1.2. Herbal Drug Substitution
The drug which is used as a substitute of the original drug in its absence is referred as Abhava Pratinidhi Dravya in classical texts. This concept about the usage of a substitute drug was well mentioned by Acharya Bhavamishra in his classical work Bhavaprakasha. Bhavaprakasha is an important treatise on Ayurveda being counted as one of the LaghuTrayi (Three minor treatises), others being Madhav Nidan and Sharangdhar Samhita. It is comprehensive in nature containing all important aspects of Ayurveda doctrine and applied blended together. The work is entirely composed of Sanskrit verses of different metres whereas verses of other texts have also been incorporated. The text had about 10268 verses, distributed among three khandas (sections) and 80 prakaranas (chapters).
The concept of substitution is sometimes…show more content… Aims and Objectives of the present study
The main aim of the present study is the physicochemical and pharmacological characterisation of two important herbal drugs and their substitutes. The selection of the studied specimens was based on Bhavaprakasha, an authentic Ayurvedic literature and opinion of some Ayurvedic Physicians was also considered. This work is an attempt to compare and contrast the selected original drugs with their substitutes based on some of their pharmacological activities. The herbal drugs used in the study are Aconitum heterophyllum (Rhizomes) & Semecarpus anacardium (Nuts) and their substitutes Cyperus rotundus (Rhizomes) & Plumbago zeylanica (Roots) respectively. The objectives of this study can be summarised as follows.
1. Collection, Identification and Authentication of the selected herbal drugs from appropriate sources.
2. Macro and Microscopic powder analysis of the selected herbal drug samples.
3. Extraction of phytochemicals from the samples using soxhlet apparatus with polar grade solvents such as Petroleum Ether, Chloroform, Ethyl Acetate and Ethanol in the increasing order of