Shelf life of herbs and Ayurveda
Shelf life of different types of drug forms
| Drug form | Shelf Life |
| Unprocessed dried plant material | One year |
| Powder | Two months |
| Tablet, Pills, Syrups | One year |
| Medicated oil and ghee | Sixteen months |
| Low potency drugs | One year |
| Alcoholic preparations, Mineral and Metallic drugs |
More than a year |
As per the Ayurveda text Saarangadhara Samhitaa. Prathama Khanda. Third edition. Vol. 1. Varanasi (India): Choukhambha Orientalia; 1983. pp. 51–52.
All plant material should be utilized within one year of its collection except coriander, ghee, honey, jaggery, pippali, and vidanga because these plants and substances are to be used only after one year after their collection, since till that time they are not ready for therapeutic use.
With abilities of packaging today, these times have been expanded.
The texts of Ayurveda also explain the seasons, location, and collection of herbs influence on the qualities of the herb.
Paarijaata (Nyctanthes arbor-tristis Linn) leaves collected in different seasons (six samples) were subjected to pharmacological evaluation. Samples collected during September produced better antiinflammatory activity in comparison to samples collected during other seasons. Leaves collected during November and July was almost inactive.
Silajatu (a rock exudate) samples obtained from five different places were evaluated for different types of pharmacological activities. Differences in the activity profile were observed. Anti-depressant activity evaluation employing behavioural ‘despair’ test showed that among the five samples studied, only Nepal and Gopeshwar samples showed significant activity while in other samples the activity was not significant.
*Saxena S. 1995. Silajatu Viniscaya. Ph.D. Thesis submitted to Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar
*Joshi Sudhir V. 1997. A Comparative Pharmacoclinical study of Churna, Ghrita and Sharkara of Yashti-madhu in Parinama-shool with special reference to duodenal ulcer. M.D. Dissertation submitted to Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar.
The formulation type being used is also another differentiation.
Yastimadhu (Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn) was administered in three formulation forms and subjected to comparative evaluation. Yasti corona, Yasti ghrita and Yasti Sarkara – each containing same quantity of the Yasti were evaluated for anti-ulcer activity against forced swimming induced stress ulcers. Significant decrease in ulcer index was observed in Yasti ghrita administered group; in other two groups only moderate and statistically non-significant decrease was observed.
*Joshi Sudhir V. 1997. A Comparative Pharmaco-clinical study of Churna, Ghrita and Sharkara of Yashti-madhu in Parinama-shool with special reference to duodenal ulcer. M.D. Dissertation submitted to Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar.
Truth is hard to swallow. Its easier to not know the truth at all and even pretend it does not exist.
Truth is that most products on the market today sold as Ayurveda are not classical preparations and most do not have the results that the classical preparations do. This is researched and proven. Sorry if this is hard for you to believe. Problems lie in the lack of availability of the real herbs, fakes are sold in the name of the real herb, some herbs are rare so in place of them other fillers are added in replacement of them. An example is dashamula. Truth is that you are not getting all ten roots in Dashamula, guaranteed. But, one would have to have some sort of deeper knowledge/awareness of Ayurveda to even know or have a view of this. Costly herbs are also not even added to many formulations that state they are in the ingredients. Sitopaladi churna is one of these. The bamboo mana in most preparations is actually chemically produced, not collected from bamboo. It does not give the results as the real herb. Avipatikkar also does not give proper results. Trvrit which is supposed to be in it is a threatened plant and Murva is being used instead which does not give satisfactory results and it is not mentioned on any labels by the manufacturer, the labels still just say Trvrit. Same is with Shilijit. think what your buying is what is actually what is on the label?
Another problem is the classical preparation is not being followed. If they are not followed (for whatever reasons) they do not give the proper results. This has also been researched as well.
In Sharandhara Samhita, a Ksheerpaka is a certain quantity of drugs to milk to water, when this is not followed the results are not had.
