The third volume of the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India (API) Part II consisting of 51 monographs of ayurvedic formulations is in the final stage of preparation and is expected to come out soon, it is learnt. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia Commission (APC) has finalised the monographs and the volume is sent for printing, according to a member in the commission.

The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India (API) is published with monographs of single drugs as Part I and compound formulations as Part II. The APC has already published seven volumes of Part I, the single drugs, and the third volume of Part II is at the stage of printing, said Dr S K Sharma, adviser (Ayurveda), Department of Ayush and the vice chairman of the APC.

"The third volume of Part II, that is for formulations, is in the press and is expected to be published soon,"said Dr Sharma. Two Volumes of Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia Part II, have been published in the years 2007 and 2008, consisting of 101 monographs on formulations. With the release of new volume, the monographs on classic formulations being included in the API will be 152 in total.

So far, the seven volumes of Part I published consists of 540 monographs on single drugs, in which 418 where published in first five volumes in a period between 1990 and 2006. The sixth volume of Part I published in 2008 consists of 101 monographs while the seventh volume comprises the 21 minerals and metals in single drugs, according to the information with Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS).

The Central Council for Research in Ayurveda & Siddha (CCRAS) is the nodal organisation co-ordinating and monitoring the clinical trials to back the monographs of the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India (API) with clinical efficacy and safety data through multi centric clinical trials. In order to make the pharmacopoeial information easily accessible, the volumes of APIs and formularies have been prepared in e-books through user-friendly software programmers.

As reported earlier, the council is engaged in conducting multicentric clinical trials on 29 identified Classical Ayurvedic Formulations mentioned in the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia on 18 disease areas including diabetes mellitus, hypertension and obesity, in order to include them in the API. These formulations are expected to be ready for inclusion in the Pharmacopoeia in three years' time, according to CCRAS sources.

Under the existing scheme to develop the monographs, the laboratories/institution having good infrastructure and scientific manpower are allowed in development of the pharmacopoeial standards. These institutions have been assigned projects to develop pharmacopoeial standards on ayurvedic drugs and formulations with Standard Operative Procedure (SOP) and Shelf Life Studies, they added.