The History of Botanicals of “Ashtawarga": The Most important Ingredients Used in “Chyawanprash" and the Famous Rejuvenating Tonic of Ayurveda

In India, presently, more than 1000 small and big pharmaceutical companies are producing Chyawanprash. In ancient time, a vital ingredients consisting of eight unknown herbs used to be added which was known as Ashtawarga herbs. Due to continued extraction from wild, the herbs became endangered or extinct and if not extinct, then are unidentifiable and no one knows what these were? This article, reviews a history of botanicals which were used as Ashtawarga in different phase and period of time. It is concluded that presently Chyawanprash does not consist of true Ashtawarga but only three or four drugs as a substitute or representative of Ashtawarga as the true botanicals are either not available or not known. The underground botanicals presently added are aphrodisiac and tonic ones such as; Safed moosli, Chlorophytum borivillianum, Shatwari, Asparagus racemosus; Asgandh, Withania sommnifera and out of remaining forty five ingredients only the cultivated ones like; Awanla Phyllanthus emblica, Draksha, Vitis vinifera, etc. are being added. Further, it discusses about the various tonic botanicals which were used in place of Ashtawarga in different period. Further, it raises a question to the Formulary of Govt. of India on enlisting the endangered and costly botanicals in formulation of Chyawanprash.