PRIYANKA PAL*, GITANJALI TALALE**, P. DONGRE*, R. SHAH*^#

  *Department of Biophysics, University of Mumbai, Mumbai 400 098, India

**Life Force Foundation Trust, Mumbai 400 089, India

Over a five to six decades, biophysical techniques have played a very important role in the quantitative analysis of chemical, physical, and biological entities. This paper mainly focusses on quantitative analysis of structural aspects at atomic and molecular levels. In homeopathy, certain preparation of therapeutic components involves a serial dilution in the water-ethanol mixture used as potentization. The pharmacological  action of medium-low potencies that contain low dose of active components entails high sensitivity in living system. There is enough evidence of their efficacy in several clinical studies, but their nature and mode of action are yet to be explained by scientific approaches. Several methods have been employed to understand the nature of the potentized homeopathic preparations, but the characteristics of these preparations are yet unclear. In the present investigation, we studied the characteristics of potentized preparations of sulphur using various biophysical techniques: UV-visible, fluorescent, and  Raman spectroscopy. A bathochromic effect was observed in absorption spectrum of UV-visible spectroscopy of the samples of potencies from 4c to 8c (‘c’ denotes centesimal scale – dilution ratio 1:100), appearance of fluorescence properties and also a decrease in fluorescence intensity. Raman spectroscopy indicated a significant change in electronic configuration as well as the intermolecular interaction in liquid phase in potentized preparations. Therefore, on the basis of the obtained results, we assumed that some structural changes in potentized samples could take place.  

Key words: Potentization, dilution, sulphur, Raman spectroscopy, UV spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, homeopathic medicines.

Corresponding author’s e-mail: sanjivak@gmail.com