Elsevier

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Volume 197, 2 February 2017, Pages 10-24
Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Development of Ayurveda – Tradition to trend

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2016.09.024Get rights and content

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Ayurveda entails a scientific tradition of harmonious living and its origin can be traced from ancient knowledge in Rigveda and Atharvaveda. Ayurveda is a traditional healthcare system of Indian medicine since ancient times. Several Ayurvedic medicines have been exploiting for treatment and management of various diseases in human beings. The several drugs have been developed and practiced from Ayurveda since ancient time to modern practice as ‘tradition to trend’. The potential of Ayurvedic medicine needs to be explored further with modern scientific validation approaches for better therapeutic leads.

Aim of the study

The present study was aimed to explore the various aspects of Ayurveda and inspired drug discovery approaches for its promotion and development.

Materials and methods

We have reviewed all the literature related to the history and application of Ayurvedic herbs. Various aspects for the quality control, standardization, chemo-profiling, and metabolite fingerprinting for quality evaluation of Ayurvedic drugs. The development of Ayurvedic drugs is gaining momentum with the perspectives of safety, efficacy and quality for promotion and management of human health. Scientific documentation, process validation and several others significant parameters are key points, which can ensure the quality, safety and effectiveness of Ayurvedic drugs.

Results

The present review highlights on the major goal of Ayurveda and their significant role in healthcare system. Ayurveda deals with several classical formulations including arka, asavas, aristas, churna, taila, vati, gutika, bhasma etc. There are several lead molecules that have been developed from the Ayurvedic herbs, which have various significant therapeutic activities. Chemo-profiling of Ayurvedic drug is essential in order to assess the quality of products. It deals with bioactive compound quantification, spurious and allied drug determination, chromatographic fingerprinting, standardization, stability and quality consistency of Ayurvedic products.

Conclusions

Scientific validation and the documentation of Ayurvedic drugs are very essential for its quality evaluation and global acceptance. Therapeutic efficacy of Ayurvedic herbs may be enhanced with high quality, which can be achieved by identity, purity, safety, drug content, physical and biological properties. Ayurvedic medicines need be explored with the modern scientific approaches for its validation. Therefore, an attempt has been made in the present review to highlight the crucial aspects that need to be considered for the promotion and development of Ayurvedic medicine.

Section snippets

Ayurvedic system of medicine and its role in healthcare

India has a rich heritage of traditional system of medicine. Ayurveda is the traditional Indian system of medicine which is meant not only for curing the diseases but also for prevention of the occurrence of illnesses. Ayurveda provides a plethora of information on ethnic folklore practices and traditional aspects of therapeutically important medicines. Ayurveda is getting global acceptance primarily due to its holistic therapeutic practice, extensive profound conceptual basis and survival of

Mythological and Vedic history

The genesis of Ayurveda is ancient, coupled with the pursuit of good health which is as old as human existence, fighting to live and adapt to nature. It evolved with the development of human civilization, hence emerged as a comprehensive system of healthcare. The important events of the history of Ayurveda are summarized in Fig. 3. Indian philosophy articulates health as the prerequisite for attaining materialistic, spiritual and social improvement of the human being. Brahma (Hindu mythological

Quality evaluation of Ayurvedic drug

Quality control and standardization of raw materials and Ayurvedic drugs are the major criteria for their acceptability in modern medicine. These ensure the consumer's right to get pure, safe, potent and effective medication. The bioactive extract should be standardized on the basis of active principle or major compound(s) with chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. The next important step is to make a stable Ayurvedic product with maximum shelf-life (Mukherjee, 2005). However there are

Evidence based Ayurvedic drug development

कालबुद्धीन्द्रयिार्थानां योगो मथि्या न चात िच|.

द्वयाश्रयाणांव्याधीनांत्रविधिोहेतुसङ्ग्रहः||.

Ch. Su. – 1/54.

[Perverted, negative and excessive use of time, intelligence and.

sense objects is the threefold cause of both psychic and somatic disorders].

Ayurveda focuses on disease prevention and optimizing vitality as much as on removing an illness. It is a holistic approach to health that includes balance of the three biological factors known as tridosha (Vata, Pitta and Kapha) together with aspects

Challenges in development of Ayurvedic formulation

Development of suitable dosage forms of Ayurvedic or herbal drugs is still a challenging task. Some primary constraints for developing an appropriate delivery system are limited solubility and permeability of herbal drugs through biological membranes. Therefore, it produces little therapeutic efficacy and bioavailability. Research is now being concurrently conducted on basic as well as applied fields of herbal medicines, and this has created the need for studies in the delivery system of herbal

Conclusion

Ayurvedic drug is mentioned in the ancient text of traditional Indian system of medicine that could be more explored and validated in association with the modern scientific technologies. Therapeutic efficacy of Ayurvedic medicine may be enhanced to high quality which can be achieved by evaluation of identity, purity, safety, stability, physical and biological properties. Chemo-profiling, standardization and biological study are very essential for the quality evaluation as well as to maintain

Conflict of interest

Authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgement

The authors are thankful to the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, New Delhi, for financial support through Tata Innovation Fellowship (D.O. No. BT/HRD/35/01/04/2014).

We would like to dedicate this article in memory of beloved Prof. P. K. Debnath, who as an Ayurvedic expert guided us in different aspects of our work; unfortunately, he passed away on April 25, 2015.

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