Characterization and potential novel applications of zinc-based traditional medicine, Yashad Bhasma

Yashad Bhasma (YB), the incinerated metal ash of zinc, has been used for centuries in Ayurveda to address a variety of conditions, including eye diseases, diabetes mellitus, anemia, respiratory illnesses, etc. OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to synthesize and characterize YB and to evaluate its potential antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-angiogenic activities.

In this study, YB is synthesized by optimizing the traditional method. Morphological and physicochemical characterization are performed using XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, EDAX, DLS, TGA-DSC, and FTIR. The antimicrobial activity of YB is assessed using the well diffusion technique against the gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and the gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli). The antioxidant potential is evaluated using the 1,1-Diphenyl-2-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and Nitric oxide (NO) radical scavenging assay. A chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay is performed on fertilized chick eggs to study the anti-angiogenesis potential of YB.

The XRD patterns of YB showed the presence of cubic and hexagonal phases of ZnS having average crystallite size of 32.66 nm. XPS data supports the formation of ZnS phase of YB. SEM and TEM data confirmed the size of YB NPs in a range of 250-350 nm. The EDAX analysis confirmed the presence of Zn (37.2 %) and S (21.18 %). The mean particle diameter was 361 nm in DLS. TGA-DSC findings verified that the synthesized material is stable up to 435.80 °C. The FTIR confirms the presence of organic moieties in YB along with ZnS phase. YB effectively inhibited the growth of S. aureus and E. coli. The ability of YB to scavenge DPPH and NO radicals is found to be concentration dependent (50-250 μg/mL). The study also demonstrated that YB has notable antioxidant activity. The disappearance of blood vessels beneath the sample-loaded disk after 7 days indicated the effective anti-angiogenic properties of YB.

Altogether, YB exhibited significant antimicrobial, noteworthy antioxidant, and anti-angiogenic activities, indicating its potential as a promising therapeutic agent.