Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 2(3), July 2003, pp. 215-223
Antioxidant and trace element potential of Chyavanpraash and some Ayurvedic preparations
Vaishali V Agte* I , Sangeeta S Mengale l, Mandar Akkalkotkar2
, Kishore M Paknikar l
& Shashi A Chiplonkar l
1 Agharkar Research Institute, G G Agarkar Road, Pune 411 004
2Ayurveda Research Institute, Karve Road, Pune 411004, India
Received J J November 2002; revised 28 January 2003
Importance of antioxidants such as vitamin C and zinc in treatment of diabetes mellitus and hypertension is being recognised. There is a growing interest to find naturally occurring antioxidants rather than synthetic ones for their use in medicinal material. Therefore a study was undertaken a) to assess antioxidant and trace metal potential of five brands of Chyavanpraash and eight marketed Ayurvedic preparations (AP) at their prescribed dose level along with their major nine ingredients; b) to measure bioavailable amounts of trace metals; and c) to examine toxicity of lead in these AP. Trivang, Abhrak and Loha bhasma had high levels of copper, cobalt and nickel. Manganese contents were high in Trivang and Abhrak but zero in Lohabhasma. Even though amalaki is one of the main ingredients of Chyavanpraash and Raktavardhak, their vitamin C content was quite low. Tannic acid was marginal in these two preparations. Three types of amalaki showed variable contents of iron, zinc, copper, lead, manganese and ascorbic acid. Tannic acid was highest in small amalaki. Sun drying reduced vitamin C content by seventy five percent of the fresh amalaki. Lohabhasma showed highest bioavailable iron followed by Lohachurna. The bioavailable iron was negligible in Chyavanpraash and Raktavardhaka as compared to Lohabhasma and Abhrak bhasma. Bioavailable zinc content was high in Trivang bhasma and is a promising zinc supplement. Mineral iron treated with Gomutra decreased % iron bioavailability by one third but % zinc bioavailabiliy increased twofold. Lead content was highest in Trivang bhasma. The content of lead in daily dose of Chyavanpraash and Raktavardhak was high, but within the prescribed safe limits for lead. Further the bioavailable amount of lead for all these preparations was also very low.
Keywords: Chyavanpraash, Ayurvedic preparations, iron, zinc, ascorbic acid, tannic acid.
Introduction
In recent years prevalence of noncommunicable disorders like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, arthritis and heart problems has increased in our country. Majority of these disorders have been
*Correspondent author
linked to oxidative stress due to free radicals. In treatment of these diseases antioxidant therapy has gained an utmost importance. Current research is now directed towards finding naturally occurring antioxidants of plant origin for medicinal use to replace synthetic antioxidants, which are being restricted due to their carcinogenecity.
216 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 2, No.3, JULY 2003
Traditional remedies based on plant extracts have an ancient origin from Ayurveda. Various plants used in Ayurvedic preparations (AP) and other herbal therapies have been extensively analysed for their content of bioactive components' ·2.3 . The health benefits of the herbs may be due to their antioxidant activity. However, due scientific attention has not been given to evaluate the potential of the herbal preparations for their antioxidant and trace metal contents.
Majority of herbo-minerals and other proprietary preparations in Ayurveda contain ingredients like amalaki (Emblica officinalis) which is known for it's 'rasaayana' (anti-aging) and corrective property . According to modern science, it is the fruit having highest content of ascorbic acid (600mg/lOOg)4, one of the strong antioxidant vitamins. Ingredients of AP also include fermented or unfermented aqueous extracts (aasava) of plants, incinerated forms of minerals (bhasma). These may be rich sources of natural antioxidants. However varieties of processing used in AP may change their antioxidant potential.
Multiple treatments are given to the ingredients of AP, which include boiling of herbs, purification of minerals using herbal extracts or Gomutra (cow's urine). These may alter the composition and properties due to changes in the structure of bioactive compounds such as ascorbic acid and polyphenols or contamination of minerals like lead. Also during the various stages of drug preparation, the content and bioavailability of minerals from the plant ingredients may be affected. For example, tannic acid present in large
number of AP, which has antioxidant property5, may reduce the bioavailability of iron. It is therefore necessary to evaluate the antioxidant properties of the finished products as AP sold in the market.
