Pharmaceutical and analytical evaluation of triphalaguggulkalpa tablets

AIM OF THE STUDY: Development of standardized, synergistic, safe and effective traditional herbal formulations with robust scientific evidence can offer faster and more economical alternatives for the treatment of disease. The main objective was to develop a method of preparation of guggulkalpa tablets so that the tablets meet the criteria of efficacy, stability, and safety. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Triphalaguggulkalpa tablet, described in sharangdharsanhita and containing guggul and triphala powder, was used as a model drug. Preliminary experiments on marketed triphalaguggulkalpa tablets exhibited delayed in vitro disintegration that indicated probable delayed in vivo disintegration. The study involved preparation of triphalaguggulkalpa tablets by Ayurvedic text methods and by wet granulation, dry granulation, and direct compression method. The tablets were evaluated for loss on drying, volatile oil content, % solubility, and steroidal content. The tablets were evaluated for performance tests like weight variation, disintegration, and hardness. RESULTS: It was observed that triphalaguggulkalpa tablets, prepared by direct compression method, complied with the hardness and disintegration tests, whereas tablets prepared by Ayurvedic text methods failed. CONCLUSION: Direct compression is the best method of preparing triphalaguggulkalpa tablets.