COMPARATIVE ANTIMICROBIAL STUDY OF RASAPUSHPA AND RASKARPUR

Abstract

Nirgandha kalpana is an important type of Parad Murchana. Yet, ignorance and also fear of its side effects led to its lesser and lesser usage in Ayurveda. Also, the use of Sagandha kalpana of Parad is more as compared to the former. The few widely known Nirgandha kalpanas are Mugdha rasa (grey powder) a kharaliya kalpana and Rasapushpa, Raskarpur the kupipakva kalpanas. Rasapushpa and Raskarpur both are prepared within 6 and 12 hours respectively in kupi-valukayantra by giving manda agni(100-200⁰C). Both are said to possess krimigna property and thus in this study an initiative was taken to confirm their antimicrobial property. Microorganisms selected were Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The organisms selected were responsible for causing various skin diseases as both Rasapushpa and Raskarpur have been indicated in various skin diseases like Mandal, Kushta, Vicharchika,etc. The study started with preparation and standardisation of Rasapushpa and Raskarpur and then the Antimicrobial study was conducted using Agar Ditch method. It was found that Rasapushpa and Raskarpur showed total inhibition to streptococcus pyogenes, moderate inhibition to staphylococcus aureus and slight inhibition to pseudomonas aeruginosa. This study is just a first step towards antimicrobial study of these nirgandha kalpanas. Further elaborate studies could be conducted to acquire more details.