Nutraceutical Aspects Of Ghrita

Abstract

Ghrita is a popular milk product prepared indigenously in most households and is widely available commercially. It has high nutraceutical values. Ghrita by its nature has; Madhura rasa (sweetish taste), Madhura vipaka (post-digestion sweet taste), Laghu (easy to digest), Sheet virya (cold in potency). Ayurveda proposes certain rules for its consumption and specifies some adjuvant to contradict its ill effects. It is used as Pathya (diet) aahar in diseases as well as, an important ingredient in various medicinal formulations. With the advent of Urbanisation, Industrialisation and increasing work culture, human lifestyle and food habits have been drastically changed. Because of thesechanges, the population is gradually suffering from many nutritional deficiencies leading to a large number of metabolic and degenerative diseases. In recent years, an innovative pharmaceutical product, “Nutraceutical” has made a special place in the field of nutritional supplementation which can be correlated to Pathya Kalpana in Ayurveda. It not only provides health benefits but is also used forthe prevention and treatment of acute and chronic diseases. The present study aims to reveal the Ayurvedic perspective of Nutraceuticals with special reference to Ghrita by carrying out the pharmaceutical procedure and qualitative analysis.