Chyavanpraash and Raktavardhak are popular Ayurvedic preparations with amalaki as the main ingredient and bhasmas, which are inorganic preparations such as Lohabhasma (iron), Trivang (iron, zinc, tin) and Abhrak (iron, alumInIUm, magnesium, silica). These bhasmas are prepared by giving treatment called 'Bhaavnaa' to raw minerals with herb extracts or Gomutra (cow's urine).
Some trace metals like zinc are essential and safe over large range; some are essential at low doses (copper, iron, selenium) but toxic at higher doses. Certain metals like lead and cadmium are toxic even at low doses. Therefore it is worthwhile to estimate the mineral levels of AP for their toxicity.
The present study was therefore aimed to assess a) the antioxidant (ascorbic acid, tannic acid) and trace metal levels of 5 marketed samples of Chyavanpraash and 8 Ayurvedic preparations including bhasmas; b) to study the ingredients like amalaki, mineral iron, typically used for making Chyavanpraash and other AP for their levels of antioxidants and essential minerals; and c) to assess the content of contaminating trace metals like lead, cadmium, nickel, cobalt and manganese from the point of view of safety of AP.
Materials and methods The composition of nine marketed Ay
urvedic preparations and their medicinal use is given in Table L. These nine AP
AGTE et al: ANTIOXIDANT AND TRACE ELEMENT POTENTIAL OF CHY AVANPRAASH 217
Name
Chyavanpraash
Raktavardhaka
Lohaasava
Asnaad
Ferrite (Raktavardhakvati)
Table 1- Description of Ayurvedic preparations
Description
Jam like product containing amalaki , and 24 herbs
Jam like product containing 19 herbs
Contains water extract of iron with several treatments of herbs and alcohol < 12%
Saptakapi (Casearia esculanta), asan (Pterocarpus marsupium), lodhra (Symplocos reCel1lOsa), karanja(Pongalllia glabra), khadir (Acacia catechu), shirish (Albizzia lebbeck), arjun, (Terminalia arjuna), palash, (Butea frondosa), jitasaya (Hamiltonia suaveolells), indrayava (Holarhella antidysenterica), moscharas (Bombax lIlalabariculll), sag (Tectolla gralU/is), chandandwaya (Santalwll album), gudmarpatra (GYlllllema sylvestre) , triturated with Kumari (Aloe vera) juice, shilaajit (natural raw mineral mixture)
Tablets containing 9 herbs and 3 bhasmas (roupya, suvarnamaakshik and loha)
Use
General tonic
Haematinic
Haematinic
Antidiabetic
Haematinic
Taapyaadilohavati 5 bhasmas (Suvarnamaakshik, loha, roupya, vanga, shilaajit) and 15 herbs
Haematinic, tissue tonic
Abhrak bhasma
Trivang bhasma
Lohabhasma
Name
Big amalaki
Medium amalaki
Small amalaki
Aavalkaathi
Loha+Gomutra
Lohachurna
Mineral iron
Samgandhak kajjali
Dried Gomutra
Incinerated natural abhraka
3 bhaslllas of tin , zinc and iron
Treated lohachurna (iron)
Table 2 - Description of ingredients and their use
Description Use
Respiratory, tissue tonic, T .B.,
Asthma
Anticeptic, urinogenital infection
Haematinic
Fresh amalaki Raw material for Chyavanpraash
Fresh amalaki Raw material for Chyavanpraash
Fresh amalaki Raw material for Chyavanpraash
Dried amalaki powder Ingredient in majority of AP
Mineral iron treated with gomutra Purification of mineral iron
Finely powdered, untreated mineral iron Preparing lohabhasma
Natural raw iron ore Raw material in AP
Equal parts of mercury and sulphur As a vehicle for drug absorption and utilisation
Cow's dried urine As an ingredient in AP
218 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 2, No.3, JULY 2003
were chosen, since these are in common use as general tonic, haematinic or antidiabetic drug. Table 2 gives information about the form and use of major nine ingredients of AP like amalaki fresh fruit, aavalkaathi (dried amalaki), mineral iron, and treated iron.
Amalaki is available in the market in 3 sizes, viz. big, medium and small as well as sun dried form 'aavalkaathi'. The types of amalaki and other additives like dried gomutra, gomutra treated loha, mineral iron, samgandhak kajjali and lohachurna were also assessed for the contents of trace metals and antioxidants.