*Professor Siddhi nandan Mishra. Bhaishjya Ratnavali: Prameha rog adhikar. Varanasi: Chaukhambha Surbharti Prakashan; 2015. P. 329, 705-706
Excipients have been added to most formulations in the modern world, just inert substances, to increase stability, for preservation and storage, to maintain the bioavailability, for compounding and all of this is for the gross sales of these products. Tablets have magnesium searate, talcum powder, and binding agents. These make the tablets harder and stable for handling and shipping. Coatings like sugar and film coating make the tablets more palatable for consumers and also protect them from oxidation for longer shelf life. Syrups have colouring agents, ph regulators like citric acid and others, dilutants like a glucose solution, preservatives like neprazine, nepasole, sodium benzoate, and flavouring agents. All of this is also just to increase sales. Creams and ointments have stearic acid, cetyl alcohol, bees wax, soft, hard, liquid paraffin, water, coconut oil, triethyllomine, colourant, flavouring agents, and preservatives. Avalehas, the jams and jellies, they too have flavouring agents and preservatives added. This is modern ayurveda in India.
This is not even to mention the outright fraud when jaggary is mixed with other substances and then sold on the market as honey. Labels then say that the honey is contraindicated for diabetic patients when Madhu is one of the main substances for the treatment of diabetes in Ayurveda. Formulations like Nishaamalakadi Churna and Triphaladi churna are taken with honey in line of treatment of diabetes. Guduchi swarasa (Tinospora cordifolia) or Amalaki Curna (Phyllanthus emblica) are also prescribed to be taken with honey for diabetes. Compound T. Vasant Kusumakara Ras is also prescribed to be taken with Honey as an anupan.
* Astanga Hrydaya Ut. 40/48
*Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthana Chapter 6, Chapter on the Management of Prameha (Obstinate Urinary Disorders) [37-40]
When jaggery is taken in diabetes, yeah, your gonna have trouble.
Question what you read on bottles and packaging of what is being sold in the mass market as ‘Ayurveda’ today. Not only in India, but especially in the West.
Classic Ayurvedic texts consider a herb/drug a very important patient management tool in the hands of a physician and also states that needs to be handled very judiciously, if not it is likely to be harmful and even sometimes fatal to the life of who is receiving it. In the West, there is a general idea that everything natural is harmless. This is the furthest thing from the truth. The information related to drugs and formulations along with diagnosis and management of disease accompanied by techniques of health maintenance through the observance of proper daily and seasonal routines are found in the classical texts.
Caraka Samhita – Sutra Sthana 1/126 discusses different aspects of herbs and states ‘even poison is an effective drug if used judiciously, whereas injudicious use of even the best medicine can prove harmful. Similarly, the use of an unknown drug may also prove injurious to the health of the patient.’ In Sutra Sthaana 1/124 it issues a caution in this regard with following words “An unknown drug is just like a poison or a weapon or a fire or the Vajra, the famous weapon of Indra (the king of Gods as per Hindu mythology)”. Drugs usually are known to possess a destructive potential and hence need to be used carefully. Charaka further elaborates the concept by saying that not a single substance in the universe is devoid of the therapeutic potential and hence is a potential source, provided it is used judiciously at appropriate indications. Substances can be hardly used as a drug in their natural form and almost every substance has to undergo specific processing to acquire a form of the palatable healing substance.
Shelf_life_of_Ayurvedic_dosage_forms-Traditional_view_current_status_and_prospective_need
Shelf-life_evaluation_of_Rasayana_Churna_A_preliminary_study
trueayurveda 
would you mind talking about psychedelic drugs? mostly referring to mescaline containing cacti and ayahuasca vine (and maybe mushrooms)? Mushrooms and ayahuasca seem to have picked up lots of popularity in the last 20 years (not so much mescaline cactus, mostly due to people not wanting to consume the slime, and that it lasts 14 hrs lol). It even seems that these things are beginning to be decrimilized.
I see you study with shamans and many others, so i’m interested in what they and you believe about this topic. if they truly do hold value or are just creating more delusions for people?
Hi Dave. Thanks for your question. I really don’t wanna get into it because it tends to be one of those things that trigger people and they are very ‘religious’ around their beliefs on these things. It’s like talking to a vegan or a modern yoga teacher. But, I will touch on it briefly.
