Stability Testing of Ayurvedic Formulations: Exigency of Today’s World: Brief Overview

The concept of stability is one of the most important issues regarding Ayurvedic formulations
as till date no specific guidelines are available for the same. Although the Ayurvedic lexicon as
well as Gazette notification issued by Government of India on 26th November, 2005 revealed
shelf life of Ayurvedic formulations but greater advancements in packaging and storage
technology now-a-days has created a need for the revision of their shelf life. Mainly, two
guidelines namely ICH (International Conference on Harmonization) and WHO (World Health
Organization) provide details regarding parameters for stability study of pharmaceutical products
but ICH guidelines from Q1 to Q11 is generally followed. A well designed stability protocol
containing information like Selection of Batches and Samples, Test Attributes, Analytical
Procedures, Acceptance Criteria, Storage Conditions and period, Testing Frequency, Sampling
plan, Container Closure System etc, various types of stability study and stability testing methods
should be taken into consideration. Currently pharmaceutical product are generally assayed using a
validated stability indicating analytical method and an expiry date is marked based on the predicated
period from date of manufacture when the pharmaceutical product would show more than 10%
deterioration in the active molecule. So, these guidelines may also be implemented on Ayurvedic
formulations where percentage degradation can be assayed when the product is stored at different
conditions of temperature and humidity. The general concept of stability for Ayurvedicor modern
medicine remains same but the parameters used to assess the stability may vary from product to
product.