Development of a chewable tablet from Dugdhāmalakyādi Yoga: An Ayurvedic preparation

BACKGROUND: Āmalaki (Embelica officinalis Gaertn.) is one of the most celebrated herbs in the Indian system of traditional medicine. It is one of the best Rasāyana-s (health promoting) drug. In Dugdhāmalakyādi yoga, Āmalaki (Embelica officinalis Gaertn.) powder is administered along with milk in case of svarabhaṅga (hoarseness of voice). Here an attempt is made to convert this formulation into chewable tablet without altering its property to improve its palatability, shelf life and fixation of proper therapeutic dose. METHODOLOGY: Chewable tablets were prepared by wet granulation method. Here, Āmalaki powder was prepared initially and it was mixed with additives and preservatives. Granules were prepared from this mixture by adding binding agent, finally compressed in to tablets. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The physico-chemical analysis of Āmalaki standard are: Foreign Matter-Nil, Acid insoluble Ash-0.51%w/w, Water soluble Ash-2.01% w/w, Alcoholic Extractives-44.48%, Aqueous Extractives 67.52%, pH-3.1, Moisture content-8.19%. Quality control test for chewable tablet was carried out and found satisfactory with general characteristics of tablet viz. hardness 1.8, disintegration time 15-20 min, friability 0.5%, weight variation +/- 3%. The TLC of Āmalaki powder showed 3 spots with Rf value 0.14, 0.4, and 0.73 and the chewable tablets showed 2 spots with Rf value 0.31 and 0.89 under 254 nm. The adaptation of modern techniques or methods to convert the Ayurvedic formulations without altering its therapeutic property is necessary to made them suitable for the present trends of newer drug delivery dosage forms.