The entire pop culture has taken on all of these things as you have stated, for several reasons. You can make the list yourself.
There is no spirituality in taking a substance that deludes the mind or creates avarana. I would add chocolate to this list as well. This is simply the bottom line to it all.
All the different reasons why people take these substances needs to be looked at individually as per why they are stating they are taking them. Only from that view can we talk realistically about these things.
Such as marijuana is being used for pain relief, supposedly, but there are other herbs that work far better without the side effects that marijuana has as it is a poison. Funny addition here is that in my experience I am receiving more statements about how it does not work for pain than any stories of success. This also makes total sense from an Ayurvedic view. if the causative factors of the pain are not dealt with……
You can search out there and find all sorts of people claiming Ayurveda uses marijuana and they use this to promote it. The problem with the claim is that Ayurveda puts bhang through purification and does not use it as is like all of the people that are using this claim do. It is also used in conjunction with other herbs in a combination, not solely. If you were to do deep research you would find that it is not used to often and you would find that mainly the leaves are used. There are only a few yogas that use it in them. You will also find in your research several Ayurveda researches writing to jump on the bandwagon with the popularity of Marijuana just for fame as they do, that’s India for you.
I would apply this generally to all the other drugs you are stating above. The West is trying to use all of these psychedelic drugs for healing different diseases, mainly mental from what I see out there. If you were to understand from Ayurveda, you would see that it doesn’t work that way, need to take a step back and realize that Western medicine works only in diagnosing symptoms and goes no deeper than that. They cannot see any deeper than that because the very paradigm does not have any deeper view. Then there are the main users pushing these that are really all just about drug use and trying to legalize it…. recreational use.
Ayurveda comes from a deep understanding of manas as well as spirituality and it is not going to pollute the body or mind while claiming it is healing.
In my personal experience, in studying shamanism in Ecuador, I travelled all over the country and stayed deep in the jungle as well studying with different Shaman. Truth is that only one of maybe 15 of them used Ayahuasca. He himself only took ayahuasca once a year at most. What does this state with all the pop culture being so focused on doing ayahuasca for trips?
Speaking from working with plenty of people in my practice that have massive imbalances due to excessive use of Ayahuasca, it isn’t something that heals quickly or easily. Same with marijuana use. These damage tissues very deeply.
But this is the masses and what they do. What we do not know, we do not know.
“Even poison is an effective drug if used judiciously, whereas injudicious use of even the best medicine can prove harmful. Similarly, the use of an unknown drug may also prove injurious to the health of the patient.”
“An unknown drug is just like a poison or a weapon or a fire or the Vajra, the famous weapon of Indra”
In my experience, very few people really get the depth of these verses. Knowledge is very limited out there although many people believe that they do know. Lots of Ayurveda practitioners in the West are promoting marijuana and ayahuasca. My best advice is not to mess around. If one is on any real spiritual path, none of that stuff has anything to do with it.
As an example, I can put you in touch with a friend who had breast cancer yet used marijuana for most of her life. With all that is being said about marijuana being healing this is a very obvious contradiction. She as well did the serious Rick Simpson Oil program….. didn’t work. In fact, there is questions to if it grew the cancer. This is just one of the many stories I have about it.
Taking it a step further, Terence McKenna died of brain cancer. It started with migraines. Then a brain seizure. Then it was diagnosed as brain cancer. He had his own intuitional doubt that it was caused by all the psychedelic drugs and marijuana use but that has only been brushed off coincidentally. Funny since he was supposedly so very enlightened about intuitive things.
From an ayurvedic view generally, it is very easy to see the pathogenesis. No correlations can be made from a Western lens of course because it cannot see any depth with its template.
I can go on about all of this. But seriously, why bother. Lots of belief is behind most of what is fueling the movement in the West. In the West, someone that writes a book or does a TedTalk is now an expert, people follow what celebrities say… because they are experts too. And the other side of this is that to understand what I have written above, you need to have a real education in Ayurveda to fully comprehend why.
