Comparative Physicochemical Evaluation of Biofield Treated Phosphate Buffer Saline and Hanks Balanced Salt Medium

Phosphate buffer saline (PBS) has numerous biological and pharmaceutical applications. Hank buffer salt (HBS) has been used as a medium for tissue culture applications. This research study was aimed to investigate the influence of Mr. Trivedi’s biofield energy treatment on physicochemical properties of the PBS and HBS. The study was executed in two group’s i.e. control and treated. The control group was kept aside as control and treated group had received the biofield energy treatment. The control and treated samples were further characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The XRD analysis indicated the increase in crystallite size by 5.20% in treated PBS as compared to the control. Similarly, the treated HBS also showed increase in crystallite size by 3.20% with respect to the control. Additionally, the treated PBS showed an increase in Bragg’s angle (2θ) as compared to the control sample. However, a decrease in Bragg’s angle of XRD peaks of the treated sample was noticed in the treated HBS. The DSC analysis of the control PBS showed melting temperature at 224.84°C; however melting temperature was not observed in the treated sample. However, DSC analysis of the treated HBS showed an increase in melting temperature (152.83°C) in comparison with the control (150.60°C). Additionally, the latent heat of fusion of the treated HBS was increased substantially by 108.83% as compared to the control. The TGA thermogram of the treated PBS showed an increase in onset of thermal degradation (212°C) as compared to the control (199°C). Whereas, the treated HBS showed less weight loss comparing with the control sample. This indicated the increase in thermal stability of the both the treated PBS and HBS samples. The FT-IR spectroscopic analysis of treated PBS showed alterations in the frequency of the functional groups such as O-H, C-H, P=O, O=P-OH, and P-OH as compared to the control. Additionally, the FT-IR spectrum of the treated HBS showed increase in frequency of calcium chloride phase (1444→1448 cm-1) as compared to the control sample. Altogether, it was observed that biofield energy treatment had caused physical, thermal and spectral changes in the treated samples as compared to the control. It is assumed that biofield energy treated PBS and HBS could be a good prospect for biological and tissue culture applications.

In summary, the XRD results indicated increase in crystallite size by 5.20 and 3.20% in treated samples (PBS and HBS) as compared to the control. It is hypothesized that biofield treatment may provide thermal energy that caused increase in crystallite size with respect to the control samples (PBS and HBS). The DSC analysis showed disappearance of melting temperature in the treated PBS as compared to the control. This was perhaps due to rigid crystalline nature of the treated sample. However, the treated HBS (152.83°C) showed slight increase in the melting temperature with respect to the control (150.60°C). Additionally, the latent heat of fusion was increased substantially by 108.83% in the treated HBS sample, when compared with the control. The TGA analysis showed increase in thermal stability of the treated samples (PBS and HBS) as compared to the control. The FT-IR spectroscopic evaluation showed the alteration in frequency of functional groups such as O-H, C-H, P=O, O=P-OH, and P-OH in the treated PBS. The FT-IR spectrum of the treated HBS showed some alteration in frequency of the calcium chloride phase (1444→1448 cm-1) of the treated sample as compared to the control. Overall, the results showed that biofield treatment has changed the physical, thermal and spectral properties of the treated samples (PBS and HBS) with respect to the control. It is assumed that good thermal stability of the treated samples might make them a good candidate for biological and tissue culture applications.