Chyavanprash is an
ancient formulation and product.[5] Various ancient Indian texts like
Mahabharata,
Puranas etc., relate that
Ashvin twins, who were Raja
Vaidya (Royal Physicians) to
Devas during
Vedic times, first prepared this formulation for
ChyavanaRishi at his
Ashram on
Dhosi Hill near
Narnaul,
Haryana,
India, hence the name Chyavanprash.[6] The first historically documented formula for chyavanprash appears in the Charaka Samhita, the ancient Ayurvedic treatise[7] from the early first millennium BCE.
Taste and appearance
Chyavanaprash tastes sweet and sour at the same time. The taste is dominated by the flavors of honey,
ghee (clarified butter) and amla, and the smell by ghee and other spices including sandalwood, cinnamon and cardamom.
Consumption
Chyavanaprash is usually consumed directly. It can also be consumed along with warm water.
Composition
The recipe of chyavanprash is mentioned in manuscripts written for ayurvedic method of treatment viz.
Ashtangahridayam, Charakasamhita, Sangandharasamhita. The number of herbs used may vary from 25 to 80 but the main ingredient of all chyavanprash is
amla.[8] Other chief ingredients are:
^Panda, H; Handbook On Ayurvedic Medicines With Formulae, Processes And Their Uses, 2004, p10
ISBN978-81-86623-63-3
^Bates, D, Knowledge and the Scholarly Medical Traditions Cambridge University Press 1995, p325
ISBN978-0-521-49975-0
^Johnston R (2004). The politics of healing : histories of alternative medicine in twentieth-century North America. New York: Routledge. p. 226.
ISBN0-415-93338-2.