Journal of Ayurveda and Integrated Medical Sciences

Introduction

Traditional and herbal medicines have been explored extensively for their potential in mitigating allergic reactions due to their holistic and often multifaceted mechanisms of action.^[1] Reactions of the immune system to substances that are generally safe for most individuals, but unsafe in a few is allergy. These things are referred to as allergens and can include dust mites, pollen, pet dander, insect stings, and certain foods. An allergic person's immune system overreacts to an allergen, resulting in symptoms that can be minor to severe.

WHO estimated that around 80% of the world’s population is still trusting in traditional or Ayurvedic medicines for their healthy survival of life.^[2] The importance of medicinal plants is appreciated worldwide, in fact in United States herbal medicine represents a market of approximately $180 billion.^[3] This growing popularity and recognition of Ayurveda worldwide, raises the concern regarding the quality assurance, quality control, percentage of active ingredients, interactions, safety and efficacy of the Ayurvedic medicines.^[4] Curcuma longa, a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, has been traditionally used in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine for its wide range of therapeutic properties. The active component of turmeric, such as curcumin, bisdemethoxycurcumin, and dimethoxy-curcumin^[5], has garnered significant scientific interest due to its potent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory effects. It has a broad spectrum of antibacterial actions against a wide range of bacteria, even those resistant to antibiotics.^[6] These properties suggest that curcumin could be an effective natural remedy for managing allergic conditions.

Allerkhand tablet is an Ayurvedic formulation that incorporates turmeric along with other synergistic herbal ingredients. This formulation is designed to alleviate allergic symptoms by leveraging the combined therapeutic properties of its constituents. The presence of these additional herbs, along with specific dietary adjuncts like milk, can enhance the bioavailability and activity of curcumin. Drug combination often produces a promising effect in the treatment of diseases over a single drug ^[7] a desirable therapeutic effect because the potent phytochemical constituents of individual plants are inadequate to achieve the beneficial effect.^{[8, 9]}

Product Specification:

The Allerkhand tablets was observed and analysed for its organoleptic and physicochemical analysis such as colour, odour, taste, size, shape, average weight, pH, loss on drying, hardness, friability, disintegration time, Heavy metals, and microbial analysis. The observations and outcomes of the morphological features were documented.

Pharmacognostic Standardization

Pharmacognostic standardisation was performed in accordance with the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India guidelines.^[13] The parameters like Total Ash, Acid Insoluble Ash, Alcohol Soluble Extractives and Water Soluble Extractives were assessed.

Preliminary Phytochemical Analysis

Phytochemical screening was performed using standard qualitative methods to detect the presence of carbohydrates, sugar, reducing sugar, ketose, amino acid, protein, starch, quinone, glycoside, flavonoid, phenol, saponin, alkaloid, tannin, and coumarin of Allerkhand tablet.^[14,15]

High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC): HPTLC analysis was carried out at Care Keralam - Ayurvedic Resource Centre Koratty, Kerala for the percentage identification of curcumin in Allerkhand Tablets.

Chemicals and reagents: TLC plates coated with silica gel 60F254 for HPTLC were purchased from Merck, Germany and Curcumin was purchased from Sigma, USA. All other chemicals, reagents and solvents used are of AR grade.

Sample preparation: 4 Allerkhand tablets (4 gm) were refluxed with 100 ml methanol for 30 minutes in soxhlet apparatus, filtered through Whatman filter paper no. 41. The pooled filtrate was concentrated and volume was adjusted to 10 ml with methanol in a volumetric flask.

Standard Curcumin preparation: Standard stock solution was prepared by dissolving 10 mg of Curcumin in 100 ml methanol and sonicated, which yields a solution of concentration 0.1 mg/ml.

Instrumentation and chromatographic condition: A Camag HPTLC system comprising of Linomat V automatic sample applicator with Camag TLC Scanner 3 and CamagWinCAT software was used for detection and quantification of Curcumin in Allerkhand Tablets.

The plates were stored at 4-10°C in BOD incubator. Before inoculation, the surface of the Petri plate was dried in an oven.

Antimicrobial Assay by Well Diffusion Method

The Antimicrobial activity was carried out by the well diffusion method.^[16,17] The dried plate was inoculated by the bacterial strains uniformly over the surface using a sterile cotton swab. Wells were made using a sterile cork borer (6 mm in diameter) into agar plates containing inoculums. 100μl of each extract of Allerkhand and Turmeric (20% w/v) was added to respective wells. The plates were kept in the refrigerator for 30 min to let the extracts diffuse well into the agar. The plates were incubated at 37°C for 16-20 hrs. The zone of inhibition of bacterial growth around the well was measured in millimetres. DMSO at a concentration of 10% was employed as a negative control.

Observations and Results

Product Specification: Organoleptic and physicochemical assessment is the primary identification and quality evaluation of a product perceived by sense organs and with laboratory equipment and prepared the product specification of Allerkhand Tablet as follows.

Table 2: Product specification of Allerkhand Tablet.

Physicochemical analysis:

Physicochemical parameters of Allerkhand Tablet are shown in the Table No. 3.

T-1: Curcumin Standard, T-2: Allerkhand Sample –I, T-3: Allerkhand Sample –II, T-4: Allerkhand Sample –III
Figure 1: HPTLC Chromatogram and densitometric diagram of Allerkhand Tablet with Standard Curcumin

Figure 2: HPTLC tracks of Allerkhand tablet with standard Curcumin

Proteus spp. (16 mm): The 16 mm zone of inhibition suggests that Allerkhand has a good antimicrobial effect against Proteus spp. This is important for potential therapeutic applications, especially in treating urinary tract infections caused by this pathogen.

Staphylococcus spp. (15 mm): The zone of inhibition was noted against Staphylococcus spp., a common pathogen responsible for various infections.

Klebsiella spp. (18 mm): The zone of inhibition against Klebsiella spp. suggests that Allerkhand can be effective in treating respiratory and urinary tract infections caused by this pathogen.

Escherichia coli (20 mm): The tablet showed significant activity against Escherichia coli, indicating its potential in treating gastrointestinal infections.

Bacillus spp. (22 mm): The highest zone of inhibition was observed against Bacillus spp. This suggests that Allerkhand is particularly effective against Gram-positive bacteria, possibly due to the ability of curcumin to disrupt the bacterial cell membrane and inhibit cell division.

Pseudomonas spp. (16 mm): The zone of inhibition was against Pseudomonas spp., given the notorious resistance of this bacterium to many conventional antibiotics.

Discussion

The organoleptic and physicochemical analyses of the Allerkhand tablet provide a comprehensive assessment of its quality, safety, and efficacy. The total ash content was found to be below 6%, indicating the presence of inorganic matter within acceptable limits for herbal formulations. The acid-insoluble ash content was below 1.5%, suggesting a low amount of siliceous material, which reflects good purity. The water-soluble extractive value is more than 60 %, while the alcohol-soluble extractive value is more than 21%. These values indicate the presence of a significant amount of active constituents extractable by both solvents, confirming the bioavailability of therapeutic compounds in the tablets. These methods ensure that the tablet meets the required standards for Ayurvedic formulations, guaranteeing consistency and reliability in its therapeutic use.

Acknowledgement

The authors are thankful to Dr. D. Ramanathan (Managing Director), Dr. Vignesh Devaraj (Technical Director), Smt. Janani Ramanathan (Director), Mr. Sandeep VR (Chief General Manager) of Sitaram Ayurveda (P) Ltd., Thrissur, Kerala for their constant support and encouragement. The authors are also thankful to Ms. Ameena Sherin (former microbiologist) for her active involvement in microbiological analysis.

References

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