Partha Ganguly

Arishtas are one of the most important traditional Ayurvedic formulations claimed to be beneficial for various ailments. The present investigation evaluated two well known Arishtas available in the market, Arjunarishta [Parthadyarishta] and Dashamularishta with respect to various physico-chemical parameters, active phytochemical groups and microbiological quality parameters.  Additionally, a simple and rapid Thin Layer Chromatographic (TLC) fingerprinting was developed for both Arjunarishta and Dashamularishta for evaluation of quality as well as to check batch to batch consistency.

A rapid and simple HPLC method has been developed for the simultaneous quantification of safranal and piperine in some marketed proprietary Chyawanprash products. Analysis was performed using C18 column (250 x 4.6 mm) by isocratic elution with acetonitrile: water (77:23) and detection at 308 nm using Ultra Violet (UV) detector. The calibration plot was linear over the range studied (safranal: 0.5-10 ppm; piperine: 2.5-50 ppm) with a correlation of 0.999 for safranal and 0.999 for piperine. The method was also validated for the linearity, range, precision, recovery and detection limits. Thus, the method is suitable for routine analysis of safranal and piperine in marketed proprietary Chyawanprash products.