© 2018 JETIR April 2018, Volume 5, Issue 4 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162) JETIR1804105 Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir.org 529 A REVIEW ON MEDICINAL AND ANTIBACTERIAL EFFECTS OF GANGA RIVER WATER *SIMANCHAL PANDA, 1. SWAGATIKA TRIPATHY, 2 NITA BISWAS M.PHARM. M.D.A.M. DOCTORATE OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE *1,2 Department of Pharmaceutics , JEYPORE COLLEGE OF PHARMACY, JEYPORE.(K), ODISHA ABSTRACT : Hindus have always believed that water from India's Ganges River has extraordinary powers. The Indian emperor Akbar called it the "water of immortality" and always traveled with a supply. The British East India Co. used only Ganges water on its ships during the three-month journey back to England, because it stayed "sweet and fresh."Indians have always claimed it prevents diseases, but are the claims wives' tales or do they have scientific substance?pIn the fourth installment of a six-part series, independent producer Julian Crandall Hollick searched for the "mysterious X factor" that gives Ganges water its mythical reputation.He starts his investigation looking for the water's special properties at the river's source in the Himalayas. There, wild plants, radioactive rocks, and unusually cold, fast-running water combine to form the river. But since 1854, almost all of the Ganges' water has been siphoned off for irrigation as it leaves the Himalayas. MANUSCRIPT : Ganges is a lifeline to millions of people in India and the backbone of spiritual life for the country’s Hindu majority. Many believe the river is self-cleansing and has healing powers. Indeed, its water has demonstrated bactericidal activity (the ability to kill bacteria). And although this mystery is still unfolding, it appears to be related to bacteriophages (or phages). And these viruses that infect and kill bacteria could provide a useful alternative to antibiotics in the form of phage therapy.Known as the national river of India, the Ganges originates in the western Himalayas and flows to Bangladesh. The river has great spiritual significance to Hindus, who worship it as the goddess Ganga. Its water, popularly called ―Ganga Jal‖, is considered sacred and is used in many rel igious rituals.From a scientific perspective, the mysterious claim that the Ganges possesses self-cleansing and healing properties is particularly interesting. In fact, the river has been shown to have antibacterial properties and it can retain high amounts of dissolved oxygen, even in extremely polluted conditions. As early as 1896, the British bacteriologist Ernest Hankin studied the bactericidal properties of Ganges water. He found that colonies of cholera bacteria that thrived in tap water quickly died in Ganges water. He pursued his experiment by using boiled Ganges water and filtered Ganges water. To his surprise, while the filtered water continued to show an antibacterial effect, the boiled water did not. This clearly indicated that the factor responsible for the water’s bactericidal properties was heat labile (altered by heat) but not not filterable, at least not with the porcelain Pasteur filters Hankin used in his experiment.Two decades later, a Canadian microbiologist identified the factor that may explain the mystery of the Ganges. In 1916, Felix d'Herelle was working at the Institut Pasteur in Paris when he discovered phages. Phages are composed of proteins that trap genetic material. They also exhibit properties—difficult to filter and heat labile—that correspond perfectly to what Hankin had observed in Ganges water.This suggests the Ganges is heavily populated with phages. They are essentially harmless to humans because they are highly strain specific. For example, phages that infect the cholera bacterium can only infect the cholera bacterium and no other bacteria. Of course, the fact these phages often target bacteria that cause deadly diseases is an added bonus. Phages are also a potential tool for treating diseases caused by bacteria. In particular, their specificity is something antibiotics do not possess. In other words, unlike antibiotics, phages can neatly kill the pathogen without harming the natural flora also present in the body (like the lactobacilli in your gut, which aid digestion). The development of phage therapy was attempted in the United States during the early 20th century. However, it was discontinued because of a limited understanding of phages, as well as the arrival of cheaper antibiotics.[ 1 ] (Structure of a typical bacteriophage)