Kumaryasava

The short answer

What is in it

The official recipe is in the Ayurvedic Formulary of India, Part I, entry 1:12, Kumaryasava (A) (2003 printed edition, pages 10-11).[1]

Recipe (A), quantities for one batch, from the 2003 printed edition. The aloe pulp is liquefied with a little triphala powder, and the iron bhasma goes in last before the vessel is sealed. Products on sale may differ, so check the label.[1]

Classical source

The formulary takes recipe (A) from the Sharngadhara Samhita, Madhyamakhanda, chapter 10, verses 18 to 24½. It notes that the original text calls for half a tula of iron bhasma, which it calls excessive, so it gives 24 g instead.[1]

A second recipe, Kumaryasava (B), comes from the Yogaratnakara, Gulmachikitsa. It uses aloe juice, jaggery, haritaki and honey with a different set of herbs and spices.[2]

What it is used for

• Digestion: the formulary lists recipe (A) for agnimandya (weak digestion), paktishula and parinamashula (pain that comes with digestion), udavarta (wind moving upward, as the texts describe it), aruchi (loss of taste), krimi (worms) and udara (enlargement of the abdomen).[1]
• Urine and bleeding: mutrakricchra (painful urination), prameha (urinary disorders), ashmari (stones) and raktapitta (bleeding disorders).[1]
• Strength and other uses: daurbalya (weakness), karshya (emaciation), kshaya (wasting), vaivarnya (discolouration), shukradosha (disorders of semen), smritikshaya (loss of memory) and apasmara (epilepsy).[1]

What the evidence says

In vitroLaboratory analysis, 2015. Researchers measured alcohol in two brands each of Kumaryasava and Mustakarishta. By gas chromatography, the bottles held 0.1 to 1.6% alcohol by volume when first opened, falling to 0.011 to 0.025% after 30 days, which the authors put down to the bottles being opened often. The figures are pooled across both medicines, and no people were studied.[5]

Safety notes

• Recipe (A) contains two mineral bhasmas: pakva loha (iron) and dhatumakshika, which the formulary's appendix identifies as chalcopyrite, a copper and iron ore. Each is 24 g per batch.[1]
• Recipe (B) also contains metal bhasmas: mrita shulva (copper, tamra) and mrita loha (iron).[2]
• Contains danti (Baliospermum montanum), which is on Schedule E(1), India's list of poisonous substances in Ayurvedic medicines. A medicine for internal use made with it must carry the label "Caution: to be taken under medical supervision".[4]
• Contains alcohol. The formulary says asavas and arishtas ferment to generate alcohol, which also preserves them. This matters if you avoid alcohol or have liver disease. Tell your doctor about any other medicines you take. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, ask your vaidya and your doctor before taking it.[3]
• Each batch of recipe (A) uses 4.8 kg of jaggery and 2.4 kg of honey to about 12 litres of aloe juice. This matters if you have diabetes.[1]
• Contains pippali and black pepper. In a small study of people with epilepsy, a single dose of piperine, a compound in pippali and black pepper, raised blood levels of phenytoin. That study used isolated piperine, not this asava. See Pippali and phenytoin.[6]

Who makes it

Sold in India by makers including Patanjali, Dabur. We list names so you can match your bottle to this page. We do not recommend or sell any brand.

Withheld until review

Questions people ask

Related

Sources

1. Ayurvedic Formulary of India, Part I, 2nd revised English edition, 2003. Kumaryasava (A), 1:12, printed pages 10-11.
2. Ayurvedic Formulary of India, Part I, 2nd revised English edition, 2003. Kumaryasava (B), 1:13, printed pages 11-12.
3. Ayurvedic Formulary of India, Part I, 2nd revised English edition, 2003. Section 1, Asava and Arista, Definition, printed page 3.
4. Drugs Rules, 1945, Rule 161(2) and Schedule E(1), list of poisonous substances under the Ayurvedic (including Siddha) and Unani systems. Central Drugs Standard Control Organization compilation, 2022, pp. 184 and 344-345.
5. Selvan PS, Priya ES. Determination of ethanol content in ayurvedic formulations kumaryasava and mustakarista by gas chromatography. Indian J Pharm Sci. 2015;77(1):120-125. PMID 25767329.
6. Pattanaik S, Hota D, Prabhakar S, Kharbanda P, Pandhi P. Effect of piperine on the steady-state pharmacokinetics of phenytoin in patients with epilepsy. Phytother Res. 2006;20(8):683-686. PMID 16767797.