Herbal medicine is also known as Phyto-medicine or herbalism it is a medicine that use plants or their crude products for the treatment of diseases. It may include also animal fungi or bacteria product.  Since ancient era, herbal or plant-based medicines has been used for the prevention, cure & mitigation of diseases and time to time more and more herbal constituents of these natural sources are get enhanced. Herbal medicine has its origins in ancient cultures. It involves the medicinal use of plants to treat disease and enhance general health and wellbeing. Some herbs have potent (powerful) ingredients and should be taken with the same level of caution as pharmaceutical medications. (1)

In fact, many pharmaceutical medications are based on man-made versions of naturally occurring compounds found in plants. For instance, the heart medicine digitalis was derived from the foxglove plant. Herbal medicine aims to return the body to a state of natural balance so that it can heal itself. Different herbs act on different systems of the body. (1)

Herbal Medicine System Beneficial Over Allopathy System:

Although allopathy has been the most acceptable system of medicine over the years, people are now shifting back to the utilization of herbal medicine. This is due to the setbacks of allopathic medicine like it is very expensive, it has serious and frustrating side effects, its relief from ailments is only symptomatic and fear of toxicity to allopathy drugs. Herbal medicine like Ayurveda and Homeopathy are preferred in the treatment of chronic diseases because of the characteristic features of Ayurveda like it is less costly and more sensible, exactly aligns with the patient's thoughts, more easily accessible, time tested, it's said to be more natural and safer and it is thought to have fewer or no negative effects.

Herbal cough syrup

An herbal syrup is prepared by combining a concentrated decoction with either honey or sugar, and sometimes alcohol. Herbal plants and formulations are used for the many types of diseases like cough syrup and many more other diseases. The content of herbal cough syrup include: -funnel, clove, tulsi, cinnamon, pudina, adulsa.

Types of herbal syrup

• Flavored syrup
• Medicated syrup   
• Artificial syrup

Advantages of cough syrup

• No side effect
• Low cost
• Easily available
• No harmless
• Herbs grow in commonplace

Disadvantages of cough syrup

• Not suitable in emergency and for unconscious patients.
• Dose precision cannot be achieved unless suspension is packed in unit dosage forms.
• Same   microbial   contamination   take   place   it   preservation   not   added   in   accurate proportion.
• Fluctuation in  storage temperature may cause crystallization of sucrose from  saturated syrup.

Types of cough

Material And Method Of Preparation

Following herbal parts are used in the formulation of herbal cough syrup

1.   Fennel

2.   Clove

3.   Adulsa

4.   Turmeric

5.   Tulsi

       
           
       
    Figure 1 Herbal Ingredient

Fennel

       
           
       
Figure 2 Fennel

Synonyms: -

Large Fennel, Sweet Fennel, Fennel fruit, Saunf (Hindi); Fructus Foeniculi.

Biological source: -

Fennel is the dried, ripe fruits of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. (Family: Apiaceae).

Geographical source: -

Fennel is indigenous to Mediterranean region of Asia and Europe. It is widely cultivated in Russia, India, Japan, southern Europe, China and Egypt.

Chemical constituents: -

Fennel contains volatile oil (2-6.5%) and fixed oil (12%). The main constituent of the volatile oil are phenolic ether, anethole (50-60%) and the ketone, fenchone (18-20 %) which give the fruit its distinct odour and taste; the other constituents of volatile oil are anisic aldehyde, anisic acid, a- pinene, dipentene and phellandrene.

Uses: -

Fennel is used as stimulant, aromatic, stomachic, carminative, and expectorant. Anethole is used in mouth and dental preparations. Fennel is used in diseases of the chest, spleen and kidney. (1)

Clove

       
           
       
Figure 3 Clove Buds

Synonyms: -

Caryophyllus, Clove buds, Caryophyllum; Caryophylli; Laung (Hindi).

Biological source: -

Cloves are the dried flower buds of Eugenia caryophyllata Thumb (Syn. Syzygium aromaticum. (Family: Myrtaceae).

Geographical source: -

The clove tree is native of Molucca Island. It is cultivated in Zanzibar, Sumatra, South America, West Indies, Brazil, Pemba, Ambon, Madagascar, Mauritius, Tanzania, Sri Lanka and South India.

Chemical Constituents: -

Clove contains 14-21% of volatile oil. The other constituents present are the eugenol, acetyl eugenol, gallotannic acid, and two crystalline principles; a- and ß- caryophyllenes, methyl furfural, gum, resin, and fiber.  Caryophylline is odorless component and appears to be a phytosterol, whereas eugenol is a colorless liquid. Clove oil has 60-90% eugenol, which is the cause of its anesthetic and antiseptic properties.

Uses:

Used for upset stomach and as an expectorant close is used for diarrhea hernia and bad breath (1).

Tulsi: -

       
           
       
Figure 4 Tulsi Leaves

Synonyms: - Sacred basil, Holy basil

Biological Source: -

Tulsi consists of fresh and dried leaves of Ocimum sanctum Linn. (Syn. Ocimum tenuiflorum) umily Lamiaceae, and contains not less than 0.40 per cent eugenol on dried basis.

