ABSTRACT
The simplest mode of administering a herb is to take it as it is, to pound it or to use its juice after filtration. These are the least processed forms and all constituents of the herb are made available to the body. However fresh herbs are often not readily available throughout the year. Some fresh herbs not only taste bad but are even nauseating. The best alternative to fresh herbs is to use properly dried herbs in powder form (churn). Usually the churn are mixed with salt or sugar to make them more palatable. These powders are usually administered with a fluid medium, because in a dry form they are difficult to swallow or sometimes may even choke the respiratory passage. For Rasayana powders, the common medium for administration is boiled lukewarm cow’s milk, sweetened with sugar, honey, cow’s ghee or a mixture of both milk and ghee. (Ghee is prepared by heating the butter to remove the fat-insoluble, proteinaceous and other matters and water, so that only fatty acids and the constituents soluble in fat are left. It is surprising to find that though butter has been a common household item in India since ancient times, it has rarely been used for the administration of Ayurvedic preparations.)
