CRITICAL REVIEW IN PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES ISSN 2319-1082 Volume 1 Issue 2 : 2012 www.earthjournals.org 1 Review Article Chyawanprash: A wonder Indian Rasayana from Ayurveda to Modern Age Anil Kumar*, Puneet Rinwa and Preetinder Kaur Pharmacology Division, University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UGC Centre of Advanced Study, Panjab University, Chandigarh. PIN -160014 ABSTRACT Chyawanprash is a dietary health supplement. There are distinct ways of defining Chyawanprash such as energy booster, rejuvenator, health tonic and many more. It offers a multitude of health benefits for which it has become so popular in India and abroad. ‘Chyawanprash’ is one of the most popular Ayurvedic preparations placed under ‘Rasayana’. Rasayana are considered as the ultimate tonic preparations in ayurveda. Chyawanprash manifests the entire human quest for immortality, freedom from disease and prevention of aging. The formulation as a whole is an expression of a blessing from Rig-Veda. Perhaps it also represents the quest of mankind for a ‘Panacea’, which could address a wide array of health issue from aging to cough and common cold. However, the main emphasis in this review article has been on correlating the ethnomedicinal uses of its major ingredients with the medicinal properties attributed to it, and evaluation of its physicochemical values for quality evaluation. KEY WORDS: Chyawanprash, Rasayana, Rig-Veda, Ingredients, Physicochemical values INTRODUCTION In Ayurveda, the ultimate tonic preparations are known as rasayana because of their capacity to impart superior rasa as well as other dhatus. Dhatus are the components that support both the structure and functions of the body viz. rasa, blood, flesh, bone, and marrow. Rasayana is made up of two words Rasa and Ayana. Rasa is the pure nutrient part of food. Ayana, or turning towards, basically means that the dhatus, instead of degrading and drying due to disease and aging, will be nourished, supplemented, and replenished [1]. In short rasayana is a tonic for the whole body and deemed to be beneficial for nearly all diseases, but especially for disorders of aging when the ability to obtain adequate nutrition and maintain vigorous function declines. One of the rasayanas mentioned thereof is called Chyawanprash (also spelled: cyavanaprasa,chyavanaprasha, chyavan aprash, chyavanaprasam and chyawanaprash). This recipe has remained India’s most popular remedy for around 2000 years, since the times of the Vedas. According to the Charaka Samhita, Chyawanprash is "the foremost of all rasayanas." By using chyawanprash "a person acquires intelligence, memory, comeliness of body, freedom from disease, longevity, strength of the senses, great pleasure in