Abstract

*Dr. Tarun Gupta, Dr. U. U. Zala, Prof. P. U. Vaishnav

ABSTRACT

In Ayurveda, substances of natural origin, including whole plant or their parts, animal’s parts and minerals are used as medicine either alone or in combination. Herbal drugs have served the human society from time immemorial in curing various ailments. Acharya Charaka has mentioned 18 parts of plants which can be used for medicinal purpose and Kshara is one among them. Kshara are derivatives of plant drug ashes in the form of solutions or crystals, all of which have the basic quality of being alkaline. Snuhi Kshara is included in Ksharashtaka. Kshara obtained from Snuhi is one of its modification, advocated in classics for therapeutic objectives. Snuhi Kshara is Tikshna, Agnidipana and indicated in Udara, Gulma, Sotha, Visuchika, Ajirna, Sula, Yakrit dosha and Svasa. Different opinions exist regarding proportion of water, time for settling, cloth folding, Number of filtration in the preparation of Kshara in Ayurveda. The residue after a first wash should never be discarded, they are to be processed further twice to obtain more Kshara. After three washes, maximum yield was obtained i.e. 26g (10%), 18g (6.92%) and 8g (3.07%) respectively in each wash. Here an attempt is made to prepare Snuhi Kshara by classical references with repeated washing of ash and to develop preliminary profile of Snuhi Kshara.