REVIEW ARTICLE ISSN 2456-0170

SHARKARA - A REVIEW WITH MODERN AND AYURVEDIC POINT OF VIEW 1Dr Meenakshi Amrutkar 2DrAshwini Deshmukh 3Dr ShardulChavan 1&2Reader, 3PG Scholar, Dept. of Rasashastra & Bhaishajya Kalpana Y.M.T. Ayurvedic Medical College, Navi Mumbai

ABSTRACT is a natural sweet substance produced by sugar cane and is one of the most valued as well as appreciated natural substance known to mankind since ancient times. Of all the

natural foods rich in carbohydrates sugar is the most wholesome and delicious. The medicinal quality, taste, texture, color and aroma of sugar differs according to the geographical area and the of from which it has been made. Sugar is called as sharkara in Ayurveda. Three types of sharkara are described in Ayurveda depending on their physical appearance and properties. Etymology, synonyms, varieties, method of collection, chemical constituents, properties, adulterants, chemical tests, and the usages ofJaggeryare gathered from text books, experienced Ayurvedic physicians and from internet.Sharkara usedto treatjwara, raktavikara, pittavikara, vatavikara. Sharkara is used in many Ayurvedicpreparations like gutivati i.e. tablets and also used as binding material. It is also used as prakshepakadravya in kwatha, used in churna, for preparation of asava and arishta it is a main mediator and also act as a preservative, hence sharkarakalpana (syrup) having more stability period. The present work aims at the review of sugar or sharkara explained in Ayurveda andbiomedical science. Keywords:Sugar, Sharkara, Ayurveda, Syrup, Prakshepakadravya

INTRODUCTION For many centuries, sugar has been used Originally, people chewed raw to in vital alternative medicine of Ayurveda extract its sweetness. Sugarcane was a and is one among the foods having religious native of tropical South Asia and Southeast significance. In Hindu religion shadrasa Asia. Different species seem to have bhojana is important and in which madhuara originated from different locations with rasa is one of the main rasa. In some barberi originating in India and auspicious days sharkara also given as S. edule and S.officinarum coming devine food. Sharkara is also one important from New Guinea. One of the earliest ingredient in Ayurvedic medicine historical references to sugarcane is in preparations. Sugar has been produced in Chinese manuscripts dating back to 8th the Indian subcontinent since ancient times. century BC that state that the use of It was not plentiful or cheap in early times sugarcane originated in India. and honey was more often used for Sugar was found in Europe by the 1st sweetening in most parts of the world. century AD, but only as an imported 263 www.ayurpub.com Nov-Dec,2016 Vol I, Issue 5

Shardul Chavan et al; Sharkara - A Review With Modern and Ayurvedic Point of View medicine, and not as a food. The Greek Production6: Sugarcane (Sacchrum physician Dioscorides in the 1st century officinarum) is a perennial grass in the Pliny the Elder (AD) described sugar in his family . It is cultivated in tropical medical treatise De Materia Medica and 1st and sub-tropical regions for the sucrose that century (AD) Roman, described sugar in is found in its stems. It requires a frost-free his Natural History climate with sufficient rainfall during the VERNACULAR NAMES &SYNONYMS1 growing season to make full use of the sanskrit Minandi, Matsyandika, plant's great growth potential. The crop is sita, sikta, sitopala, Sukla, harvested mechanically or by hand, chopped Shubhra into lengths and conveyed rapidly to the Assamese Chini processing plant. Here it is either milled and Bengali Chini the juice extracted with water or extracted English Sugar Gujrati Shaakar by diffusion. The juice is then clarified Hindi Chini with lime and heated to destroy enzymes. Kannada Sakkare The resulting thin syrup is concentrated in a Malyalam. Panchasara series of evaporators, after which further Marathi. Sakhara water is removed by evaporation in vacuum Oriya Chini containers. The resulting supersaturated Punjabi. Chini solution is seeded with sugar crystals and Tamil. Sarkkarai the sugar crystallizes out and is separated Telgu. Panchadhara, Chekkera from the fluid and dried. Molasses is a by- Urdu. Sakkara Gana mentioned in Ayurvedic text product of the process and the fiber from the Charaka samhita2 - Ikshuvarga, Jwarahara stems, known as , is burned to mahakashaya, Daha-prashamana provide energy for the sugar extraction mahakashaya, shonita-sthapana process. The crystals of raw sugar have a mahakashaya sticky brown coating and either can be used Sushrut samhita3- Ikshuvarga as they are or can be bleached by sulfur Ashtanga Hridaya4 -Ikshuvarga dioxide or can be treated in Scientific classification5: of Saccharum a carbonization process to produce a whiter officinarum product. About 2,500 litres (660 US gal) of irrigation water is needed for every one Kingdom Plantae kilogram of sugar produced (Unranked) Angiosperms 6 (Unranked) Monocots Chemical composition of sugar: (Unranked) Order Family Poaceae Subfamily Panicoideae Tribe Andropogoneae Sucrose: a disaccharide of glucose (left) Saccharum and fructose (right), important molecules in Species S. Officinarum the body.

