Objective: Triphala is a Polyherbal formulation comprising fruits of three myrobalans: Terminalia chebula Retz. (haritaki), Embelica officinalis Gaertn. Phyllanthus embelica Linn. (amalaki), and Terminalia bellerica Roxb (bibhitaki), which are widely used in Ayurvedic Ophthalmology and is considered as foremost drug in diseases related to eye (akshyamayeshu triphala). Here an attempt is made to explore and critically review the chakshushya property of triphala by analysing the preventive and curative aspects of tripahala from classical ayurveda books and published preclinical and clinical studies on triphala. Review methods: The data were collected manually from Ayurveda Samhitas and Nighantus, and with the help of google search engine from online electronic databases like PubMed, google scholar and ARD, IPGT and RA, Jamnagar, GAU . The search mainly focussed on pharmacological actions of triphala, recent pre-clinical and clinical studies on triphala. Results: Review of Ayurveda pharmacodynamics, therapeutic actions of triphala and use of triphala and its component drugs in preventive and curative ophthalmology were done from various Samhitas and Nighantus. 46 articles were collected from online electronic databases of which 15 are clinical works, 10 are preclinical works and 21 are studies on various pharmacological actions of triphala. Among the clinical studies two are case reports and one is case series. Conclusion: The wide range of application of triphala, as polyherbal formulation and its component drugs are mentioned in Ayurveda and are found effective in various diseases of netra. Clinical and pre-clinical studies were conducted, which provide scientific evidence to support classical references. This review is expected to enrich the documentary evidences on triphala for further research works.
Key words: Triphala; Netrachikitsa; Chakshushya, ophthalmology
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