PHARMACOGNOSTICAL AND PHYTOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF VACHADI CHURNA - AN AYURVEDIC POLYHERBAL FORMULATION

Abstract

WHO defines normal birth as-spontaneous in onset, low-risk at the start of labour and remaining so throughout labour and delivery. Acharya Charaka has used a new term ‘Prasuti Maruta’ i.e. the function of Apana Vayu (Prasuti Maruta ) to expel the foetus. So, the Prakruta Apana and Vyana Vayu are essential for Prakruta Prasava. Vachadi Churna is an Ayurvedic poly herbal formulation used in Nasya form for augmentation of labour. The present work was carried out to standardize the finished product “Vachadi Churna” to confirm its identity, quality and purity. Pharmacognostical and phyto-chemical observations revealed the specific characters of all active constituents used in the preparation. The pharmacognostical study reveals the presence of Starch grains, Crystal fibres, Tannin contents, Epicarpe cell, Cystolith, Spiral vesicle etc. Pharmaceutical analysis showed that the loss on drying value was 7.2 % w/w, Ash value 7.7 % w/w, water soluble extraction 66 %w/w, methanol soluble extraction 33.3%w/w, pH value 6.5, Particle size, Percentage of moderately fine powder = 55.7% w/w, (c) Percentage of fine powder = 84.3%w/w, (d) Percentage of very fine powder = 13.88 %w/w, HPTLC finger printing profile of Vachadi Churna revealed 5 spots at 254nm and 5spots on 366nm.