RESEARCH PAPER Physicochemical characterization of an Indian traditional medicine, Jasada Bhasma: detection of nanoparticles containing non-stoichiometric zinc oxide Tridib Kumar Bhowmick Æ Akkihebbal K. Suresh Æ Shantaram G. Kane Æ Ajit C. Joshi Æ Jayesh R. Bellare Received: 9 February 2008 / Accepted: 18 May 2008 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008 Abstract Herbs and minerals are the integral parts of traditional systems of medicine in many countries. Herbo-Mineral medicinal preparations called Bhasma are unique to the Ayurvedic and Siddha systems of Indian Traditional Medicine. These preparations have been used since long and are claimed to be the very effective and potent dosage form. However, there is dearth of scientific analytical studies carried out on these products, and even the existing ones suffer from incomplete analysis. Jasada Bhasma is a unique preparation of zinc belonging to this class. This particular preparation has been successfully used by traditional practitioners for the treatment of diabetes and age-related eye diseases. This work presents a first comprehensive physicochemical characterization of Jasada Bhasma using modern state-of-the-art techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), inductively coupled plasma (ICP), elemental analysis with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and trans- mission electron microscopy (TEM). Our analysis shows that the Jasada Bhasma particles are in oxygen deficient state and a clearly identifiable fraction of particles are in the nanometer size range. These properties like oxygen deficiency and nanosize par- ticles in Jasada Bhasma might impart the therapeutic property of this particular type of medicine. Keywords Electron microscopy  Nanoparticle  X-ray diffraction (XRD)  X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)  Dynamic light scattering (DLS)  Nanomedicine Introduction Ayurveda is an intricate system of healing that originated in India thousands of years ago. Siddha is also an ancient Indian system of medicine in which attention is given to minerals and metals in addition to plant constituents. Medicinal preparations called Bhasma are unique to the Ayurvedic and Siddha systems of medicine. These are made from a variety of base materials, e.g. Jasada, Tamra, and Louha Bhasma are made from zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and iron (Fe), respectively. These medicines are taken orally and the dose of a Bhasma is very small, commonly a small heap of powder the size of a grain of rice. Some Bhasmas have been pasted with honey, butter, or ghee, and the paste has been taken orally (Suoboda 1998). However, the mechanism of action of these unique preparations is not clearly understood yet. A. C. Joshi: Private Practitioner (Vaidya). T. K. Bhowmick  A. K. Suresh  S. G. Kane  J. R. Bellare (&) Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India e-mail: jb@iitb.ac.in A. C. Joshi 22, Shukrawar Peth, Pune, India 123 J Nanopart Res DOI 10.1007/s11051-008-9414-z