A Study to Evaluate the Preservative Action of Nagakesara Arka in Triphala Kwatha

Introduction: Primary dosage forms are basic preparations whose shelf life is a challenge for the practice.Kwatha is a basic primary preparation which is easily prone to contamination and can be marketed only by the addition of suitable preservatives to increase the shelf life.So addition of preservatives is being practiced to prolong the shelf life of kwatha but use of chemical preservatives are harmful to body and even have carcinogenic effects.Hence there aroused a need to find natural preservatives to benefit the mankind.Arka which is a water distillate consists of essential substances from the crude drug and has longer shelf life comparatively.Nagakesara arka possess anti-microbial and anti-oxidant properties and economically cheaper and easily available drug and triphala kwatha being useful in many purposes, in this study an attempt was made to elucidate the preservative action of nagakesara arka in triphala kwatha.Materials and methods:Includes preparation of nagakesara arka, triphala kwatha and conduction of analytical and microbiological study to see the preservative action using SDA and MHA media.Observations