stoichiometrically HgS, also contains Cu, Fe, and various other botanicals such as E. officinalis, T. chebula, T. bellirica, P. zeylanicum, Picrorhiza kurroa and gum of mukkul. Although generally safe, the ingredients used in Arogyavardhini have the potential to cause side effects due to heavy metals and toxic chemicals. To study the toxicity due to heavy metals in alternative medicine, various techniques like infrared spectroscopy (IR), HPTLC and ICP-MS [5] were used for characterization of AVV sample in triplicate. The results from IR and HPTLC revealed presence of metal oxides and organic matter from plant material, whereas ICP-MS method showed the presence of various proportions of elements such as Na, K, Ca, Cr, Mg, V, Fe, Cu, Mn, Ni, Zn which have been found in mg/g and some in µg/g amounts in addition to the major constituent element. This method also describes the HPLC coupled to inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for the separation and determination of Hg species (inorganic Hg, methyl and ethyl mercury). The different chemical forms of mercury exhibit different toxicities, separating elemental mercury from the alkylated forms provide vital information on the actual risk by a sample.

A Prospective Study on Parpati Kalpana w.s.r to Panchamrut Parpati

Rasa Shastra, one of the Pharmaco-therapeutic branches of Ayurveda, incorporates many of the inorganic, herbo-mineral and metallic pharmaceutical preparations namely Khalviya Rasayana, Parpati Rasayana, Pottali Rasayana and Kupipakwa RasayanaParpati Rasayanas are one among the Rasaoushidhis mentioned in the Ayurvedic classics and the therapeutically effective mineral & metallic formulations. These are the most popular among the processing's of Mercury. Parpati Rasayana Kalpanas are the most popular among the processing's of Mercury and are widely used. These are therapeutically effective mineral and metallic formulations; including both Sagandha and Nirgandha Parada Yukta yogas. Parpati Kalpana (Flakes) is a well known and successfully used preparation for the management of Grahani. The name "Parpati" is given to this preparation because of its form and the method of preparation as it is made in the form of thin flakes. It is also said about it that because of its similarity of Papada, so it is called as Parpati. This process dates back to 11 th century and is found widely in Ayurveda literature. Parpati Rasayanas have high therapeutic value, potent, less toxic and cost effective medicines. Panchamruta Parpati is one of the formulations used in Grahani (Malabsorption sprue syndrome). In this process, Parada is heated along with Gandhaka and other drugs. Here Parada gets a very intimate bondage with Gandhaka which helps to exhibit thousands of qualities compared to any other formulations. Agni plays an important role in altering the natural physico-chemical properties and the potency of the dravyas. A number of Parpatis are derived in subsequent periods such as Tamra parpati, Panchamruta parpati, Swarna parpati (Rasapaddhati), Loha parpati, Vijaya parpati etc. were developed by different scholars by adding one or the other ingredients.

Standard manufacturing procedure of Rajata Bhasma

Rasa Shastra is a branch of Ayurveda which deals with the processing of minerals and metals having therapeutic importance. Rajata comes under the group of metals having high therapeutic value. Minerals and metals are mostly used in the form of Bhasma. During the medieval period Rasacharyas extensively worked and developed a number of processing methods for a single drug. They all are standard manufacturing procedures (SMP) which ensure the quality, safety, efficacy and reproducibility of the product. Earlier Ayurvedic physicians were producing medicines by themselves according to their need. Now a day, due to commercialization of Ayurvedic medicines and ignorance of classical methods, quality of drugs has deteriorated. Presently, the demand of Ayurvedic drugs in the global market is increasing day by day. Hence it is the need of time to develop SMP for Ayurvedic products for global acceptability. This paper aims at providing SMP for the manufacture of Rajata Bhasma and also attempts to study the effect of Shodhana process on Rajata. Rajata was obtained from the local market of Varanasi. Rajata Bhasma was prepared and it was observed that during the preparation of Rajata Bhasma, use of Muffle Furnace instead of conventional Puta is more advantageous due to better temperature control. Use of mercury and sulphur together acts as best medium in the preparation of Rajata Bhasma.

Elucidating the Nanomaterialistic Basis for Ayurvedic Bhasmas Using Physicochemical Experimentation

The validity of herbometallic bhasmas described in Ayurveda is nowhere acknowledged by biomedical science. To unravel the knowledge of bhasmas, an algorithm integrating ayurveda- and science-based experiments needs to connect the basic science of rasa shastra, the study of herbometallic medicines in ayurveda, to clinical data.

