Shilajit: Mineral Teach Or Mineral Wax)

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Shilajit (Mineral pitch or mineral wax) Occurence: Shilajit is found in the Tibet, Altai and Caucasus Mountains, as well as the Gilgit Baltistan region of northern Pakistan, but it is found most commonly in the Himalaya Mountains. Discovery of Gomutra Shilajit has been reported from South India (Hemadri, 1987). Mineral origin: Shilajit is obtained as exudate from rocks (Rajagopalan, 1984; Ghosal, 1992). The exudate contains 50 % pure Shilajit and rests are impurities. Some times Shilajit is obtained in pure form (Rajnath & Prasad, 1942). Shilajit has been described as bitumen varying greatly in consistency from a free flowing liquid to hard brittle solid; a mineral resin, a plant fossil exposed by the elevation of the Himalayas, a substance of mixed plant and animal origin and an inorganic material (Tewari, Tewari & Joshi, 1973). Vegetable sources of Shilajit Euphorbia royleana Boiss. (Euphorbiaceae): Shilajit has been regarded as the latex of a …show more content…

The constituents of shilajit are of two types: 1. Humic: They constitute 80-85% mass of shilajit. These are produced by interaction of shilajit with lower plants (algae, mosses, and liverworts), micro-organisms and even higher plants. 2. Non-humic: They constitute 8-10 % mass of shilajit. Non-humic substace s includes low molecular weight chemical compounds (acuparins), oxygenated dibenzo-α-pyrones and triterpene acids of the tirucullane type. Recently 4á, 5á,6á-trihydroxygeranyl acetat; 6-(9,9-dimethylbutyl) phenol; 1-cyclohexyl-3, 4-dihydroxybenzene; 2, 3, 12, 13-tetrahydroxy-10, 15[a, f] – phenyl xanth-17-one; 2, 3, 13, 14- tetrahydroxy-15, 16-[a, f] – phynyl-7H-anthracen-18-one and 3- hydroxynaphthalenyl-6, 7-ã-lactone have been isolated (Indu, Ali & Onkar, 2006). Mishra in his book on Rasa Shastra has given excellent comparison of chemical composition of impure and pure Shilajit. SNo: Contents Impure

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