This is a nice example of what I mean…. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4517116/ …. and ….. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3137002/
Obesity is a gene or it is a virus depending upon who you like and believe. “Like and believe”
And if either of these were true, how can the thousands and thousands of physical trainers have had success (like I did with my clients) with obese clients by first and foremost cleaning up their diet and then just having them get exercise???
So from my view, most everything out there is just this low level world of subjective thought trying to validate their own beliefs. It is not truth. Truth is that if you take an intoxicant, you become intoxicated. Toxic. Poisoned.
Substances that are used in sacred rituals are for those rituals. If you are not from the culture it comes from, just stay away. That is unless you are going to go thru lots and lots of education, and I mean years and years… and your actual life, in reality, is in alignment with it (meaning you live it daily). This is seriously not what is going on, what is going on is just the opposite.
But again, why bother saying anything?
I will end this with the comment my teacher likes to reply with every time I show him the things that are going on here in the West, “That’s perfect for the West.” Says alot. And I agree completely with him.
Wow chocolat too?
Right next in line to a strong cup of black coffee?
Anyway, you allready covered chocolat saying it is unhealthy due to its (more obvious) qualities so it doesn’t really matter.
I had to look up the word avarana. I found it being mentioned here:
Thanks for the quick response. I agree on all of that. I’ve been trying to tell people that they have lasting implications even after the trip is over. Basically telling them that they create a subtle desire for experiencing these “other things”. they say that they aren’t addictive, but I disagree, they create a ‘spiritual addiction’. spiritual crack.
btw, just for shits and giggles you can tell your teacher that there is some researchers who are soon going to be exploring “extended dmt trips” by using a type of IV drip of pure dmt to stay under its influence for hours at a time. so they can “explore dmt hyperspace” not even joking!
Yup. perfect for the West.
Thank you for the article. It gives me an insight of how detailed Ayurveda is and how that fits into the time we live in. Or rather, how it does not. I think for example you’d be lucky to find churna online that isn’t older than 6 months, let alone 2.
What you said about the idea that everything natural is good reminded me of a conversation I had yesterday. I was reminded by a friend of the existence of the idea that “the (medicinal) plants you need grow near you”. Lol. So what about the heavily poisonous plants? And would the same apply to animals? Poisonous snakes? “Yeah, he got bitten by a snake near his house, exactly what he needed. His death.. só natural, so beautiful.” Anyway, I don’t want to sound arrogant. When I heard of the concept the first time I played around with it in my head and didn’t dismiss as the rubbish that it is. I guess it’s just another very convenient belief that doesn’t require any knowledge whatsoever. Just take the stuff that grows beneath your boot and all is well and good.
The stuff you said about Terence Mckenna reminded me of how Bob Marley died of cancer too. Anyway, it is also said that he was assassinated, and I don’t know much about the guy and his life so I’ll just cut it here.
Just to add, I do remember reading from Ayurveda that the drugs and foods from ones locality are best to use. But that cannot be done without the proper knowledge. I’d rather take an indian herb that I know will do me well than taking some plant the internet says is great against cancer from my back yard. What I meant with my previous comment is people claiming that for example the dandelions growing around their houses are the stuff they need to be eating or taking infusions from to get healthy. And also the vibe that I got from it that there’s this almost magical connection between humans and plants that exactly those you need grow where you are. I wonder if this works with traveling also. Will the plants that you need travel along with you ;)? You know what, even if there were some truth in it due to the locality thing… you’d still need to know which one, when, how etc. etc.
Anyway, I’m off. I’m going to my backyard picking those rose petals which are, in fact, exactly what I need. lol.
Yes Jesse, and that all says alot.
It says alot about the knowledge outside of the East. If you were to explore Western herbology after learning Ayurveda, you would be incredibly disappointed.
Enjoy your roses.
Just to mention this, It would be a really big eye opener to have a lab that would test all the herbs that are out there and report on the results of what they actually are in a public forum. Not that I think this would do anything at all in the long run but it may put a little dent in the level of looting that is being done out there in the name of ___________.
