Abstract

Asma Sattar Khan, Shoeb Ahmed Ansari*, Usha Devi, Mohd. Wasim Ahmed, Suryansh Kashyap, Anees Ahmed

ABSTRACT

The Unani system of medicine has a long history of usage for the treatment of various diseases. In last two decades, a rapid growth has been observed in the production of Unani medicines. During & after the COVID outbreak, people realised significance of herbal medicines especially for boosting their immune system. This rise has posed novel challenges for ensuring the safe consumption of Unani medicines.  Hence, adoption of judicious methodology is crucial to evaluate the quality of herbal medicines in order to maintain their efficacy.  The Unani poly-herbal formulation; Itrifal- Kishneezi, widely used as carminative, stomachic and laxative, was studied through various standardization parameters. Several phytochemical test such as organoleptic evaluations (colour, odour and taste), microscopy, physico- chemical evaluations (moisture content, total ash, acid insoluble ash, pH values, water and ethanol soluble extractives, sugar content) have been carried out for its elementary assessment.  Modern analytical technique HPTLC fingerprinting was also employed to achieve more authentic results. The determination of contaminants such as heavy metals, aflatoxins, pesticide residue and microbial load were also carried out to check the presence of any hazardous substance in the formulation. The data produced in this study will lead to develop pharmacopeial standards of Itrifal- Kishneezi which eventually helps to estimate the quality, safety and efficacy of the formulation.