Browsing by Author "Amarasinghe, A.P.G."

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A preliminary study of anti-bacterial effect of selected five Ayurvedic compound preparations.
(2006) Nageeb, B.M.; Widanapathirana, S.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.
Plant based medicaments have been man?s prime therapeutic weapons to rescue him from disease. Plants are of relevance to pharmacology. Pharmacological properties of medicinal plants may be used as leads in developing modern therapeutic agents. Thalisadee, Thripala,Hinguastaka, Dathree, and Manibadra are common Ayurvedic formulae used in traditional system of medicine in Sri Lanka. Thalisadee and Thripala Choorna are being commonly used in respiratory disorders such as cough, cold bronchitis and fever. The Hinguastaka, Dathree and Manibadra Choorna are being commonly used in gastrointestinal disorders such as diarrhoea dysentery vomiting and indigestion. Most of these conditions may develop due to bacterial infections .The main objective of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial effect of these preparations. Minimum human single dose of these drugs (2.5 gram) was dissolved in sterile distilled water and kept in the shaker at 100 rpm continuously for 04 hours in order to get the maximum soluble liquid extract of these drugs. 0.7 gram of Nutrient broth was dissolved in 50 ml of distilled water and transferred in to five test tubes (10 ml. /tube) and sterilized by autoclaving at 121 C for 20 minuets. These Nutrient broth tubes were inoculated by using inoculating needle with already plated pure test cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, ,Escherichia coli , Salmonella typhi.These tubes were incubated at 37 0 C for 18 to 20 hours. Sterilized Nutrient agar was transferred into ten sterilized Petri dishes at 40 0C and allowed to solidify on a horizontal plane. These plates were sealed and kept in incubator at 37 0C for 24 hours to exclude any contaminations and to reduce the moisture content. A known amount of (0.05 ml) each culture broth containing specific organisms was added to these solidified agar plates and spread evenly using a sterilized glass spreader. On these seeded agar plates sterilized metal cylinders were kept (03 Cylinders/plate) with gentle pressure. These cylinders were filled with 0.1 ml of above liquid extract of drug preparations.De ionized sterilized distilled water 0.1 ml and Chlorampenicol 0.025 mg/0.1 ml were used as controls. These plates were sealed and incubated at 37 0C .This same procedure was repeated for three times for each of the test organism. Chlorampenicol showed 1.0 cm -1.5 cm clear inhibition zones of the bacterial lawns on every test organisms. None of the drug preparations showed any effect on Escherichia coli culture plates. The Ayurvedic compound preparations of Hinguastaka Choorna and Manibadra Choorna extracts showed averagely 0.5cm and 0.3 cm clear inhibition zones of the bacterial lawns on Salmonella typhi plate respectively. Thripala Choorna showed averagely 1.0 cm clear inhibition zone of bacterial lawns on Pseudomonas aeruginosa plates. These zones were clear on every repetition. Theses results were statistically analyzed by using one sample student T-Test. All the means are in between accepted level and P value is <0.05. Comparison to the Chlorampenicol,Higuastka Choorna and Manibadra Choorna are active against Salmonella typhi. Thripala Choorna is active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Both, Dathree Choorna and Thalisadee Choorna are not active against any of tested microorganisms. This preliminary study scientifically justifies that the use of the powder preparations of Higuastka Choorna,Manibadra Choorna and Thripala Choorna for infective conditions such as diarrhea, dysentery, vomiting and indigestion.
A Preliminary Study on Microbial Quality Standards of an Ayurvedic Compound Preparation "Thalisadee Choorana".
(2007) Nageeb, B.M.; Widanapathirana, S.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.; Kasthuriarchi, K.A.H.