There is this television program in the Netherlands where they test different products. Or rather, investigate the truth behind products. For example they had a manufacturer of milk confess that the cheapest milk and the most expensive milk in the supermarket are EXACTLY the same milk. They had it on camera too. The only difference is the name/design on the box that it is put in. This is a program that can be seen on the national television, but I doubt it has had any significant effect on the company that sells the expensive milk. One would expect such a thing to be a topic of conversation and to reach every corner of our small country, but I guess we rather talk about what some rich goof with a funny orange-blond haircut from the other side of the ocean had said during some international meeting rather than knowing that we are being deceived right in front of our eyes in our supermarket next door.
To stay on topic. They had one episode about saffron in which they collected saffron from different supermarkets and markets. I selected a 6 minut excerpt from it that I found particularly interesting. It’s partially dutch, partially eastern, and partially spoken in english, but I have translated the stuff that is dutch and eastern beneith. I really enjoyed watching it. It is pretty telling if you ask me.
They showed different samples to a (seeminly serious and honest) producer of saffron in Iran. He and his assistant said some of it was broken (not full strands so not great quality), some of it was painted corn silk and also safflour. He also said that saffron stays well for 2 years while the packaging of one of the samples said it would stay well for (at least) 4 years. He concludes to say that he’s suprised that such a thing can happen in a european country and adds “Is there no surveillance in your country? Don’t you have an organisation that inspects medicine or food?”
The lab woman says that out of 8, 4 are either (very) bad quality or they have been adulterated by adding other stuff to it. “It could be that it is partially, or for the most part, not saffron while it is sold as such.”. She goes on to say that that this does happen with other spices aswell, but that with saffron it is done most (for obvious reasons).
They conclude (the part in Iran) in explaining how to easily check wether your saffron is real. Put it in hot water and it will give off a (specific) colour without losing colour of its own. It it gives off a weak colour and the strands lose their colour… it is false.
I thought I might add this. We spoke about similar subjects (foods, medicine, brands and their quality, indian products vs other products) in the comment section of this article:
For anyone wondering why I have this habit of adding links to other articles of this blog as if I’m some kind of advertising bot… Brad has helped me a great deal with tons of things and it feels like one of the least things I can do back for him. I thought it might save him from responding to the same kind of questions aswell as it could be and interesting way for others to continue reading on somewhat the same subjects. After so much commenting back and forth and so many hours searching this blog (both the articles aswell as the comment sections) I know how hard and time consuming it can be to find the stuff and answers that your looking for between all this tons of information spread out over many pages and comment sections. So I’d be happy if I could make that search a bit more convenient for anyone reading this.
Sorry, I forgot to add one thing:
There is this television program in the Netherlands where they test different products. Or rather, investigate the truth behind products. For example they had a manufacturer of milk confess that the cheapest milk and the most expensive milk in the supermarket are EXACTLY the same milk. They had it on camera too. The only difference is the name/design on the box that it is put in. This is a program that can be seen on the national television, but I doubt it has had any significant effect on the company that sells the expensive milk. One would expect such a thing to be a topic of conversation and to reach every corner of our small country, but I guess we rather talk about what some rich goof with a funny orange-blond haircut from the other side of the ocean had said during some international meeting rather than knowing that we are being deceived right in front of our eyes in our supermarket next door.
To stay on topic. They had one episode about saffron in which they collected saffron from different supermarkets and markets. I selected a 6 minut excerpt (from I set it to start, till the end of the video) from it that I found particularly interesting. It’s partially dutch, partially eastern, and partially spoken in english, but I have translated the stuff that is dutch and eastern beneith. I really enjoyed watching it. It is pretty telling if you ask me.
They showed different samples to a (seeminly serious and honest) producer of saffron in Iran. To the first question the woman responds “because it is deliciate and precise work. It requires a precision and patience that only women have”. She and the man look at the different samples and say some of it is broken (no entire intact strands so not great quality), some of it was painted corn silk and also safflour. The man also said that saffron stays well for 2 years while the packaging of one of the samples said it would stay well for (at least) 4 years. He concludes to say that he’s suprised that such a thing can happen in a european country and adds “Is there no surveillance in your country? Don’t you have an organisation that inspects medicine or food?”
