Standardization of sarasvatha choorna: used as a remedy for Dementia

Abstract

Sri Lanka has been recognized as one of the fastest aging populations from the developing countries. There is a large senior population in the country. Since age is the biggest risk factor for Dementia, the need to create awareness and management is an increasing necessity. Sarasvatha Choorna is one of the polyherbal preparation used in Ayurveda for the management of Dementia which consists of 12 medicinal plants. In the present study, an attempt was made to standardize Sarasvatha Choorna by using standard protocols. Standardization was carried out by determination of total ash, water soluble ash, acid insoluble ash, microbial counts, heavy metals, phytochemical screening and development of TLC-densitogram fingerprints. Results revealed that 10.6±0.0% of total ash, 8.4±0.0% of water soluble ash 0.65±0.01% of acid insoluble ash 11.0±0.1% of cold ethanol extractable matter, 13.9±0.1% hot ethanol extractable matter, 13.9±0.1% cold water extractable matter and 20.2±0.2% hot water extractable matter were present in the Sarasvatha Choorna. Pathogenic microorganisms such as Coliforms, Escherichia coli and Salmonella were not found and heavy metal concentrations of Sarasvatha Choorna were well below the recommended upper limits for the tested heavy metals. Phytochemical screening studies revealed the presence of flavonoids, steroid glycosides and coumarins in both water and ethanol extracts of Sarasvatha Choorna. Presence of the raw materials in the Sarasvatha Choorna was confirmed by TLC fingerprints. Present study reveals the quality of Sarasvatha Choorna for the first time and quality control parameters resulted from this study can be used as a reference standard for quality control of Sarasvatha Choorna.