Inventi Impact: Planta Activa Vol. 2013, Issue 1 [E-ISSN 2250-026X, P-ISSN 2249-3557] 2013 ppa 200, CCC: $10 © Inventi Journals (P) Ltd Published on Web 15/01/2013, www.inventi.in RESEARCH ARTICLE INTRODUCTION Shodhana (purification), one of the procedures mentioned in Ayurveda, has been recommended for many drugs of both poisonous and non poisonous category, by different Ayurveda pharmacopoeias. Duration of the shodhana procedures, in terms of time and number, also differs in many drugs. [1] Hence, it is praiseworthy to find the difference taking place in the drug and media, after shodhana. Analysis of media, used for shodhana, can throw some light on the changes taking place in the herb or the drug. Absorbance spectroscopy is a technique useful in various conditions such as detection of impurities, structure elucidation of organic compounds, quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, chemical kinetics, quantitative analysis of pharmaceutical substances etc. When there are several components in a mixture which absorb at the same wavelength their absorbances add together, the absorbance of the sample is proportional to the concentration of one component. In these cases, several approaches can be adopted with the most important being chemical reaction and multi-wavelength measurements. Presence of chromophore and auxochrome causes alteration in absorption. [2] Langali (Gloriosa superba Linn.), one of the plant categorized under upavisha varga, is used in various formulations in Ayurveda and useful in various ailments such as kushtha (skin diseases), shopha (inflammation), vrana (wound), krumi (worm infestation) etc. and in various formulations used in Ayurveda. [3] Also, shodhana is advised before its internal use. Hence, in this study one of the methods of shodhana of Langali was selected for analysis. [4] UV spectroscopy was used to analyze the media before and after shodhana which may provide some objectiveness to the process of shodhana and role of media in the process and the multi-wavelength measurement was used for assessing the changes in the media. 1 Institute for Post Graduate Teaching and Research in Ayurveda, Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar-361008, India. E-mail: bhargava.183@gmail.com *Corresponding author MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study, the media, a mixture of Takra (butter milk) and saindhava (rock salt) used, for seven days, for the shodhana of root of Langali (Gloriosa superba Linn.), a drug of upavisaha (semi-poisonous) group, was subjected to UV spectroscopic analysis. Collection and Selection of Drug The tubers of Gloriosa superba Linn., after proper identification by taxonomist, were collected from Salem district of Tamil Nadu, from natural source, in the month of December, washed properly, shade dried, preserved in the department in a dry glass container and used as material for the present study. Collection of Media Buttermilk of mother dairy was purchased from market and mixed with RO water in the proportion of 1:2 (v/v) (buttermilk: water) and rock salt was purchased from local market and it was added in this liquid in the proportion of 1:5 (v/v). Procedures Tubers of the plant were used as material and buttermilk mixed with saindhava (rock salt) was used as the medium and rock salt was added in this liquid in the proportion of 1:5 (v/v), [5] it was allowed to settle, supernatant clear liquid was taken and marked as TWS. All the media were collected according to the same procedure. The shodhana procedure was carried in three groups (each group for 7 days) to check the variation in the data and they were named as TS, 2TS and 3TS respectively. 100 g of Langali tubers were immersed in 250 ml of the solution for 7 days. The tubers were immersed in the media every night and were kept in sunlight during the day. The media were changed every day. After 7 th day the tubers were taken out, washed in warm water and dried in sunlight. The changes in the media were assessed by UV spectroscopy from wavelength of 200 to 800 nm with the intervals of 50 nm i.e. multi-wavelength analysis, by the UV Spectroscopic Analysis of Media (Takra and Saindhava) Used for Sodhana of Langali (Gloriosa superba Linn.) Root Bhide Bhargav 1* , Shukla V J 1 , Acharya Rabinarayan 1 Abstracts: Shodhana (purification), one of the procedures mentioned in Ayurveda, has been recommended for many drugs of both poisonous and non poisonous category, by different Ayurveda pharmacopoeias. For this purpose, various media, responsible for desired changes in the drug, are used before the use of certain poisonous plants in the formulation. UV spectroscopy technique was used to assess the changes taking place in the media, during shodhana procedure. In this study, the media, a mixture of takra (butter milk) and saindhava (rock salt) used, for seven days, for the shodhana of root of Langali (Gloriosa superba Linn.), a drug of upavisaha (semi-poisonous) group, was subjected to UV spectroscopic analysis. The result was analyzed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique, using unscrambler software. Analysis of the results of UV spectroscopy from the range of 200 to 400 nm does not show significant changes, in the media, after four days. Physicochemical analysis of the samples before and after shodhana was also done. The values such as total ash, water and alcohol soluble extractive values of the shodhita samples were found to be increased. Qualitative analyses of samples show presence of alkaloids, saponin, tannins and carbohydrates before and after shodhana procedures. 