ESTABLISHMENT OF QUALITY STANDARDS FOR SHYONAK: AN IMPORTANT INGREDIENT OF THE DASHMOOLA GROUP OF DRUGS

Shyonak is botanically equated to Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz. of family Bignoniaceae. It is extensively used in the Indian system of medicine as an important ingredient of ‘Dashmoola and also one of the important constituents of a reputed Ayurvedic formulation ‘Chyavanprash’. The drug consists of root bark of Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz. Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India (API) advocates that the stem bark can be used in case of the non-availability of the root bark. The root and stem bark is used for the treatments of diarrhoea, dysentery, erythema, gastralgia, hoarseness, infantile, measles, sore throat, urticaria, snake-bite and scorpion-sting. During the market survey it was found that the stembark of Ailanthus excelsa Roxb. (Family- Simarubaceae) is being sold in the name of Shyonak as an adulterant. Considering these points, an attempt has been made to identify and to establish quality standards for both root bark and stem bark of Shyonaka (Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz. along with stem bark of Ailanthus excelsa Roxb. HPTLC fingerprint profiles showed similar and differentiating bands. Five common bands at R_f 0.62, 0.64, 0.79, 0.84, and 0.96 under UV 366 nm were present in the root bark and stem bark of O. indicum, except an additional band in the root bark at R_f 0.56 while the band pattern is totally different in the stem bark of A. excelsa having additional band at different R_f s.