The lab woman says that out of 8, 4 are either (very) bad quality or they have been adulterated by adding other stuff to it. “It could be that it is partially, or for the most part, not saffron while it is sold as such.”. She goes on to say that that this does happen with other spices aswell, but that with saffron it is done most (for obvious reasons).
They conclude (the part in Iran) in explaining how to easily check wether your saffron is real. Put it in hot water and it will give off a (specific) colour without losing colour of its own. It it gives off a weak colour and the strands lose their colour… it is false.
I thought I might add this. We spoke about similar subjects (foods, medicine, brands and their quality, indian products vs other products) in the comment section of this article:
For anyone wondering why I have this habit of adding links to other articles of this blog as if I’m some kind of advertising bot… Brad has helped me a great deal with tons of things and it feels like one of the least things I can do back for him. I thought it might save him from responding to the same kind of questions aswell as it could be and interesting way for others to continue reading on somewhat the same subjects. After so much commenting back and forth and so many hours searching this blog (both the articles aswell as the comment sections) I know how hard and time consuming it can be to find the stuff and answers that your looking for between all this tons of information spread out over many pages and comment sections. So I’d be happy if I could make that search a bit more convenient for anyone reading this.
I meant for the video to start at 18:43 mins but that didn’t completely work out.
The lab you spoke off. You mean one that investigates the quality of herbs from different sellers to shed a light on how bad the quality of most of them is? Or do you mean a lab that would disprove (most if not all of) western herbologists claims? I think you mean the former, but I thought I might check. If it were the latter I reckon that lab would make many people sick. lol. I remember being advised to take Gingko Biloba for bettering memory and more by someone who read some books on western herbology. Glad I never did take the stuff.
I intended the above video to start at minut 18:43, but somehow it got lost.
About the opening of the lab. Would you have a lab to check the quality of the herbs so for example the fake honey industry would get busted? Or to test the drugs to disprove western herbology? I reckon the first, but I thought I might check. Yeah definitely the first. I reckon many people would get sick if you were to actually try out what those books state. lol.
Would you have a lab to check the quality of the herbs so for example the fake honey industry would get busted? Or to test the drugs to disprove western herbology?
have the herbs checked for quality and authentication that they are the actual herb. Then make that information public.
Much like this…. one of the main Herb companies in Ayurveda here in the US is Banyan. It is Dr. Lad’s students.
My point… https://www.banyanbotanicals.com/mahanarayan-oil/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwxYLoBRCxARIsAEf16-vyxb0SbjXRgCABa7-OPeFDTI5prdtr1Hu9Q-wcqwc5LY8vKAVGASIaAjAJEALw_wcB
This is the list of ingredients that they make what they call “mahanarayana oil”
Ingredients:
Sesame oil+, Dashamula+, Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus)+, Camphor oil, Manjistha (Rubia cordifolia)+, Arjuna (Terminalia arjuna)+, Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)+, Bala (Sida cordifolia)+, Punarnava (Boerhaavia diffusa)+, Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)+, Musta (Cyperus rotundus)+, Neem (Azadirachta indica)+, Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)+, Turmeric (Curcuma longa)+, Vidanga (Embelia ribes)+, Anantamul (Hemidesmus indicus)+, Bhumyamalaki (Phyllanthus amarus)+, Brahmi/Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica)+, Calamus (Acorus calamus)+, Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)+, Clove (Caryophyllus aromaticus)+, Ginger (Zingiber officinale)+, Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia)+, Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra)+, Mineral Salt, Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum)+.
but the actual list of ingredients is:
Mahanarayana Tailam ingredients:
960 g of each of coarse powder of –
Bilva – Bael (root) – Aegle marmelos
Ashwagandha – Winter Cherry / Indian ginseng – Withania somnifera
Brihati – Indian Nightshade (root) – Solanum indicum
Swadamshtra – Tribulus terrestris
Shyonaka – Oroxylum indicum
Bala – Country mallow (root) – Sida cordifolia
Paribhadra – Erythrina variegate
Kshudra – Solanum xanthocarpum
Kathila – Boerhaavia diffusa
Atibala – Abutilon indicum
Agnimantha – Premna corymbosa / mucronata Root
Prasarini – Paederia foetida
Patala – Trumpet (root) – Sterospermum suaveolens
Water for decoction – 98.304 liters, boiled and reduced to 24.576 liters.
