Conclusiones generales

MATHIRAI:

Some of the raw drugs are ground well by adding juices of leaves, ginger, breast-milk,lemon juice, or some decoctions and made into small pills according to its dose and dried.⁽⁴⁷⁾

The ingredients should be first purified and powdered into a fine powder and then macerated with the prescribed juices or liquid one after the other in their order. Each time it must be grinded till it becomes waxy in consistency does not adhere to the fingers or mortar and pestle; lastly it must be made into pills as prescribed and dried in shade.

Other names: Kuligai,Urandai,Vadagam.

Equipment required:

1. Mortar and pestle

2. Trays and dishes for handling powders and pastes of the drugs and for making the pills or tablets.

3. Vessels and spoons for preparation of and the handling of decoctions and juices.

Purification of drugs in Siddha system (suddhi seithal) :

❖ The process of detoxification or purification of the drug is called

‘suddhiseithal’ in Siddha medical terminology.

❖ Nature has created innumerable plant, herbs, metals, poisonous substances, minerals, salts and other organic substances. The Siddha had selected such of those things which can render relief to innumerable ailments of mankind suffered. Any matter in nature has to be utilized for medicine purposes the properties which may cause bad effects should be neutralized or eliminated.

That’s why every raw drug used in Siddha medicine is purified before preparing it as a medicine.

Purification :

❖ The exact part of the herb which has been prescribed should alone be taken for medicine. There should not be other impurities like mud, sand or any such thing. If it is green leaf, dried or decomposed leaves or insects should be eliminated. Care should be taken in identifying the herbs properly.

❖ As a general rule, when anything is subjected to be processed by using heat, soaking either alone or with some other substance, some chemical reaction may take place. In these process impurities, toxins would be eliminated and the substances become purified. Hence some of the poisonous herbs which are purified by using heat.

Importance of purification :

❖ The drugs when subjected to heat like roasting or soaked in liquids undergo some chemical reactions. Such as oxidation of toxic substances to non-toxic substances, elimination of certain poisonous chemicals to non- poisonous substances. In these ways not only the toxicity, impurities or removed but also enhance the potency of the drugs.

Rules of tablet preparation:

❖ All the metals, minerals and poisonous organic drugs should be purified as per the rules of Siddha system of medicines.

❖ Before preparing mathirai, the raw drugs required are powdered separately and then mixed to attain homogeneity, then grinded together until it reaches waxy in consistency.

❖ The fine paste which does not stick to the mortar should be considered as the right consistency for rolling pills. The compounded drugs should be ground in a mortar for the prescribed period, with the addition of prescribed juices and decoctions.

❖ If any of the preparation of pills, if mercury and sulfur are the key ingredients then the mercury should be grinded first and sulfur is added to it and grinded and further continued.

❖ In case of inclusion of hard raw drugs, they should be grinded first; the reason behind this if hard substances are added to smooth substances, they will not be grinded finely.

❖ Croton seeds if included can be grinded at the last: because croton on grinding releases oil; if added early the effect of medicine will be suppressed, so it should be added finally.

❖ Aromatic substances like camphor, lac, musk, are added just before 24 minutes the paste reaches waxy consistency.

❖ The paste should not adhere to the mortar nor does it adhere to the pestle.

The individual drugs should be separately weighed after being powdered and then taken in the ratio prescribed in the preparation.

Preparation of Mathirai in Manufacturing Units :

❖ In manufacturing unit, Chooranam is compressed into tablets. Binders like Gum acacia, lubricants like liquid paraffin and disintegrators like Talcum powder are used for preparing tablets. Chooranam is first prepared according to the above procedures. Then the ingredients are mixed with in the form of granules before compressing as tablets.

❖ They must be mixed with some adhesive substances or binders such as gum acacia. To prevent the sticking of the tablets to the punches and dyes a lubricant like liquid paraffin is added. If the tablet is to dissolve quickly, a disintegrator like talcum powder is added ⁽⁴⁸⁾

❖ The pills should be always dried in a warm, dry shady Place and never kept in the sun, because volatile matters in the pills are easily lost and Phyto chemical break down of active principle are faster in sunlight of the tropics.

Storage:

❖ Almost all the maathirai is contain highly active ingredients (or) poisonous drugs, (or) metallic compounds etc., hence they should be stored in well stoppered glass vials, with relevant labels and instructions.

❖ The adjuvants recommended for each medicine are beneficial in giving good treatment results.

❖ If the maathirais lose their natural shape, color, smell, taste etc., it is not advisable to consume them. If properly stored, they can be used for for one year. ⁽⁴⁹⁾

Shelf life of medicines :

Medicines can be classified into internal and external medicines. They are each in 32 types. Mathirai comes under the category of internal medicines. The shelf life of medicines indicates the potency of medicines. The medicines even though seems to be fresh is not efficacious after sometime. So, the medicines should not use after certain period.

The shelf life of mathirai,

As per Siddha literature Agamarunthu padal in Gunapadam Thathu-seevam text

Traditional tests for Mathirai:

Characters:

➢ Non sticky on rolling

➢ No cracks over the surface after drying

➢ Shall be rolled uniformly over the plane surface.

Based on these characters the drug is assessed as the appropriate one for