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Alcoholic drinks from Indian subcontinent

Asava and Arishta (Ayurvedic self-fermented medicinal wines)आसव (āsava)

Asava and arishta are Ayurvedic medicines that ferment in their own sugars. For an arishta, herbs are boiled into a decoction; for an asava, herbal juice or powder goes in without boiling. Then jaggery, sugar or honey and dhataki (Woodfordia fruticosa) flowers are added and the closed vessel is left for one week to six months, until yeasts have made about 3–10 % self-generated alcohol.

Fully documentedAlcoholic drinks7 days – 5.9 months

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceA lab batch of Draksharishta (raisin arishta) made by the Ayurvedic Formulary of India method (Pillai and Pandita 2016). Each classical formula has its own herbs and proportions.
Raisins (Vitis vinifera), crushed48.9 gSteeped overnight in 1 L water, then boiled down to one fourth (0.25 L)[pillai2016]
Jaggery200 g[pillai2016]
Dhataki flowers (Woodfordia fruticosa)8 g[pillai2016]
Coarsely powdered spices (prakshepa dravya)1 gCinnamomum zeylanicum bark, Elettaria cardamomum seed, Cinnamomum tamala leaf, Mesua ferrea stamens, Callicarpa macrophylla flowers, Piper nigrum, Piper longum and Embelia ribes fruits[pillai2016]
Starterother: dhataki (Woodfordia fruticosa) flowers; Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been isolated from them

Total time across the recorded steps: 7 days – 5.9 months

Start
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What changes: Herbs are boiled down to a decoction and strained (asava herbs are not boiled)

Step 1 of 4
Prepare the base (decoction for arishta, juice or infusion for asava)
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts

For Draksharishta, raisins steep overnight in water and are boiled until the water is reduced to one fourth, then filtered through muslin [pillai2016]. Output: cooled herbal liquid.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Asava and arishta are Ayurvedic medicines that ferment in their own sugars. For an arishta, herbs are boiled into a decoction; for an asava, herbal juice or powder goes in without boiling. Then jaggery, sugar or honey and dhataki (Woodfordia fruticosa) flowers are added and the closed vessel is left for one week to six months, until yeasts have made about 3–10 % self-generated alcohol. Made in 4 steps over 7 days – 5.9 months. The longest step, ferment in a closed vessel, takes 7 days – 5.9 months (Chaudhary A 2011) and runs at 20–35 °C (Vinothkanna A 2018). Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolated from dhataki flowers do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7 days – 5.9 monthsReported[chaudhary2011]Ferment in a closed vessel
Temperature20–35 °CReported[vinothkanna2018][chaudhary2011]Ferment in a closed vessel

What makes this one different

An asava or arishta makes its own alcohol by fermenting the herbal liquid with sugar and dhataki flowers, instead of having alcohol added [chaudhary2011]. Arishtas start from a boiled decoction and asavas from unboiled juice or infusion [vinothkanna2018].

Related ferments

Variants

  • Draksharishta (raisin arishta)Raisin decoction with jaggery, dhataki and eight spices; 5–10 % self-generated alcohol [pillai2016].
  • Balarishta and ChandanasavaBalarishta is a decoction of herbs, with 11 kg each of Bala and Ashwagandha roots, 75 kg jaggery, 700 g dhataki and 360 L water. Chandanasava uses herbs at 120 g each with 2400 g raisins, 6 kg jaggery, 9 kg sugar, 1800 g dhataki and 70 L water; its finely powdered herbs go into boiled and cooled jaggery and sugar water [vinothkanna2018].
  • Classical fermented forms (sura, shukta, dhanyamla, kanji)Sushruta lists 21 asava-arishtas and 46 alcoholic preparations such as sura, prasanna, shukta and dhanyamla; the Bhaishajya Ratnavali gives 50 fermented preparations including kanji [chaudhary2011]. Several have their own entries.

Safety

Indian Drugs and Cosmetics rules set a maximum for self-generated alcohol. In one survey, five brands of Dashmoolarishtam stayed under 12 % v/v alcohol, but their microbial load was above acceptable limits, although E. coli, Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus were absent [chaudhary2011]. Some formulas contain metals or minerals, such as iron in Lohasava [chaudhary2011].

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Charaka names nine source groups for fermented medicines (fruits, cereals, roots, flowers, bark, exudate, branches, leaves and sugar) and gives the container, place, duration and tests for the end point. The Ashtanga Hridaya is the first text to name dhataki flowers as the fermentation starter. The Ayurvedic Formulary of India describes 40 asava-arishtas [chaudhary2011].

  1. [chaudhary2011] Chaudhary A., Singh N., Dalvi M., Wele A. 2011, A progressive review of Sandhana kalpana (biomedical fermentation) - an advanced innovative dosage form of Ayurveda, Ayu 32(3):408–417, doi:10.4103/0974-8520.93925paper
  2. [vinothkanna2018] Vinothkanna A., Sekar S. 2018, Influence of intrinsic microbes on phytochemical changes and antioxidant activity of the Ayurvedic fermented medicines Balarishta and Chandanasava, Ayu 39(3):169–181, doi:10.4103/ayu.ayu_237_17paper
  3. [pillai2016] Pillai D., Pandita N. 2016, Determination of quality standards for Draksharishta, a polyherbal Ayurvedic formulation, Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 78(1):129–135, doi:10.4103/0250-474x.180262paper