Geographical Source: -

It is herbaceous, multi branched annual plant found throughout India. It is considered as acred by Hindus.  The  plant  is  commonly  cultivated  in  garden  and  also  grown  near  temples.  It  is propagated by seeds, Currently Tulsi is cultivated commercially for its volatile oil.

Chemical constituents: -

It contains approximately 70 per cent eugenol, carvacrol (3%) and eugenol-methyl-ether (20%). It also contains caryophyllin. Seeds contain fixed oil with good drying properties.

Uses: -

The oil is antibacterial and insecticidal. The leaves are used as stimulant, aromatic, anticatarrhal, spasmolytic, and diaphoretic. The juice is used as an antiperiodic.Tulsi has expectorant and anti- inflammatory properties.(2)

Turmeric: -

       
           
       
Figure 5 Turmeric Rhizomes

Synonyms:-

Curcuma

Biological source:-

Turmeric is prepared rhizome of Curcuma longa Linn. (Zingiberaceae). It is perennial herb of ginger family, having thick rhizome; native to Southern Asia; extensively cultivated in India, China Indonesia and other tropical countries.

Chemical Constituents:-

Turmeric  contains  3-7%  orange-yellow  colored  volatile  oil  which  is  mainly  composed  of turmerone (60%), a, ß-atlantone and zingiberene (25%) with minor amounts of 1,8 cineole, a- phellandrene,  d  sabinene  and borneol.  Others than  above it  contains yellow  coloring matter including 0.3-5.4%.

Uses:-

It is used as an antioxidant in capsules tablets and flavouring tea. It is recommended as a food supplement to treat liver problems menstrual difficulties himarej test pain etc.(3)

Adulsa:-

       
           
       
Figure 6 Adulsa Leaves

Synonyms: -

Malabar nut, Adhatodavasica

Biological source: -

The biological  source  of vasaka  is  dried  and  fresh  leaves  of this plant.  It belongs to  family acanthaceae.

Chemical constituents:-

The chemical constituent of vasaka are alkalis tannins flavonoids Serpent sugar and glucoside. The  leaves  of Osaka  contain Vitamin  C  in  large  amount.  The  roots  of these plant  contain vasicinolone, basil and peganine.

Uses:-

Used as expectorant. It is used to treat leprosy blood disorder thirst and vomiting. It is used to treat infertility it also have anti-ulcer activity.

Formulation:-

Extraction Process: -

Decoction of fennel, Clove and Turmeric: -

• 5-7 gm of each herbal ingredients
• Herbs was mixed using 500ml of water
• Attach reflux condenser and material was boil under carefully by using water bath for 3 hrs.
• Boil until total volume become one forth part of previous
• Then liquid was cooled and filtered. (10)

       
           
       
Figure 7 Extraction of clove, fennel & turmeric

Preparation of leaf extract of adulsa:-

Fresh leaves of A. vasica were harvested and thoroughly washed in tap water. 50m of leaves were macerated to paste with the help of sterilized mortar and pestle with 50ml tap water and it was filtered  through  muslin  cloth.  The  filtrate  was  kept  frozen  at  4°C  and  used  in  subsequent experiments as stock solution.

       
           
       
Figure 8 Extraction of adulsa

Extraction of tulsi:-

Leaves of Ocimum sanctum L. tulsi were collected from different sites washed with sterile water and 50g of tulsi was placed in the thimble of soxhlet apparatus with 50ml of water and 50 ml of ethanol over 24hr.

       
           
       
Figure 9 Extraction of tulsi

       
           
       
Figure 10 Extract of Adulsa, clove, fennel, turmeric, tulsi & lemongrass

Method Of Preparation Of Cough Syrup:-

Formulation Table: -

1) Colour examination

1. 5ml of prepared syrup was taken on a watch glass.
2. Watch glass placed against white background in white tube light.
3. Colour was observed by naked eyes.(10)

2) Odour examination

1. 2 ml of prepared syrup was taken and smelled by individual
2. The time interval between 2 smelling was 2 min. to nullify effect of previous smelling. (10)

3) Taste examination

A pinch of final syrup was taken and examined on taste buds of the tongue.⁽¹⁰⁾

4) pH determination

1. 10 ml of prepared syrup taken in 100 ml of volumetric flask
2. Makeup volume to 100 ml with distilled water
3. Sonicate for 10 min
4. pH was measured by using digital pH meter.⁽¹⁰⁾

5) Viscosity determination

The viscosity of each formulation was determined by using Ostwald's U-tube viscometer

6) Determination of density

1. Density of the syrup is determine by using density bottle method by measuring the weight and volume. Density is calculated as a substances mass per the volume it occupies
2. The symbol "p" is used to denote density.¹⁰⁾

7) Determination of anti-microbial activity

Agar cup plate method was used for screening of antimicrobial activity of herbal cough syrup. The formulations were placed aseptically in cups of agar plate which was previously inoculated with culture. The plates were left at ambient temperature for 30 min. prior to incubation at 37?C for 24 hrs. The antibiotic i.e. Amikacin was used as positive control for obtaining comparative results. Plates were  observed  after 24-48 hrs.  incubation  for the  appearance  of the zone  of inhibition. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated by measuring the diameter of zones of inhibition (millimeters) of microbial growth.

       
           
       
Figure 11 Formulation A & B of herbal cough syrup

Results And Discussion: -