COMPARITIVE PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING, HEAVY METAL ANALYSIS BY AAS AND IN VITRO ANTI INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF MARKETED AND IN HOUSE FORMULATIONS OF UDARKALP CHURNA

Churna is a fine powder of a mixture of drugs or a single drug prepared by air drying, finely powdering, mixing and sieving the drugs. In any ayurvedic system of medicine, standardization is the need of the hour. The increasing use of herbal drugs by the human is the driving force to evaluate the health claim of these agents and to develop the standards of quality, purity, safety and efficacy. Divya Udarkalp churna is an Ayurvedic formulation made from various medicinal plants and is used for constipation, maintaining good digestive health, as a digestive aid, Dyspepsia, Indigestion, Inflammation of the colon, heartburn, alcohol abuse and ulcers. The main objective of the present study is to perform the comparative evaluation of the marketed and in-house formulations of divya udarkalp churna. The phytochemical screening of different extracts of both the formulations was performed. Both the samples were subjected to atomic absorption spectroscopy for heavy metal analysis to ensure the quality of the churna. The extracts were further screened for In vitro anti-inflammatory activity by protein denaturation assay. The results of the study showed the presence of essential phytochemical constituents, permissible levels of heavy metals and significant anti inflammatory activites in both the marketed and in house formulations. The results obtained may be utilized as tools of assistance to the scientific organizations for developing formulations of potential therapeutic intervention.