Standard manufacturing procedure of Tamra Bhasma

Tamra Bhasma (incinerated copper) is one of the main weapons in the archery of Ayurvedic practitioners. Though several methods of preparation of Tamra Bhasma (TB) are found in Rasashastra classics, several difficulties occur during the preparation of a good-quality Bhasma. In this study, TB was prepared and analyzed to develop the standard manufacturing procedure. Each unit operative procedure was considered as an independent processing and an attempt was made to validate each procedure. Wire used for the purpose of electrical earthing was taken for the preparation of Bhasma. Procedures of Shodhana, Marana, and Amritikarana were followed as per the classical references. Specific temperature pattern was adopted for Puta in the electrical muffle furnace. From 500 g of Tamra, 483.4 g of black colored TB was obtained after subjecting to three Putas. Final product was detected to be cupric sulfide in X-ray diffraction. In particle size distribution analysis 10% of the material was below the size of 2 μm, while in inductive coupled plasma - atomic absorption spectrometry 58.56 wt% copper and 22.48 wt% of sulfur were found present in the final product along with the elements such as arsenic, lead, zinc, mercury, and manganese in traces.