Thalisadee choorana is a common Ayurvedic medical preparation widely used by all indigenous medical practitioners in Sri Lanka. It is used for respiratory tract ailments such as cough, common cold, bronchitis, asthmatic conditions and gastro intestinal disorders such as diarrhoea, vomiting, indigestion and loss of appetite. It contains mainly Pipemigram (Gammiris),Piperlongum(Thippili), Abies�wehhiuna (Thalispathra),Cinnamum zylanicum (Kurundupothu), Elettaria repens( Heenensal),Bamboo salt (Unakapuru) and sugar. All plant materials contain a large number of microorganisms.Some are inherent and some are contaminated during the process of harvesting and manufacturing process. Considering these facts, the World Health Assembly in its resolutions WHA-31 :33(1978) 40:33(1987), 42:43(1989) has emphasized the need of ensuring the quality in regard to microbial content of the plant products. Hence this study was carried out to determine the microbial load of this product and the possible sterilization methods of reducing the microbial load. The effect of the method on the drug which reduces the microbial load of the drug also studied. Ten different samples of Thalisadee choorana were subjected to this study. 0.1 gram of the drug sample was dissolved in 10 ml of sterile distilled water. (10�). Using this solution 10-1, 10-2 10-3 dilutions were prepared. Routine sterilization procedures were carried out in all steps.Nutrient agar and Potato dextrose agar were used as general culture media. Pour plate technique and spread plate technique were used to detect the microbial count respectively. 0.1 ml of above dilutions was used on culture plates. Each plate was controlled by using another duplicate culture plate. Plates were sealed and kept under normal room temperature. Colony counts were taken after 24 hours and 72 hours for bacteria and fungi respectively. It was assumed that each colony was formed by a single organism. Same procedure was repeated three times. According to the W.I-I.A standard, aerobic bacteria up to 105 I gram, yeast and moulds up to 103 I gram arc permitted The results ofthe above study indicate that the bacterial count was in between 3x106 to 4xl06 /gram. These results indicate that the limits were exceeding on every sample. The following methods were tried to reduce the microbial load. I 00 grams of the above samples were subjected to (a) Heat treatment in a hot air oven at 80� C for 10 minuets for three consecutive days. (b) Ultra violet radiation at 256 wave length continuously for 24 hours. (c) Steam treatment under atmospheric pressure in a closed container for 10 minuets for three consecutive days. The study of microbial load was thereafter repeated.The plates of the steamed samples were sterile up to 72 hours while the plate of other two methods does not show any reduction in microbial load. The volatile oil content by reflux method using Dead and Stark apparatus and the thin layer chromatographic (T.L.C) patterns of Ethanol extract and Water extracts using Silica gel GF 254 and G06 at the ratio of 1:3 with several solvent systems of both samples (Steamed and un steamed) were studied. The T.L.C. patterns and the volatile oil content of both samples were comparatively same .This preliminary study reveals that the steam treatment method is comparatively an effective method to reduce the microbial load of the above preparation. A detail study of the chemical compounds through other chromatography methods is needed to confirm this.
A comparative preliminary study of anti-bacterial effect of ayurvedic compound preparations of Dathree choorna and Hinguastaka choorna
(Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, 2006) Nageeb, B.M.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.; Widanapathirana, S.
Estimation of total phenolic content on stem bark extracts of selected Sri Lankan medicinal plants
(National Centre for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences Sri Lanka, 2015) Jayasiri, A.P.A.; Paranagama, P.A.; Senanayake, S.P.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.
A microbiological study of an Ayurvedic compound preparation Dasamoola Arista with a view to defining an acceptable microbial quality standard
(Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, 2008) Nageeb, B.M.; Widanapathirana, S.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.