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Shardul Chavan et al; Sharkara - A Review With Modern and Ayurvedic Point of View

IDENTITY PURITY AND STRENGTH1 ingested carbohydrates are converted into Moisture content Not more than 1.5% by wt glucose during digestion and it is the form of Acid-Insoluble Ash Not more than 0.7% by sugar that is transported around the bodies wt. of animals in the bloodstream. It can be Sucrose Not more than 93% by wt Sulphur dioxide Absent manufactured from starch by the addition of Calcium Oxide Not more than 100 enzymes or in the presence of acids. Glucose (mg/100g) syrup is a liquid form of glucose that is

Heavy Metal Complies with API widely used in the manufacture of Microbial Limit Complies with API foodstuffs. It can be manufactured from Pesticide Residue Complies with API Storage: Should be stored in air tight starch by enzymatic hydrolysis. 6 container. Disaccharides Types of :- Lactose, maltose, and sucrose are all Monosaccharides6 compound sugars, disaccharides, with the Fructose, galactose, and glucose are all general formula C12H22O11. They are formed simple sugars, monosaccharides, with the by the combination of two monosaccharide molecules with the exclusion of a molecule general formula C6H12O6. They have five hydroxyl groups (−OH) and a carbonyl of water. group (C=O) and are cyclic when dissolved Lactose is the naturally occurring sugar in water. They each exist as found in milk. A molecule of lactose is several isomers with dextro and formed by the combination of a molecule of laevorotatory forms that cause polarized galactose with a molecule of glucose. It is light to diverge to the right or the left. broken down when consumed into its Fructose, or fruit sugar, occurs naturally in constituent parts by the fruits, some root vegetables, cane sugar and enzyme lactase during digestion. Children honey and is the sweetest of the sugars. It is have this enzyme but some adults no longer one of the components of sucrose or table form it and they are unable to digest lactose. sugar. It is used as high-fructose syrup, Maltose is formed during the germination of which is manufactured from hydrolyzed certain grains, the most notable being barley, corn starch that has been processed to which is converted into malt, the source of yield corn syrup, with enzymes then added the sugar's name. A molecule of maltose is to convert part of the glucose into fructose. formed by the combination of two molecules In general, galactose does not occur in the of glucose. It is less sweet than glucose, free state but is a constituent with glucose of fructose or sucrose. It is formed in the body the disaccharide lactose or milk sugar. It is during the digestion of starch by the less sweet than glucose. It is a component of enzyme amylase and is itself broken down the antigens found on the surface of red during digestion by the enzyme maltase. blood cells that determine blood groups. Sucrose is found in the stems of sugarcane Glucose, dextrose or grape sugar, occurs and roots of sugar beet. It also occurs naturally in fruits and plant juices and is the naturally alongside fructose and glucose in primary product of photosynthesis. Most other plants, in particular fruits and some

