GHANA SATWA - Concentrated Herbal Extracts

The plant kingdom has always been the favorite source of medication in all-healing traditions all over the world. Ayurveda also makes use of various herbs in its different formulations suggested in its classical texts.

As we all know that the Panchavidha kashaya kalpana. i.e. swarasa, kalka, heema. Phanta, kashaya (kwatha) are the basic 5 ideas on which the branch of 'Bhaishajya Kalpana' absolutely depends upon. All the future developments in this branch are further proliferations of the Panchavidha kashaya kalpana.

These basic five ideas have their own limitations. For example, the Swarasor juice of a herb has a very limited shelf life and it is very difficult to obtain fresh herbs every time and every place. The kalka, kashaya (kwatha) also are mostly un-palatable and their doses are high.

To overcome these disadvantages certain developments were tried & the most effective idea to tackle these disadvantages can be sought in the concept of Rasakriya.

As defined in Sharangdhara samhita.

Kwatha and others (Swarasa, kalka etc. Panchavidha kashaya kalpana) ,when further processed with heat becomes thicker and thicker in consistency (viscous- to - semisolid- to-solid ), is termed as Rasakriya. Thus the herbal material with the help of heat is processed till it solidifies, which ultimately can be made in to powder/tablet form, which we call GhanaSatwa.

advantages in using GhanaSatwa

• Higher concentration
• Lower Dosage
• Subtle in nature. So goes to subtle target tissues.
• Longer Shelf life.
• Better Bio availability

All the concepts in Panchavidha kashaya kalpana are based on the principle of extractions water soluble principles. For that matter nearly all further methods of preparation of Ayurvedic formulations like Sneha kalpana, Sandhana kalpana, Avaleha kalpana all follow the principle of extraction of water soluble active ingredients. So we can easily state that water-soluble extracts are preferred in Ayurveda for its various therapeutic purposes. So we would like to propose that administration of water soluble extracts in form of Ghana is more preferable that any other source.

Here are some of the useful Ghanasatwas of important herbs used in Ayurvedic Treatment.