Correspondence Address:
Dr.Nakade B.M. PG Scholar, Agadtantra Evam Vidhivaidyak, Government Ayurved College, Nagpur. Mobile Number: 7350476441 E-mail ID: bhartinakade19@gmail.com
Date of Acceptance: 2025-03-22
Date of Publication:2025-04-12
Article-ID:IJIM_370_04_25 https://ijim.co.in
Source of Support: Nill
Conflict of Interest: None declared
How To Cite This Article: Nakade B.M. Chavhan K.R. Adulteration and Substitution in Ayurvedic Proprietary Medicines: Challenges and Implications. Int J Ind Med 2025;6(3):24-34 DOI: http://doi.org/10.55552/IJIM.2025.6304
The Ayurvedic pharmaceutical industry, deeply rooted in ancient traditions, is currently facing a significant challenge in maintaining the efficacy, safety, and authenticity of herbal formulations due to rampant issues of adulteration and substitution. Adulteration refers to the deliberate or accidental incorporation of inferior, toxic, or spurious substances, while substitution involves the replacement of genuine ingredients with morphologically similar but pharmacologically less effective or more readily available alternatives. These practices not only compromise therapeutic outcomes but also pose potential health risks and erode public confidence in Ayurvedic medicines.The growing demand for herbal products, combined with the scarcity of authenticated raw materials and a lack of stringent quality control mechanisms, further aggravates the situation. Additionally, the unregulated exploitation of medicinal plants, inadequate identification techniques, and the extinction or endangerment of key plant species contribute to the proliferation of adulterated and substituted crude drugs in the market.
Keywords: Authentication, substitution, extinct species, crude drug, raw material, etc.