The Indigenous system of medicine has been practiced successfully over several thousand years. The basic ingredients of indigenous medicine are plant materials. These materials contain natural inherent microbial flora and also may become contaminate during processing. Considering these facts the World Health Assembly in its resolutions WHA-31:33, 40:33, and 42:43 has emphasized the need for the microbial quality standard of medicinal plant products. Dasamoola Arista, has been used in therapeutics for several centuries. The objectives of this study were to enumerate the total viable count of bacteria, fungi and specific microorganisms such as Coliforms and Salmonella in the market samples of this drug. Fourteen different market samples were subjected to this study. Nutrient agar and Potato Dextrose agar were used as culture media. Pour plate and Spread plate techniques were used to study the microbial load in dilution series up to 10-3. Microbial counts on Nutrient agar and Potato dextrose agar were taken after 24 hours and 72 hours. Tests for Coliforms and Salmonella were done according to International standards. Coliform test was performed by MPN method using single strength MacConkey broth. Salmonella was tested after an enrichment process in buffered peptone. 0.1ml of this peptone was transferred to test tubes of Tetrathionate and Selenite broth separately and Incubated at 37 0C for 48 hours. These broths were streaked on Bismuthsulphiteagar (B/S.Agar) and Brilliantgreenbile agar(BGB ) Black colonies on B/S-Agar and Pink colonies on BGB Agar were considered as positive for Salmonella. These colonies were bio chemically tested for salmonella . All tests were repeated thrice and results were confirmed. The microbial load observed in this study was with in the limits of the WHA. The Colony count for Bacteria was in between 10x10 to 10x68. Fungi Colony count was in between 1x10 to 36x 10. The biochemical tests revealed that the Bacteria present in this preparation was Bacillus firmus. None of the drug samples were positive for Coliforms or Salmonella. These results revealed that these tested samples were microbiologically safe and up to the microbial quality standard.
Phenetic analysis and phytochemical screening of Albizia lebbeck and its substitute plants in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2013) Jayasiri, A.P.A.; Senanayake, S.P.; Paranagama, P.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.
Albizia lebbeck (vern: Suriya mara) is a tree belonging to the family, Fabaceae. It is native to tropical Southern Asia, and found widely in India. It has been used in traditional therapeutic systems of Ayurveda, Sidhdha and Unani, for preparation of drugs for many diseases. Due to the limited distribution of A. lebbeck in Sri Lanka, substitute plants are used in the drug manufacturing industry. A questionnaire survey was carried out on a sample population of hundred Ayurvedic physicians, traditional Ayurvedic practitioners, drug suppliers, drug manufacturers and the general public, in order to collect traditional knowledge in the medicinal uses of these plants. The survey revealed that A.odoratissima, Adenathera pavonina and Samanea saman are commonly used substitute plants for A. lebbeck in traditional medicinal systems. To evaluate the phenetic diversity, a morphometric study and cluster analysis were carried out using floral and vegetative characters of A. lebbeck and its substitute plants. Variations in the bark, inflorescences, floral colour and type, texture and colour of pods are found as the important diagnostic characters of these species. Cluster analysis clearly indicated the morphological variation in population samples of all four plant species. Stem bark of the four species were subjected to sequential solvent extraction using hexane, chloroform, methanol and water. Weights of each crude sample were obtained after evaporation of the solvent. Highest yield was obtained from the methanolic extracts which revealed the presence of polar compounds in the species. The extracts were subjected to the preliminary phytochemical screening for carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, glycosides, tannins, phenolics, alkaloids and saponins, Phytochemical analysis has confirmed the presence of glycosides, flavonoids, tannin, phenolics and phytosteroids in methanolic extracts of the four species. The results of the present study reveal the presence of saponin, tannins and phenolic compounds in the water extracts of the four plants. The distribution of classes of phytochemicals in the four plants was similar to each other except alkaloids as it was found only in Adenathera pavonina and Samanea saman. Therefore, this study has provided supportive evidence for the possibility of the presence of similar medicinal properties in A. lebbeck, A.odoratissima, Adenathera pavonina and Samanena saman. These findings can be considered as valuable facts in the recommendation of the use of these three plants as substitutes of A. lebbeck in medicinal preparations. Further investigation on the similarity in bioactivity of the four plants is needed to confirm this recommendation.
Phenetic analysis and phytochemical screening of medicinally important Albizia spp. in Sri Lanka
(Ceylon Journal of Science (Biological Sciences), 2016) Jayasiri, A.P.A.; Senanayake, S.P.; Paranagama, P.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.
