Ayurvedic formulations are mainly divided into two groups. (1) Herbal medicines (mainly plant medicines) and (2). Rasaushadhi (mainly metals and minerals).
There are many categories of Kashtoushadhi Yogas like Asavaristra, Avaleh, Grapha Churna, Taila etc. and Rasaushadhis like Bhasma, Pishti, Lauh, Kapibuddhakava, Rasayan etc. Ayurvedic medicines are obtained from botanical sources such as extracts of various parts of the plant such as root, leaf, flower, fruit or the whole plant.
1. Arishtha and Asava Asava and Arishtha are made by soaking the herbs in powder form or in the form of decoction (Kasay) in a solution of sugar or jaggery, as the case may be, for a certain period of time, during which it ferments. Undergoes a process that produces alcohol and facilitates the extraction of the active ingredients contained in the herb.
2. Rasa Rasayana Ayurvedic medicines which have mineral medicines as their main ingredients are called Rasa Rasayana or Rasa-Yoga. They are in tablet form or in powder form/ forest, minerals like anarala, gold, rajata, copper etc. and sulfur in impure state are used to convert them into the form of bhasma, casually called, then Other medicines are added in small quantities, mixed well and ground to form a fine powder.
3. Lauh Lauh Kalp is to prepare Lauh Bhasma as the main ingredient along with other medicines. Other active ingredients are ground into fine powder and mixed with iron ash.
4. Vati or Gutika medicines are made from one or more medicines of plant, animal or mineral origin, which are prepared in the form of pills or tablets.
5. Powder is a fine powder of medicines. All these herbs and other active ingredients are cleaned, dried and pulverized together by mechanical means to a fineness of at least 80 mesh.
6. Awaleh is a semi-solid preparation of narcotic Pak Awaleh or Lehya drugs. These are prepared by adding jaggery or sugar candy and boiled with the decoction of prescribed medicinal juice, if necessary honey is added after the preparation cools down and mixed well.
7. Ghrit Ghrit is a preparation in which ghee is boiled with kasya (decoction) and kalkas of medicines prescribed as per Ayurvedic method.
8. Crust: First of all Kajjali is prepared with pure mercury and sulphur. Then according to Ayurvedic method, other medicines are added and mixed well in the grinder. Then the powder is melted by heating it in an iron vessel. This melted material is purified as per Ayurvedic method, cooled and again the medicinal clusters are ground into powder.
9. Oil: Oil is prepared by boiling the prescribed Kasya (decoction) and Kalk of Ayurvedic medicines in oil as per the formula mentioned in the Ayurvedic formula.
10. Goggulu Ayurvedic medicines which are obtained from a plant called Commifera Mukul are known as Goggulu. There are five different varieties of Goggulu in Ayurvedic scriptures, but generally two varieties, Mahishakas and Kanakas, are preferred for medicinal preparations.
The secretion is taken in small pieces in a piece of cloth and boiled in cow urine or milk or Triphala Kasua until the secretion runs through the cloth into liquid to the maximum. After filtration the liquid is boiled until it becomes a mass. After drying, the mass is made into a paste by adding ghee until it becomes waxy.
Quality Control and Standards
At present there is no pharmacopoeial standard on each active ingredient of Ayurvedic medicine like allopathic medicine. For standardization and quality control of Ayurvedic medicines, various steps like physical description, physical testing, pharmacogenized techniques etc. can be followed to identify the plant species and study their medicinal properties, so as to identify the raw drug, Can be detected and analyzed. Generally the quality of Ayurvedic products completely depends on the quality of the raw material and the manufacturing process. The quality control process of some Ayurvedic formulations can be obtained from ‘Pharmacopica Laboratory of Indian Medicine, Near ALTC, Ghaziabad (U.P.)’. The products are to be manufactured as per the Indian Medicine System of the Health Ministry.
