A unique technique to identify and authenticate genuine material used in preparation of AYUSH medicines -Part 1

 

AYUSH is an acronym for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy, and are the six Indian systems of medicine prevalent and practiced in India and some of the neighboring Asian countries with very few exceptions in some of the developed countries. Among the above six Indian Systems, Ayurveda and Siddha got popularity due to highly effective responses during Covid - 19 period. Ayurveda System of medicine has been practicing in all over India since ancient times, However, Siddha is very popular in Tamil Nadu, a southern state of our Country. 

AYUSH treatment refers to alternative medical systems such as Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy. Trusted by thousands of people around the world, these traditional health and wellness treatments are cost-effective and have negligible side effects. ISM&H was renamed as the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga, and naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy, or the Department of AYUSH. The department was made into an official ministry by the   Government of India in 2014. 

This technique has been adopted for a long back but not getting fully effective because of the shortage of experts in this field. Nowadays no one is ready to study, Pure Botany or Applied Botany as the main subject. As we know that many alkaloids are being used in the preparation of allopathic medicines are yielded from plants only. Due to a lack of knowledge of identification, the quality of the medicines and ingredients used to prepare them is always in doubt.   In today's blog, I will tell to how to identify the chicory root without using any laboratory instrument and just from the naked eye.

This technique is called "Macroscopical Identicifacation of plant". It is very useful, especially in the Pharmaceutical Industries where the demand for material is more but no time to spend on identification also, production needs quick decision to get clear the material so as to take in production. Let's start with identification by using PowerPoint slides- It is self-explanatory slides to solve all queries if any doubts please approach me at pdd100@gmail.com

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Hope that you may get the idea to identify the chicory root as there are many materials available in the market to replace the genuinity. It has been seen that the mature dried and chopped reddish is also being mixed and sold in place of chicory. In this situation, we may check with organoleptic characters, especially with smell and taste, and get easily identified. 

Please follow this blog, I will bring some more identification in the next blog. Please visit my blog to read regularly.