Chemical Characterization of an Ayurvedic Herbo-Mineral Formulation - Vasantakusumākara Rasa: A Potential Tool for Quality Assurance.

Background: Herbo-mineral formulations of Ayurveda contain specified metals or minerals as composition, which have their beneficial effects on biological systems. These metals or minerals are transformed into non-toxic forms through meticulous procedures explained in Ayurveda. Though literature is available on quality aspects of such herbo-mineral formulations; contemporary science is raising concerns at regular intervals on such formulations. Thus, it becomes mandate to develop quality profiles of all formulations that contain metals or minerals in their composition. Considering this, it is planned to evaluate analytical profile of Vasantakusumākara Rasa.

Objective: To prepare Vasantakusumākara Rasa as per Standard operating Procedures (SoP) mentioned in classical text and to characterize it chemically using modern analytical techniques.

Materials and methods: The drug (Vasantakusumākara Rasa) in three batches was prepared in GMP certified pharmacy. Physico-chemical analysis, Assay of elements and HPTLC were carried out as per API. XRD was conducted using Rigaku Ultima-IV X-ray diffractometer.

Results: The analysis shown the presence of Mercury, Tin, Gold, Silver, Iron, Zinc and Calcium etc., and HPTLC revealed presence of organic constituents from plant material. The XRD indicated the presence of cinnabar (mercury sulphide from Rasa Sindhura), cassiterite (tin oxide from Vaṅga Bhasma), massicot (lead oxide from Nāga bhasma) and Magnetite (di-iron oxide from Loha bhasma).

Conclusion: The physico chemical analysis reveals that VKR prepared by following classical guidelines is very effective in converting the macro elements into therapeutically effective medicines in micro form. Well prepared herbo-mineral drugs offer many advantages over plant medicines due to their longer shelf life, lesser doses, easy storing facilities, better palatability etc. The inferences and the standards laid down in this study certainly can be utilized as baseline data of standardization and QC.