The selected nine AP and nine ingredients were analysed for the levels of a) antioxidants: ascorbic acid, tannic acid; b) essential metals: zinc, copper cadmium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and iron; and c) toxic trace metals: lead.
For Chyavanpraash, Raktavardhak and Lohaasava, contents of vitamin C and tannic acid were estimated using spectrophotometric methods6
. Trace mineral contents for all the AP were estimated using atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) (Unicam, UK) with specific cathode lamps. For all the AP, intake of trace metals from usually prescribed dose (stated on the labels) was calculated.
In vitro dialysability under simulated gastro-intestinal conditions has been a useful tool to screen large number of test materials and study their comparative performance under identical conditions for the trace metal bioavailability. The bioavailability of iron and zinc was estimated as in vitro dialysability as per the internationally accepted FLAIR protocol? Radio isotopes (59Fe and 65Zn) were used
as extrinsic tags for estimating dialysable zinc/iron by gamma counting system with multi channel analyser (SMCA, NETS-3, Para Electronics, India). Bioavailable contents of iron, zinc were calculated from the per cent dialysability and the estimate of amount of mineral from the AAS.
Five marketed brands of Chyavanpraash were analysed in duplicate for trace metal contents and in triplicate for in vitro bioavailability of lead.
Student's t test was done to compare the differences between the bhasmas and other AP. Differences were considered statistically significant for p< 0.05.
Results Table 3 gives the contents of seven
trace metals, ascorbic acid and tannic acid for nine marketed formulations (AP) and nine ingredients. Among all AP, the content of iron in Lohabhasma and Abhrak bhasma was higher than other AP. Trivang bhasma was rich in zinc, followed by Lohabhasma.
Bhasmas were also found to contain large levels of other essential trace metals i.e. copper, cobalt, nickel and manganese with Abhrak bhasma having highest levels of nickel, cobalt and manganese (0.12 mg, 69.3 I-!g, 1.27 mg/daily dose) . Contents of essential trace metals were compared with their Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)8 and contents for toxic metals with their safe levels or Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI)9. Intake of nickel and manganese from prescribed dose of all the AP was within safe limits and that of Abhrak bhasma was highest and close to RDT (0.1 mg/day). The RDA
AGTE et al: ANTIOXIDANT AND TRACE ELEMENT POTENTIAL OF CHY A V ANPRAASH 219
Table 3 - Levels of trace elements and ascorbic acid and tannic acid in AP and some individual ingredients (mg/l00g)
Chyavanpraash-I
Raktavardhak
Lohaasava
Asnaad
Ferrite
Taapyaadilohavati
Abhrak Bhasma
Trivang Bhasma
Loha Bhasma
Big amalaki
Medium amalaki
Small amalaki
Aavalkaathi
Loha+Gomutra
Lohachurna
Mineral iron
Samgandhak Kajjali
Dried Gomutra
Note:
Fe Zn
21.1 3.1
17.1 2.0
18.2 2.1
20.2 1.3
26.4 2.0
21.1 3.1
7714.7 59.1
1341 20050
40819.5 359.5
90.54 4.1
81.88 3.73
3.37 0.307
11.392 0.652
19299 2.4
17502.4 2.38
50098 5.48
47.04 5
205 3.62
Co
3.7
2.5
2.26
4.22
4.88
4
13.86
8.7
12.19
Cu
0.667
0.549
0.125
0.779
1.113
1.018
89.48
53.25
435.8
Ingredients
3.2 1.1
2.29 1.55
2.29 0.571
1.8 1.166
14.6 4.33
7.4 5
10.83 0.887
6.35 1.76
9.72 1.13
Recommended Dietary Intake for trace metals
Ni
1.4
1.25
o 0.79
3
2.96
24.6
2.2
40
2.1
1.6
1.6
o 2.3
0.29
o 0.7
0.29
Pb
2.4
0.82
o 8.7
10.4
o o
69.9
o
o 1.9
7.1
o o o o o o
Toxic: Lead - 25!!g/kg bodyweightlweek, Cadmium - 7!!g/kg bodyweight. Essential: Iron - 30mg/day, Zinc - 12.5mg/day, Copper - 2.5mg/day,
Nickel- 100!!g /day, Manganese - 3.5mg/day.
