Influence of the Biofield Energy Healing Treatment on Physicochemical, Thermal and Behavioral Properties of Ashwagandha ( Withania somnifera) Root Extract

Abstract

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is a well-known traditional medicinal herb and its root extract have a broad range of pharmacological activities. The current study aimed to explore the impact of The Trivedi Effect® - Energy of Consciousness Healing Treatment (Biofield Energy Healing Treatment) on the physicochemical, thermal and behavioral properties of ashwagandha root extract using PXRD, PSD, FT-IR, UV-vis spectroscopy, TGA, and DSC analysis. Ashwagandha root extract was divided into two parts – one part was control without any Biofield Energy Treatment and another part was treated with the Consciousness Energy Healing Treatment remotely by seven renowned Biofield Energy Healers and defined as The Trivedi Effect® treated sample. The PXRD analysis exhibited that both the treated and control samples were amorphous in nature. The particle size distribution values of the treated sample at d10, and d50 were increased by 16.94% and 8.01%, respectively, whereas at d90 particle size value was decreased by 7.02% compared with the control sample. The surface area analysis revealed that the surface area of the treated sample was decreased by 4.17% compared with the control sample. The FT-IR analysis indicated the alteration of the force constant for the functional groups of the treated sample compared with the control sample. The UV-vis analysis revealed that the wavelength for the maximum absorbance of the control and treated samples were at 205.2 nm. The TGA analysis revealed that the total weight loss was decreased by 1.13% in the treated sample as compared to the control sample. Similarly, the DTG analysis revealed that the maximum thermal degradation temperature in the treated sample was increased by 0.14% compared to the control the sample. The DSC analysis indicated that the vaporization temperature and the latent heat of vaporization of the treated sample were increased by 1.45% and 11.30%, respectively as compared to the control sample. Similarly, onset, peak, endset melting temperature and the latent heat of fusion of the treated sample were significantly increased by 18.90%, 18.86%, 20.18%, and 511.11%, respectively compared to the control sample. This indicated that the treated sample was thermally more stable as compared to the control sample. The Trivedi Effect® - Energy of Consciousness Healing Treatment might lead to have better powder flowability and long-term storage stability compared with the control sample. Thus, the treated ashwagandha root extract might provide better therapeutic response against inflammatory diseases, immunological disorders, stress, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, sexual disorders, aging and other chronic infections.