Taila – Oil of Sesamum indicum – 6.144 kg
Ajadugdha – Goat milk – 6.144 liters
Shatavari – Asparagus racemosus – juice extract – 6.144 liters
Paste prepared with 96 g of fine powder of each of –
Rasna- Pluchea lanceolata
Ashwagandha – Winter Cherry / Indian ginseng (root) – Withania somnifera
Mishi – Indian Dill (fruit) 0 Anethum sowa / Peucedanum graveolens
Daru – Himalayan Cedar (bark) – Cedrus deodara
Kushta – Saussurea lappa
Shalaparni – Desmodium gangeticum
Prishniparni – Root – Uraria picta
Mudgaparni – Phaseolus trilobus
Mashaparni – Teramnus labialis Spreng.
Agaru – Aquilaria agallocha
Nagakeshara – Mesua ferrea
Saindhava – Rock Salt
Mamsi – Nardostachys jatamansi
Haridra – Turmeric Rhizome – Curcuma Longa
Daruharidra – Tree turmeric (stem) – Berberis aristata
Shaileya – Parmelia perlata
Chandana – Pterocarpus santalinus
Pushkara – Inula racemosa
Ela – Cardamom – Elettaria cardamomum
Manjishta – Indian Madder (root) – Rubia cordifolia
Yashtimadhu – Licorice – Glycyrrhiza glabra
Tagara – Indian Valerian (root) – Valeriana wallichi
Abda – Nut grass (root) – Cyperus rotundus
Patra – Cinnamomum tamala
Bhringaraja – Eclipta alba
Jivaka – Malaxis acuminata D.Don / Microstylis wallichii Lindl.
Rishabhaka – Manilkara hexandra (Roxb.) Dubard / Mimusoops hexandra Roxb.
Meda – Polygonatum cirrhifolium
Mahameda – Polygonatum verticillatum
Kakoli – Fritillaria roylei
Ksheera Kakolii – Lilium polyphyllum
Riddhi – Habenaria intermedia
Vriddhi – Habenaria intermedia
Ambu – Pavonia odorata
Vacha – Sweet flag (rhizome) – Acorus calamus
Sthauneya – Clerodendrum infortunatum Linn./ viscosum Vent. Gaertn.
Vrishchikali – Boerhavia erecta
Choraka – Angelica glauca
Karpoora – Camphor – Cinnamomum camphora – 48 g
Kashmeera – Saffron – Crocus sativus – 48 g
Mrigamada – Musk – 48 g
Reference of Mahanarayana Taila: Bhaishajya Ratnavali Vatavyadhi Rogadhikara – 151 – 162
But when the education and knowledge base of people about this stuff is next to none simply because it is not part of any curriculum outside BAMS……
Really good to know the use-by dates of drugs. Helpful when choosing a form. It wasn’t really clear to me ‘why not’ in the quote from Prathama Khanda. Is this to say that products past their due date have negative effects that we may not be aware of or aware of for for some time, along with the apparent positive effects we might still experience when taking them? In some cases, couldn’t the positive outweigh the negative enough to justify it? Thank you for letting us know that most main-stream Ayurvedic products contain items we don’t want to be taking.
Hi.
Is this to say that products past their due date have negative effects that we may not be aware of or aware of for for some time, along with the apparent positive effects we might still experience when taking them?…..
Products past their due date are not going to have the intended results due to the lack of their potency. This is why there is an expiration to them in the first place.
In some cases, couldn’t the positive outweigh the negative enough to justify it?….
Why try to go against knowledge?
Dear Brad,
You once advised me not to buy products like sugar, salt or foods in bulk, except rice. How long would it be ok to store white (sona masoori) rice?
Interesting to read on the coriander. Makes me wonder wether I have to dry my self harvested seeds for a year for cooking purposes.
rice is best after a year.