


































































Chemical, microbial and safety profiling of a standardized Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) extract and Withaferin A, a potent novel phytotherapeutic of the millennium
							| Functional Foods in Health and Disease - Online ISSN: 2160-3855; Print ISSN: 2378-7007



	

				
						
 
	Skip to main content
	Skip to main navigation menu
		Skip to site footer


			

				
					
						Open Menu
					
										
																Functional Foods in Health and Disease - Online ISSN: 2160-3855; Print ISSN: 2378-7007
										

				


				
				
					
					
						
																					
				
					Home
				
										
									
										Food Science Publisher
									
								
	
									
										Functional Food Center
									
								


							
	
				
					Current
				
							
	
				
					Archives
				
							
	
				
					About
				
										
									
										About the Journal
									
								
	
									
										Aims and Scope
									
								
	
									
										Contact
									
								
	
									
										Editing Services
									
								
	
									
										Editorial Team
									
								
	
									
										Express Peer Review
									
								
	
									
										Graphical Abstract
									
								
	
									
										Journal Insights
									
								
	
									
										Privacy Statement
									
								
	
									
										Submissions
									
								


							
	
				
					Announcements
				
							
	
				
					Search
				
							



				

																						
									
										
										Search
									
								

													

					

					
								
				
					Register
				
							
	
				
					Login
				
							



					

				
			

		

						
			
				


			
		
			
				Home
			
			/
		
	
			
				Archives
			
			/
		
	
				
					Vol. 13 No. 2 (2023): February 2023
				
				/
			
	
			
									Research Articles
							
		



	
		  	 

		
	
		Chemical, microbial and safety profiling of a standardized Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) extract and Withaferin A, a potent novel phytotherapeutic of the millennium
	


	
	
		

							
					Authors

						
							
								Pawan Kumar
							
																																		
	
							
								Samudra P. Banik
							
																																		
	
							
								Apurva Goel
							
																																		
	
							
								Sanjoy Chakraborty
							
																																		
	
							
								Manashi Bagchi
							
																																		
	
							
								Debasis Bagchi
							
																																		


				
			
																	
					
												DOI:
					

					
						
							https://doi.org/10.31989/ffhd.v13i2.1071
						
					
				
			

						
										
					Abstract

					Background:Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal, popularly known as Ashwagandha, is an ethnomedicinal plant with multiple pharmacotherapeutic applications. The diverse medicinal properties of the plant are largely due to the presence of withanolides, a group of C28 ergostane based steroidal lactones, with several sites of unsaturation and oxygenation. Withaferin A, a major with anolide present in Ashwagandha plant accounts for its emerging new roles to treat cancer, arthritis, inflammatory responses, immunomodulatory properties, and neuronal disorders. The root and leaf extracts are specifically important constituent materials for the development of phytotherapeutics, mostly intended for oral consumption. Several studies have been carried out to delineate the toxic manifestations of the extract for human consumption.
Objective:Establish the broad-spectrum safety of W-ferinAmax ashwagandha (WFA).
Study: This investigation demonstrated a novel, standardized W-ferinAmax ashwagandha (WFA) extraction technology from the whole herb of Withania sominfera, conducted HPLC analysis to identify the constituents, detected the heavy metals, microbiological contaminants, pesticides contaminants, and safety profile.
Results:A novel extraction technology was employed to obtain WFA from the whole plant of Withania sominfera. HPLC analysis revealed that WFA contains a total of 15.4% Withanolides. In particular, Withaferin A, Withanoside IV, and Withanolide A contents were 6.469%, 1.022%, and 0.073%, respectively. The extract contained only 0.403 ppm of heavy metals out of which traces of arsenic, mercury and lead were detected, and cadmium was absent. USP recommended 80 residue basic pesticide screen indicated that the extraction was safe for human consumption. It was also found to be free from pathogenic microbes as assessed by the absence of E. coli and other coliforms, Salmonella and Staphylococcus species.
Conclusion: The data generated cumulatively indicated that WFA is safe for further downstream processing to and for human consumption.

Keywords: Ashwagandha, Withaferin A, phytotherapeutics, material safety; heavy metals; pesticides

				
			
			

						
																																																						
						
		


		

						
										
					
						Downloads
					

						
								
	
													


		
	[Abstract]

	
							
	
								
	
													


		
	[Full Article]

	
							


				

						
						
				
					
						Published
					

					
																			2023-02-23
																	

				
							

			
						
										

											
							
								Issue
							

							
								
									Vol. 13 No. 2 (2023): February 2023
								
							

						
					
											
							
								Section
							

							
								Research Articles
							

						
					
									

			
						
										
					
						License
					

										Authors retain the copyright of their articles and grant the Functional Food Center (FFC) and its journals the right of first publication under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, including commercial use, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. Authors may post and share their published work freely, provided that the original publication in this journal is acknowledged.

By submitting to this journal, authors confirm that their manuscripts are original, not under consideration elsewhere, and that they hold the necessary rights to grant this license. The Functional Food Center encourages open scientific exchange and allows derivative and extended works, provided attribution to the original publication is maintained.

				

			
			

		

	




	




	


							



	

	

					
				About the Journal      Editing Services      Graphical Abstract      Journal Insights        Submissions        Editorial Team       Privacy Statement        Contact        Current        Archives

 

			

		
		Open Journal Systems Hosting and Support by: OpenJournalSystems.com


	