Albizia Durazz. is a genus of 150 species in the tropics and subtropics of the world and belongs to the sub family Mimosaceae in the Family Fabaceae. Of the six species recorded in Sri Lanka, A. lebbeck is used as a shady tree while A. odoratissima is grown mainly for their timber value, However, A. odoratissima and A. lebbeck are found to be used in ayurvedic medicine however, the medicinal properties of these species are not fully understood. A questionnaire survey was carried out using a hundred sample population to identify their medicinal usage. Floral and vegetative characters of the above two Albizia spp. were observed and phenetic relationships were identified. Air dried stem barks of A. odoratissima and A. lebbeck were subjected to sequential solvent extraction using hexane, chloroform, methanol and water, and the crude weight of the yield were obtained. The results revealed that ayurvedic physicians and traditional ayurvedic medical practitioners use A. odoratissima in medicinal preparations whereas the medicinal use of A. lebbeck is not reported. Further, it was revealed that Samanea saman and Adenanthera pavonina are commonly used as substitutes for A. lebbeck. Knowledge of phenetic variation of the two Albizia spp. can be used for accurate identification which prevents adulteration. Highest yield was obtained from the methanolic extracts. These extracts were subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening to assess the occurrence of different phytochemicals. Results have shown the presence of glylcosides, tannins, phenolics, phytosteroids and flavonoids in methanolic extracts A. odoratissima, and A. lebbeck. The present study suggests that further studies should be conducted on the identification of active compounds in these two plant species for their pharmacognostic properties in order to understand their mode of remedial action for ailments.
Phytochemical screening and In vitro anti-inflammatory activity of stem bark of Samanea saman
(National Centre for Advanced Studies, 2014) Jayasiri, A.P.A.; Paranagama, P.A.; Senanayake, S.P.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.
Phytochemical screening of Albezia odorantissima stem bark
(Institute of Indigenous Medicine, University of Colombo, 2014) Jayasiri, A.P.A.; Paranagama, P.A.; Senanayake, S.P.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.
Preliminary phytochemical screening of the medicinal Plant Adenanthera pavonina and its morphological variation
(Sri Lanka Journal of Indegenous Medicine (SLJIM), 2013) Jayasiri, A.P.A.; Senanayaka, S.P.; Paranagama, P.A.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.
Adenanthera pavonina L.(vernacular:Madatiya) is a medicinal plant, belongs to family Fabaceae. It is widely used for the treatments of many diseases in various therapeutic systems including Ayruveda therapeutic system. The medicinal uses and the distribution of the species were studied using a structured questionnaire survey considering 100 sample population. Morphological characters were analyzed using the specimens collected from their natural habitats to infer the phenetic relationships and has shown no variations with respect to their habitat differences. Qualitative phytochemical analysis was done to identify the chemical compounds present in the stem bark extracts of different solvents such as hexane, chloroform, methanol and water. Phytochemical screening of stem barks of the different samples confirms the presence of phytochemicals; alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, steroids, proteins and saponins in the extracts of the methanolic, chloroform and water. This study draws attention to the need of further analysis of the active principles of the species in order to understand their mode of action in controlling different diseases.
A preliminary study of anti-bacterial effect of selected five Ayurvedic compound preparations
(University of Kelaniya, 2006) Nageeb, B.M.; Widanapathirana, S.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.
