Comparative Study of Marketed Samples of Svarnamakshika Bhasma an Ayurvedic Medicinal preparation, using XRF and XRD Analysis

Svarnamakshika Bhasma is an Ayurvedic medicinal preparation widely used by Ayurvedic practitioners for the management of various ailments. Svarnamakshika Bhasma needs to be prepared from Svarnamakshika, a mineral product identified and defined as Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) in Ayurvedic Pharmacopeia of India (API). Minimum quantities of Iron, Copper and Sulfur, the three major elements necessary to be present in the Svarnamakshika (chalcopyrite), are prescribed as Pharmacopeial quality standard in the API monograph. Since included in the API, it is mandatory for the manufacturer to use Svarnamakshika (chalcopyrite) as specified in the API for preparation of Svarnamakshika Bhasma. However, it is generally observed that Svarnamakshika (chalcopyrite) complying with the standards prescribed by API is rarely found used for preparation of Svarnamakshika Bhasma. On this background seven samples of Svarnamakshika Bhasma comprising five marketed and two prepared by research scholars along with two samples of raw Svarnamakshika collected from research scholars were analysed in this study by using XRF and XRD analysis. The study indicates that only one marketed sample appears to have been prepared using Svarnamakshika (chalcopyrite) of pharmacopeial standard prescribed by API.