ASVAGANDHA
Asvagandha consists of dried mature roots of Withania somnifera Dunal. (Fam. Solanaceae), a perennial shrub, found in waste land, cultivated field and open grounds throughout India, widely cultivated in certain areas of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan , roots collected in winter, washed and cut into short pieces.
SYNONYMS
Sanskrit : Hayagandha, Vajigandha
Assamese : Ashvagandha
Bengali : Ashvagandha
English : —
Gujrati : Asgandha
Hindi : Asgandh
Kannada : Angarberu, Hiremaddina-gida
Kashmiri : Asagandh
Malayalam : Amukkuram
Marathi : Asagandha, Askagandha
Oriya : Aswagandha
Punjabi : Asgandh
Tamil : Amukkaramkizangu
Telugu : Pennerugadda
Urdu : Asgand
DESCRIPTION
a) Macroscopic
Roots straight, unbranched, thickness varying with age. roots bear fibre-like secondary roots, outer surface buff to grey-yellow with longitudinal wrinkles, crown consists of 2-6 remains of stem base, stem bases variously thickened, nodes prominent only on the side from where petiole arises, cylindrical, green with longitudinal wrinkles, fracture, short and uneven, odour, characteristic, taste, bitter and acrid.
b) Microscopic
Transverse section of root shows cork exfoliated or crushed, when present isodiamatric and non-lignified, cork cambium of 2-4 diffused rows of cells, secondary cortex about twenty layers of compact parenchymatous cells, phloem consists of sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem parenchyma, cambium 4-5 rows of tangentially elongated cells, secondary xylem hard forming a closed vascular ring separated by multiseriate medullary rays, a few xylem parenchyma
IDENTITY, PURITY AND STRENGTH
Foreign matter Not more than 2 per cent, Appendix 2.2.2.
Total Ash Not more than 7 per cent, Appendix 2.2.3.
Acid-insoluble ash Not more than 1 per cent, Appendix 2.2.4.
Alcohol-soluble extractive Not less than 15 per cent, Appendix 2.2.6. (25 per cent)
Water-soluble extractive Nil Appendix 2.2.7.
ASSAY
Aswagandha consists of not less than 0.2 per cent of total alkaloids, when assayed as follows:
Take about 30g accurately weighed of the powdered drug, cover with Alcohol (90 per cent) and allow to stand overnight. Extract for 6 hours so wet apparatus and concentrate to a syrup residue. Treat with 25, 20, 15 and 10 ml portions of 5 per cent Sulphuric Acid until complete extraction of alkaloid is affected.
To the combined acid extracts add an excess of Dragandorf’s reagent. Filter under suction and dissolve the residue in Acetone, Shake the acetone solution with freshly prepared suspension of 2ml Silver Carbonate in 10 ml of Water. Filter the solution and wash the precipitate with Acetone, Alcohol and water in that order. Pass sufficient Hydrogen Sulphide through the filtrate. Boil the solution for 10 minutes, Inter and evaporate under vacuum in a tared flask. Add to the residue 5 ml of Ethyl Alcohol – evaporate to dryness, repeat the process once again and weight the residue to constant weight in a vacuum dessicator.
CONSTITUENTS – Alkaloids and withanolides.
PROPERTIES AND ACTION
Rasa : Tikta, Kasaya
Guna : Laghu
Virya : Usna
Vipaka : Madhura
Karma : Rasayana, Vatakaphapaha, Balya, Vajikarana
IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Asvagandhadyarista, Asvagandhadi Leha, Balasvagandha Laksadi Taila
THERAPEUTIC USES – Sotha, Ksaya, Daurbalya, Vataroga, Klaibya
DOSE – 3-6 g of the drug in powder form.
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