Mn
8.3
9
o 16.9
38.1
25
253
95.8
o
5.2
4.7
8.5
o 410
273.5
271.7
105 .2
114.2
Vit. C Tannic acid
0.5
5.7
o o o o o o o
245
275
350
87
o o o o o
20.2
11.5
3.2
o o o o o o
10.1
16.35
23.08
15.2
o o o o o
for copper, cobalt, nickel and manganese with their tolerable limits are given in the footnote of Table 3. The levels in daily dose (0.5g) of Abhrak bhasma amount to 25% RDA for copper, 100% RDA for nickel and manganese. Contribution of copper, the essential trace metal from prescribed dose (two teaspoons or 109) in Chyavanpraash, Raktavardhak and Lo-
haasava was small (0.01-0.07mg) compared to RDI (2.5 mg/day) but was high in Lohabhasma. The treatment with Gomutra showed manifold increase in contents of nickel, manganese and cobalt.
The levels of cadmium were below the detection limit for all the AP. Lead was present to a smaller extent in Asnaad and Ferrite but to a greater extent in Trivang
220 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 2, No.3, JULY 2003
bhasma (350 JlgfO.5g). The daily intake of lead from Raktavardhak and Chyavanpraash (Cl) was found to be high (82 and 240 Jlg per 109). Other four brands of Chyavanpraash from different locations covering southern, western and northern regions of India also showed the range of lead to be 0.2 mg to 2.4 mg per lOOg. Considering the safe limit for lead9
(25Jlgf kg body weight/week), these AP were therefore assessed for the in vitro bioavailability of lead. However, it was observed that the dialysable lead was practically zero for all the AP containing lead.
Though the ascorbic acid content in fresh amalaki was high, drying of amalaki reduced the ascorbic acid content by 75% (Table 3) . Ascorbic acid was very low in Chyavanpraash and Raktavardhak (0.5 to 5.7 mg/lOOg) in spite of the fact that these contain amalaki as the major ingredient. Tannic acid was not present in significant amount in AP or ingredients.
Levels of beta-carotene were marginal in Chyavanpraash and Raktavardhak.
Three types of amalaki showed variable contents of iron, zinc, copper, lead and manganese (Table 3). Ascorbic acid varied from 245 to 350 mg, the levels less than the reported value of 600mg4. It was interesting to find that sun dried amalaki contained 87 mg ascorbic acid per 100g. Tannic acid was highest in small amalaki.
The bioavailable iron was low in Chyavanpraash, Raktavardhaka and Lohaasava (0.04-0.07 mg flOg). However, in case of the bhasmas, the total and bioavailable iron contents were significantly large in Lohabhasma and Abhrak bhasma having 4.89 mg and 2.58 mg bioavailable iron per 0.5g. Considering the physiological iron requirement (1-3 mg depending on sex and physiological demand8
), these two AP seem to fulfil the need of iron with 0.5g intake per day.
Similar to the results of iron, the bioavailable amounts of zinc from bhas-
Table 4 - Bioavailability of iron and zinc from AP
Daily Bioavailable Bioavailable iron Bioavailab1e Bioavailable prescribed iron content per daily dose zinc content zinc per daily
dose mg / 100g mg mg / 100g dose g mg
Chyavanpraash-I 10 0.74 0.074 0.35 0.035
Raktavardhak 10 0.41 0.041 0.3 0.03
Lohaasava 10 0.38 0.038 0.27 0.027
Asnaad 0.5 0.26 0.001 0.2 0.001
Ferrite 0.5 0.79 0.004 0.27 0.001
Taapyaadilohavati 0.5 0.72 0.004 0.33 0.002
Abhrak Bhasma 0.5 516.9 2.584 20.3 0.102
Trivang Bhasma 0.5 37.5 0.187 882.2 4.41
Loha Bhasma 0.5 979.7 4.900 47.5 0.237
AGTE et al: ANTIOXIDANT AND TRACE ELEMENT POTENTIAL OF CHY A V ANPRAASH 221
mas (0.5g/day) were significantly larger than the Chyavanpraash (lOg/day). It was interesting to note that for Trivang bhasma, content of bioavailable zinc was high (4.4 mg per 0.5g) as compared to all other AP of the present study (Table 4). Again in light of physiological requirement of zinc8 to be about 2.5 mg/day, Trivang bhasma is of promise as zinc supplement.
