Wishing our members a very auspicious and delightful Navratri ...

Efficacy of most herbal drugs need to be
doubted as several raw drugs not available
in market
Peethaambaran Kunnathoor, Chennai
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
The claims about the quality of most of the herbal drugs available today, especially in Ayurveda and
Siddha, are questionable because of non-availability of certain key raw drugs and other malpractices
impacting the quality of these ingredients, according to a study conducted by a member of the
Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM).
Adulteration and substitution of raw materials are the two major factors that lead to the poor quality
of conventional ayurvedic and Siddha medicines, said Dr K G Viswanathan, the CCIM member and
the principal of Vaidyaratnam Ayurveda College in Thrissur in Kerala.
According to him some of the major manufacturing companies have stopped the production of
certain key ayurvedic drugs because of shortage of raw drugs. He said the conventional Ayurveda
medicine for fever “Draakshaadi Kashaayam” is not available today because the main ingredient of
its production, the roots of “Kumizhu” (Gmelina arborea), is not available.
“If the medicine is available anywhere, its quality has to be tested as there is no substitution for its
ingredients, especially for “Kumizhu”. The tree itself is not seen anywhere. So we are suspicious
of the quality of ‘Draakshaadi Kashaayam’ if it is available in any shop. The production of the
Kashaayam was stopped years ago,” he told Pharmabiz in a telephonic conversation.
There are Draakshaadi tablets and Arishtams coming to Kerala from other states claiming as drugs
made from the roots of ‘Kumizhu’, but the veracity of those claims is also questionable, he said.
There are more than 60 species of medicinal plants in the list of endangered species and government
has banned their collection for commercial production of medicines. Even for samples for the
purpose of study, special permission is required from the forest department. Collection of the plants
‘Kottam’ (Saussurea lappa), used for the manufacture of the popular ‘Kottamchukkaathi Thailam”,
‘Rakthachandanam’ (Red sandalwood) used for “shaarivadyaasavam” and the bark of Ashoka tree
(Sarca indica) used for ‘Ashokaarishtam’ is restrained by laws. “In such a situation, the manufacturing
companies are forced to stop production of these drugs or use substitutions which will impact
the quality of the drugs”, Dr Viswanathan said. He added that several conventional ‘Kashaayams’
are not available now in the market due to the non-availability of raw materials.
info Ayurveda, Volume 2, No. 2, Oct.-Dec.,’ 2012 6