Chyawanprash, a time-tested ayurvedic formulation of over 41 medicinal herbs that aid in boosting the immune system has demonstrated to be both efficacious and safe across in its human study. It has also proven to co-relate with documented authoritative texts like the Granthas, said Dr DBA Narayana, chief scientific officer, Ayurvidye Trust.

The first historically documented formula for chyawanprash appears in the Charaka Samhita, the ancient ayurvedic treatise. “We did a review paper spanning for six months. All that we have tried to do was to a review all published human studies to prove the benefits of this herbal tonic which is prescribed for multiple health benefits,” he added.

“We did not consider any study done on animals, in-vitro and cells. What this study does is that it highlights the benefits of chyawanprash to show published human studies are co-relatable to the Granthas. We also looked at identifying gaps This is because science has also progressed with new evaluation tools, biomarkers which was not known 10-15 years ago,” Dr Narayana told Pharmabiz.

With time chyawanprash has become popular, more and more studies have happened. This review can provide researches the data of existing studies and what additional studies are required. The review took about six months and was submitted for Digital Object Identifier (DOI) which is a system for intellectual property in the digital environment in October 2017, he said.

The article titled chyawanprash: A review of therapeutic benefits as in authoritative texts and documented clinical literature by Dr. Narayana as the lead author along with scientists of Arya Vaidya Pharmacy, Coimbatore was published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology which is a peer European publication.

It provides an ethnopharmacological relevance which highlights chyawanprash, as traditional immune booster recipe, with long history of ethnic origin, household preparation and usage. There are even mythological stories about the origin of this recipe including its nomenclature. In the last six decades, CP, because of entrepreneurial actions of some research Vaidyas is manufactured and marketed like any healthcare product. Currently, CP has acquired a large accepted user base in India and globally, stated Dr Narayana in the article.

Authoritative texts which are recognized by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of India were searched for recipes, processes, and other technical details of CP. Labels of marketing CP products in India were studied for the health claims. Electronic search for studies of CP on efficacy and safety data were performed in PubMed/MEDLINE and DHARA (Digital Helpline for Ayurveda Research Articles), and ayurvedic books were also accessed for clinical studies.

The documented clinical studies from electronic databases and ayurvedic books evidenced that individuals who consume CP regularly for a definite period of time showed improvement in overall health and immunity. However, most of the clinical studies in this review are of smaller sample size and short duration. Further, limitation to access and review significant data on traditional products like CP in electronic databases was noted.

“Randomized controlled trials of high quality with larger sample size and longer follow-up are needed to have significant evidence on the clinical use of CP as immunity booster. Additional studies involving measurement of current biomarkers of immunity pre- and post-consumption of the product and benefits accruing as an adjuvant are suggested to the current scientific standards. More efforts are needed to digitize literature of traditional products to make global acceptance” said Dr Narayana.