Among 3 different iron rich additives, mineral iron i.e. the untreated raw iron showed highest contents of bioavailable iron followed by Lohachurna (Table 5). Mineral iron treated with Gomutra showed decrease in % iron bioavailability from 6.37 to 2.15 but increase in % zinc bioavailabiliy from 16.8 to 28.9.
Five different brands of Chyavanpraash showed wide variations of zinc, iron and copper contents (Fig. 1). The range mgllOOg for zinc was 0.48 to 20.7; that of iron was 2.8 to 44.7; and for copper was 0.002 to 0.82.
Discussion Considering the high prevalence of
iron deficiency in Indians, Lohabhasma, Abhrak bhasma and Trivang bhasma showed a promise for supplementing iron in their prescribed doses. In the Third Report of the World Nutrition Situation 1997 10
, zinc deficiency has been recognised along with already identified deficiencies of iron, iodine and vitamin A. These three bhasmas have shown a good potential as a zinc supplement also. Additionally, copper, nickel, cobalt and manganese were found to be in adequate amounts but within safe levels in many bhasmas.
Table 5 - Bioavailability of iron and zinc from individual ingredients
Bioavailable Bioavailable iron content ZinC
content mg !IOOg mg !IOOg
Big amalaki 2.4 0.77 Medium amalaki 2.1 0.62 Small amalaki 0.1 0.08 Aavalkaathi 0.25 0.17 Loha+Gomutra 424.6 0.69 Lohachurna 542.6 0.54 Mineral iron 320.6 0.92 Samgandhak Kajjali 0 2.29 Dried Gomutra 0 0.90
Bioavailability of zinc increased after treatment of mineral iron with Gomutra. Gomutra is likely to contain products of protein metabolism like some free amino acids especially cystein and histidine which are known enhancers of zinc bioavailability. Secondly, acidic pH also increases zinc bioavailability. Which of the factors in gomutra has contributed in the overall increase of zinc bioavailability needs further investigation.
In some AP, higher levels of lead were found which might be partly due to the lead content in amalaki (Table 3) and partly due to contamination during preparation. The metals in their insoluble forms are not hazardous as compared to their soluble or complexed forms. It was noted that 5 of 9 AP and 2 out of 9 ingredients contained detectable levels of lead, but the in vitro dialysability was below detection limits. The lead in these AP seems to be in the insoluble form and not likely to be bioavailable. These need further confirmation through in vivo experiments.
222 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 2, No.3, JULY 2003
cs "0
~ C4 .0 .r:: Cl) ell
~ C3 c ell >
1 C2 ()
C1
o 5 10 15 20 25 Zn content (mg%)
"0 C
C5
~ .0 C4 ..c en ro ~ C3 0.. C ro ~ C2 >..c ()
C1
o 10 20 30 40 50
Fe content (mg%)
Fig. 1 - Zinc and iron contents in five brands of Chyavanpraash
The level of antioxidant vitamin, viz. ascorbic acid was marginal in Chyavanpraash and Raktavardhak. In spite of the fact that these AP contain amalaki I I.I 2, a rich source of ascorbic acid, there is a considerable loss of this valuable micronutrient during processing. This seems to
be obvious considering the type of treatment given to amalaki such as open pan boiling and heating during their preparation. Therefore our results do not support the undue claims. Tannic acid contribution in the prescribed dose was not found to be high. These AP were also poor
AGTE et al: ANTIOXIDANT AND TRACE ELEMENT POTENTIAL OF CHY A V ANPRAASH 223
sources of bioavailable iron and zinc (Table 4). Under this background the advertisements promoting Raktavardhak as haematinic tonic need to be reviewed. Present results stress further clinical studies for investigating health-promoting effects of Chyavanpraash and Raktavardhak.
In conclusion plant based AP in the present study were found to contain essentiai trace metals and antioxidant vitamins at moderate levels as against the high levels of synthetic formulations which may pose problems of nutrient imbalances and associated side effects. The present study also brings out the fact that lead contamination in AP is at the minimal level and not toxic. Further, bhasmas can be used as a natural strategy for control and prevention of iron and zinc deficiency. It also suggests the need for process modification and reformulating of Chyavanpraash to enhance its antioxidant potential.
Acknowledgement Authors wish to thank the Director,
ARI for providing facilities.
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