Preliminary Analysis of Siddha Antidiabetic Herbal Formulation (Ilavankaathy ilekiyam)

‘Ilavankaathy ilekiyam’ a siddha herbal confection which literarily recommended for the treatment of diabetes mellitus (Mathumegam) in the authentic Siddha text book “Therayar yamaga venba”. The herbal preparation consist clove, Bee’s honey, ghee, milk and sugar as ingredients. There are no standards for this antidiabetic herbal preparation. Standardization of the individual ingredients helps to prepare a quality test drug which responsible for the desired pharmacological effect. So the present study has been performed to standardize individual ingredients and the herbal formulation ‘Ilavankaathy ilekiyam’ as a preliminary study by using three groups of test drug samples. The parameters used to standardize the preparation are organoleptic characters, physicochemical properties and thin layer chromatography. The organoleptic characters such as color, taste, odor, smell and consistency of the ingredients and the test drug were evaluated. Physico-chemical parameters were determined as per WHO guidelines and reported as total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble extractive, ethanol soluble extractive, total sugar, reducing sugar content, fat content and loss on drying. Thin layer chromatography developed for different solvent system and detection of TLC finger print profiles were carried out under UV light at the wavelength of 366nm and also viewed after spraying with anisaldehyde sulfuric acid spray reagent. Colors and Rf Values of major spots were noted. The procedures developed in the present study will serve as parameters for Ilavankaathy ilekiyam analysis and further studies are warranted to ensure the effective herbal drug standardization by a regulatory standard guide for the future research endeavors in more focused manner.