Fermentation in ancient Ayurveda: Its present implications

Abstract

A review of fermentation practised in Ayurveda, together with the literature produced on various aspects of Ayurvedic fermentation, is presented. The analyses may be viewed in the following categories: classical prescriptions for fermentative production of Ayurvedic drugs, physicochemical parameters of fermented Ayurvedic drugs, changes observed in medicinal tinctures due to fermentation, significance of changes due to fermentation, clinical evaluation of fermented drug products of Ayurveda, prospects for research on fermented Ayurvedic drugs and solid-state fermentation in Ayurveda. The strength of fermentation as a unique method of preparing herbal drugs as described in classical texts of Ayurveda, as well as deficiencies in the analyses of the Ayurvedic fermentative process as evidenced in research publications, is also assessed. The review of the process also highlights the significance of solid-state fermentation, employed in the preparation of certain Ayurvedic pills as a tradition in Kerala, India, as an improvement on the classical text, Ashtangahrudayam. Emphasis is also given to the need for critical studies to understand the differences between tinctures and fermented liquors and their therapeutic applications, to improve and find new applications of the fermented Ayurvedic drugs. Rational drug design-protocol based modification and synthesis of analogues, supported and guided by the biotransformation evidenced in fermented polyherbal formulae, as prescribed effectively in Ayurvedic classics, would be a novel working principle for achieving better therapeutics for other systems of medicine as well.