Plant based medicaments have been man’s prime therapeutic weapons to rescue him from disease. Plants are of relevance to pharmacology. Pharmacological properties of medicinal plants may be used as leads in developing modern therapeutic agents. . Thalisadee, Thripala, Hinguastaka, Dathree, and Manibadra are common Ayurvedic formulae used in traditional system of medicine in Sri Lanka. Thalisadee and Thripala Choorna are being commonly used in respiratory disorders such as cough, cold bronchitis and fever. The Hinguastaka, Dathree and Manibadra Choorna are being commonly used in gastrointestinal disorders such as diarrhoea dysentery vomiting and indigestion.. Most of these conditions may develop due to bacterial infections .The main objective of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial effect of these preparations. Minimum human single dose of these drugs (2.5 gram) was dissolved in sterile distilled water and kept in the shaker at 100 rpm continuously for 04 hours in order to get the maximum soluble liquid extract of these drugs. 0.7 gram of Nutrient broth was dissolved in 50 ml of distilled water and transferred in to five test tubes (10 ml. /tube) and sterilized by autoclaving at 1210C for 20 minuets. These Nutrient broth tubes were inoculated by using inoculating needle with already plated pure test cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, ,Escherichia coli , Salmonella typhi, .These tubes were incubated at 37 0 C for 18 to 20 hours. Sterilized Nutrient agar was transferred into ten sterilized Petri dishes at 40 0 C and allowed to solidify on a horizontal plane. These plates were sealed and kept in incubator at 37.0C for 24 hours to exclude any contaminations and to reduce the moisture content. A known amount of (0.05 ml) each culture broth containing specific organisms was added to these solidified agar plates and spread evenly using a sterilized glass spreader. On these seeded agar plates sterilized metal cylinders were kept (03 Cylinders/plate) with gentle pressure. These cylinders were filled with 0.1 ml of above liquid extract of drug preparations. De ionized sterilized distilled water 0.1 ml and Chlorampenicol 0.025 mg/0.1 ml were used as controls. These plates were sealed and incubated at 370C .This same procedure was repeated for three times for each of the test organism. Chlorampenicol showed 1.0 cm -1.5 cm clear inhibition zones of the bacterial lawns on every test organisms. None of the drug preparations showed any effect on Escherichia coli culture plates. The Ayurvedic compound preparations of Hinguastaka Choorna and Manibadra Choorna extracts showed averagely 0.5 cm and 0.3 cm clear inhibition zones of the bacterial lawns on Salmonella typhi plate respectively. Thripala Choorna showed averagely 1.0 cm clear inhibition zone of bacterial lawns on Pseudomonas aeruginosa plates. These zones were clear on every repetition. Theses results were statistically analyzed by using one sample student T-Test. All the means are in between accepted level and P value is <0.05. Comparison to the Chlorampenicol, Higuastka Choorna and Manibadra Choorna are active against Salmonella typhi. Thripala Choorna is active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Both, Dathree Choorna and Thalisadee Choorna are not active against any of tested microorganisms. This preliminary study scientifically justifies that the use of the powder preparations of Higuastka Choorna, Manibadra Choorna and Thripala Choorna for infective conditions such as diarrhea, dysentery, vomiting and indigestion.
Preliminary study of anti-bacterial effects of an Ayurvedic recipe Sharkaradi kalka
(Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, 2005) Roshana, B.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.; Widanapathirana, S.
A Preliminary Study on Microbial Quality Standards of an Ayurvedic Compound Preparation "Thalisadee Choorana"
(University of Kelaniya, 2007) Nageeb, B.M.; Widanapathirana, S.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.; Kasthuriarchi, K.A.H.
Thalisadee choorana is a common Ayurvedic medical preparation widely used by all indigenous medical practitioners in Sri Lanka. It is used for respiratory tract ailments such as cough, common cold, bronchitis, asthmatic conditions and gastro intestinal disorders such as diarrhoea, vomiting, indigestion and loss of appetite. It contains mainly Pipemigram (Gammiris), Piperlongum(Thippili), Abies·wehhiuna (Thalispathra), Cinnamum zylanicum (Kurundupothu), Elettaria repens( Heenensal),Bamboo salt (Unakapuru) and sugar. All plant materials contain a large number of microorganisms. Some are inherent and some are contaminated during the process of harvesting and manufacturing process. Considering these facts, the World Health Assembly in its resolutions WHA-31 :33(1978) 40:33(1987), 42:43(1989) has emphasized the need of ensuring the quality in regard to microbial content of the plant products. Hence this study was carried out to determine the microbial load of this product and the possible sterilization methods of reducing the microbial load. The effect of the method on the drug which reduces the microbial load of the drug also studied. Ten different samples of Thalisadee choorana were subjected to this study. 