Pharmaceutical study of Lauha Bhasma

In the present research paper, the work done on pharmaceutical study of Lauha Bhasma conducted in the Department of Rasa Shastra under the postgraduate research programme is being presented. The pharmaceutical processing of Lauha Bhasma was performed by following samanya shodhana, vishesha shodhana and marana of Lauha. Under the process of marana, three specific pharmaceutical techniques were followed, viz. bhanupaka, sthalipaka and putapaka. During the putapaka process, an electric muffle furnace (EMF) was used. The temperature of puta was studied in two batches, viz. in Batch I, a temperature of 800°C was maintained whereas in Batch II, a temperature of 600°C was maintained. The purpose behind selecting two temperatures was to validate the process of marana of Lauha and to determine an ideal temperature for the preparation of Lauha Bhasma in EMF. It is found that after 20 puta at a temperature of 600°C, the Lauha Bhasma was prepared properly. The entire characteristic of Lauha Bhasma, like “pakwa jambu phala varna,” varitar, etc. was attained at 600°. At a temperature of 800°C, the process could not be carried out smoothly. The pellets turned very hard and brassy yellow in color. The desired color was attained only after decreasing the temperature in further puta.

Physicochemical characterization of Ayurvedic bhasma (Swarna makshika bhasma): An approach to standardization

Swarna makshika [SM], a mineral having various therapeutic uses, has been used since long in Ayurveda. The present study was conducted to generate a fingerprint for raw and processed SM using techniques which can be used by pharmacies. Powdered SM was heated in an iron pan by adding lemon juice for 3 days, till liberation of sulfur fumes stopped. Bhasma of this shuddha SM was obtained by triturating it withit with shuddha gandhaka and lemon juice. It was then subjected to heat in 09* putas, and for firing in each puta, 4 kg cow dung cakes were used. To assure the quality of bhasma, rasa shastra quality control tests like nischandratva, varitara, amla pariksha, etc., were used. After the bhasma complied with these tests, the bhasma was analyzed using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis of raw SM and SM bhasma revealed that raw SM contains CuFeS2, and SM bhasma contains Fe2O3, FeS2, CuS and SiO2. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) studies showed that the grains in SM bhasma were uniformly arranged in agglomerates of size 1-2 microns as compared to the raw SM which showed a scattered arrangement of grains of size 6-8 microns. It may be concluded that raw SM is a complex compound which gets converted into a mixture of simple compounds having very small particle size after the particular process of marana. This is the first report of fingerprinting of SM bhasma prepared using this particular method.

Lead, Mercury, and Arsenic in US- and Indian-Manufactured Ayurvedic Medicines Sold via the Internet

Lead, mercury, and arsenic have been detected in a substantial proportion of Indian-manufactured traditional Ayurvedic medicines. Metals may be present due to the practice of rasa shastra (combining herbs with metals, minerals, and gems). Whether toxic metals are present in both US- and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic medicines is unknown. To determine the prevalence of Ayurvedic medicines available via the Internet containing detectable lead, mercury, or arsenic and to compare the prevalence of toxic metals in US- vs Indian-manufactured medicines and between rasa shastra and non-rasa shastra medicines. A search using 5 Internet search engines and the search terms Ayurveda and Ayurvedic medicine identified 25 Web sites offering traditional Ayurvedic herbs, formulas, or ingredients commonly used in Ayurveda, indicated for oral use, and available for sale. From 673 identified products, 230 Ayurvedic medicines were randomly selected for purchase in August-October 2005. Country of manufacturer/Web site supplier, rasa shastra status, and claims of Good Manufacturing Practices were recorded. Metal concentrations were measured using x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. Prevalence of medicines with detectable toxic metals in the entire sample and stratified by country of manufacture and rasa shastra status. One hundred ninety-three of the 230 requested medicines were received and analyzed. The prevalence of metal-containing products was 20.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 15.2%-27.1%). The prevalence of metals in US-manufactured products was 21.7% (95% CI, 14.6%-30.4%) compared with 19.5% (95% CI, 11.3%-30.1%) in Indian products (P = .86). Rasa shastra compared with non-rasa shastra medicines had a greater prevalence of metals (40.6% vs 17.1%; P = .007) and higher median concentrations of lead (11.5 microg/g vs 7.0 microg/g; P = .03) and mercury (20,800 microg/g vs 34.5 microg/g; P = .04). Among the metal-containing products, 95% were sold by US Web sites and 75% claimed Good Manufacturing Practices. All metal-containing products exceeded 1 or more standards for acceptable daily intake of toxic metals. One-fifth of both US-manufactured and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic medicines purchased via the Internet contain detectable lead, mercury, or arsenic.