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Shardul Chavan et al; Sharkara - A Review With Modern and Ayurvedic Point of View roots such as carrots. The different There gunas are as follows, sheeta, snigdha, proportions of sugars found in these foods guru, madhura, raktapittahara, trishnahara, determine the range of sweetness Kshata-kheena hara. experienced when eating them. A molecule According to origin types of sharkara(8,2,7, 9) of sucrose is formed by the combination of a In Ayurveda specifically they described molecule of glucose with a molecule of different types of sugar or sharkara with fructose. After being eaten, sucrose is split their different origins: and their medicinal into its constituent parts during digestion by properties also mentioned in the texts. Now a number of enzymes known as surcease. days these sharkara are not in use, these are Types of sugar as per Ayurveda: (3,4,7) follows. According to physical appearance Sharkara 1. Madhu-sharkara:Made from madhu is divided into three types (honey) Kashaya, madhura rasa, 1. Matsyandika: they are small crystals chardinashaka, trishnahara, atisara-nashaka, looked like eggs of ants. rakta-pitta hara, Kapha-nissaraka 2. Khanda sharkara (Sharkara): Large 2. Guda-sharkara: Made from guda crystalline form. (Jaggery), kshata-kshaya hara, trishna hara, 3. Sitopala: Powder form, sand type rakta-pittaghna, jwara hara, shukravardhaka, structure. kricchasnehayukta. Synonyms of sharkara: (3,4,7) 3. Yavasa sharkara: Made from yavasa 1. Matsyandika: Minakshi, Vallaka, Palika, (decoction of durlabha), kashaya-madhura Sita rasa, ruksha, swedajanana, alahadjanana, 2. Khanda sharkara:Khanda, Sita, Pinda- jwarahara, raktavikarnashaka. sharkara 4. Tavaraja sharkara: saraka, ruksha, 3. Sitopala: Ahichatra, Shweta, Shubhra kashaya, kaphaghna, trishna hara, daha hara, Gunas of sharkara: (3,4,7) shrama hara 1. Matsyandika: Guru, Saraka, 5. Poundraja sharkara: snigdha, Shukravardhaka, balakaraka, Raktapittahara, shukravardhaka, kshata-hara chardighna, murchahara, jwarahara, 6. Pushpasita: made from flowers, sheeta, dahanashaka, trishnahara. laghu, rakta-pitta hara. 2. Khanda sharkara: Netrya, Kshata- Therapeutic Uses1 kshinahara, Saraka, Shukravardhaka, Arsha, Aruchi, Bhrama, Chardi, Daha, balakaraka, Rakta-pittahara, chardighna, Dourbalya, Jwara, Krimi, Kshina, Kshaya, vatanashaka Madatyaya, Moha, Murcha, Raktapitta, 3. Sitopala: Saraka, LaghuShita, Vata-Pitta Raktastruti, Raktavikara, Shrama, Trushna, hara. Vatarakta, Vishavikara. According to Acharya Sushruta and Acharya DISCUSSION Vagbhata there is no difference in properties Since ancient time sugar was known to the of Matsyandika, Khanda-sharkara, and mankind and mentioned in Ayurveda as Sitopala (Sharkara) but their intensity of sharkara. There are different types of gunas are in increasing order respectively. sharkara mentioned in Ayurvedic text books. Acharya Vagbhata and Acharya Sushruta 266 www.ayurpub.com Nov-Dec, 2016 Vol I, Issue 5

Shardul Chavan et al; Sharkara - A Review With Modern and Ayurvedic Point of View mentioned three types of sharkara but in Delhi : Chukhamba Sanskrit Pratisthan; different physical forms, same as in 2007. Kaiyyadeva nighantu. In Dhanvantari 3. Dr. Anant Ram Sharma, Sushruta Samhita nighantu and charakasamhita they have of Maharshi Sushruta Sutrasthana 45. mentioned three types but according to their Varanasi: Chukhambha Surbharati different origins, same in Bhavprakasha Prakashana, Reprint2010. nighantu they have mentioned 6 types of 4. Late Dr. G. K. Garde. Sartha Vagbhata sharkara according to their origin and also Sutrasthana 5, Varanasi: Chukhambha mentioned three types of sharkara according Surbharati Prakashana Reprint2009. to physical form. Here chemical constituents 5.https://En.Wikipedia.Org/Wiki/Saccharum of sugar and standard value of sugar _Officinarum accessed on 5/12/16 according to API is mentioned. Sugar is 6.https://En.Wikipedia.Org/Wiki/Sugar valuble product and use in medicine for their accessed on 5/12/16 treatment value as well as for their test and 7.Bhavmishra Commentary By Prof. K.C. as preservative. In present life style sugar Chunekar, Bhavprakasha Nighantu. which is used is made from ikshu rasa. In Varanasi: Choukhambha Bharati Academy Ayurvedic pharmacies mainly for medicinal Reprint 2010. preparations khandasharkara (Sugar candy) 8.Dhanvantari Nighantu Edited By Priyavat is used which is less processed compared to sharma, Translated By Guruprasad Sharma mastyandika.(Normal sugar). Other varieties Varanasi Choukhamba Orientalia, Page and their nutritional values has to be No. 89-90. calculated and their standards should be 9.Kaiyyadeva Edited By Priyavat sharma derived. Translated By Guruprasad Sharma CONCLUSION Kaiyyadeva Nighantu Varanasi, It can be concluded that sugar is an Choukhamba Orientalia, Page No.35, 36 invaluable natural substance with many diverse usages. It is used in many diseases CORRESPONDING AUTHOR as a medicine. In diarrhea and hypoglycemia Dr Shardul Chavan, sugar is a vital medicine. It also useful in the PG Scholar, Dept. ofRasashastra and preparations of various medicines as binding Bhaishajya Kalpana Y.M.T. Ayurvedic agent or as preservative or as a main Medical College, Navi Mumbai-India. ingredient. Selected sugar must be pure and E-mail:[email protected]. genuine. REFERENCE Source of support: Nil, 1. Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India part I Conflict of interest: None Declared vol. 6 Govt. of India Delhi page no 2. Cite this article as ShardulChavan: Sharkara - A Review With Modern 2. Acharya Vidyadhara Shukla and and Ayurvedic Point of View Ravidutta Tripathi Sutrasthana, Charaka ayurpub 2016;I(5):263-267 Samhita of Agnivesha, Sutrasthana 27.

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