0.1 gram of the drug sample was dissolved in 10 ml of sterile distilled water. (10°). Using this solution 10- 1, 10-2 10-3 dilutions were prepared. Routine sterilization procedures were carried out in all steps. Nutrient agar and Potato dextrose agar were used as general culture media. Pour plate technique and spread plate technique were used to detect the microbial count respectively. 0.1 ml of above dilutions was used on culture plates. Each plate was controlled by using another duplicate culture plate. Plates were sealed and kept under normal room temperature. Colony counts were taken after 24 hours and 72 hours for bacteria and fungi respectively. It was assumed that each colony was formed by a single organism. Same procedure was repeated three times. According to the W.I-I.A standard, aerobic bacteria up to 105 I gram, yeast and moulds up to 103 I gram arc permitted The results ofthe above study indicate that the bacterial count was in between 3x106 to 4xl06 /gram. These results indicate that the limits were exceeding on every sample. The following methods were tried to reduce the microbial load. I 00 grams of the above samples were subjected to (a) Heat treatment in a hot air oven at 80° C for 10 minuets for three consecutive days. (b) Ultra violet radiation at 256 wave length continuously for 24 hours. (c) Steam treatment under atmospheric pressure in a closed container for 10 minuets for three consecutive days. The study of microbial load was thereafter repeated. The plates of the steamed samples were sterile up to 72 hours while the plate of other two methods does not show any reduction in microbial load. The volatile oil content by reflux method using Dead and Stark apparatus and the thin layer chromatographic (T.L.C) patterns of Ethanol extract and Water extracts using Silica gel GF 254 and G06 at the ratio of 1:3 with several solvent systems of both samples (Steamed and un steamed) were studied. The T.L.C. patterns and the volatile oil content of both samples were comparatively same .This preliminary study reveals that the steam treatment method is comparatively an effective method to reduce the microbial load of the above preparation. A detail study of the chemical compounds through other chromatography methods is needed to confirm this.
Study of the microorganisms in two Ayurvedic medicated oil preparations with special reference to microbiological quality standards
(Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, 2010) Najeeb, B.M.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.; Widanapathirana, S.
A study of total viable count of microorganism and specific microorganisms in four selected Arista and Asawa preparations
(Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, 2009) Nageeb, B.M.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.; Widanapathirana, S.
Taxonomic and Phytochemical Study on Albizia lebbeck and Substitute Plants used in Ayurvedic Drug Preparations in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Jayasiri, A.P.A.; Senanayake, S.P.; Paranagama, P.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.
Nowadays consumption of herbal medicines is widespread and has increased dramatically. The main supply of herbal material for ayurvedic drug preparations is from the wild. It causes inherent problems: misidentification, phenotypic variability, extract variability and adulteration. The pharmacognostic evaluation is the preliminary step in the standardization of crude drugs which provides valuable information in morphology and physical characteristics, and the purity and quality of the plant drugs. Albizia lebbeck (Sinhala- Mara, Sanskrit-Mahari, Hindi- Shiris ) is a South Asian medicinal plant widely cultivated and naturalized in tropical and subtropical regions. In Sri Lanka many substitute plants are used due to the restricted distribution which has caused ambiguity in utilizing accurate plant material. The present study focuses on exploring the use of A. lebbeck and its substitutes in ayurvedic drug preparations with reference to their morphological and pharmacognostic similarity. A questionnaire survey was carried out, using a randomly selected sample population of 100, to determine the use of substitute plants and it revealed that three plants in the subfamily Mimosodeae, Albizia odoratissimma (Sinhala-Suriya mara), Adenanthera pavonina (Sinhala-Madatiya) and Samanea saman (Sinhala-Pare mara) are used widely in Sri Lanka, whereas A. odoratissima is being predominantly used in drug preparations. Specimens of the above plants were collected from the natural habitats and indentified using the authenticated specimens at the National Herbarium. Methanolic bark extracts of A. odoratissimma and A. pavonina were subjected to a preliminary phyotochemical screening to detect the different secondary metabolites, such as carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, glycosides, and alkaloids. Further, phytochemical screening was carried out using solvents; ethyl acetate, methanol and water. Thin Layer Chromatography was performed on each extract, for the qualitative and quantitative analysis. High yield was obtained from methanolic extracts that indicated the presence of polar compounds. Chromatographic properties have showed the variation of chemical profiles in these two bark extracts. These compounds will be characterized by fractional analysis, and their distributional patterns in these plant species will be compared to evaluate the effectiveness as substitutes to A. lebbeck.