Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26600663›Full record

ReviewAncient science of life

Critical review of Ayurvedic Varṇya herbs and their tyrosinase inhibition effect.

Khemchand Sharma, Namrata Joshi, Chinky Goyal

Open access · diamondAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Ancient science of life. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 35% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Frontiers in medicine · 2026
    Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Khemchand SharmaDepartment of Rasa Shastra and Bhaishjya Kalpana, Rishikul Govt. P. G. Ayurvedic College and Hospital, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India.
Namrata JoshiDepartment of Rasa Shastra and Bhaishjya Kalpana, Rishikul Govt. P. G. Ayurvedic College and Hospital, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India.
Chinky GoyalDepartment of Rasa Shastra and Bhaishjya Kalpana, Rishikul Govt. P. G. Ayurvedic College and Hospital, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe aspiration for light skin (fair complexion) is becoming pronounced in a greater number of people in the present times with natural products being more in demand than their synthetic counterparts. Research in the area of skin-lightening agents is an expanding field with the knowledge being updated regularly. In Ayurveda, varṇya, raktaprasādana, tvacya are few terms specifying skin lightening with respect to its modern counterpart i.e., Tyrosinase inhibition, the most commonly reported method of skin lightening.

aimThe present review is undertaken for screening twenty herbs from Varṇya Mahākaṣāya, Lodhrādi varṇya gaṇa, Elādi varṇa prasādana gaṇa and few varṇya formulations to evaluate their probable modes of action through which the skin lightening is effected as per both Ayurveda and biomedical concepts. MATERIALS AND

methodsCritical review of herbs to show varṇya property is compiled from various Ayurvedic texts as well as from multiple articles on the internet to justify their skin lightening property on the basis of data collected. RESULT AND

conclusionAll the twenty herbs reviewed are found to act as varṇya directly (citation as varṇya) or indirectly (alleviation of pitta and rakta) as per Ayurveda and to interfere in melanogenesis pathway through tyrosinase inhibition as per biomedicine. This shows their potential to act as good skin whitening agents. Śuṇṭhi being a part of many varṇya formulations, is the only herb among all reviewed in the present study found to exhibit tyrosinase inhibition without any Ayurvedic citation of varṇya property.

Indexed as

skin lighteningSkin whiteningtyrosinase inhibitionVarṇya

Identifiers

PMID26600663
PMCPMC4623628
OpenAlexW2211533547

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.