The materia medica of the Ayurveda, composed of the five basic elements, has been categorized according to the derivatives of these elements. They include: taste (rasa), potency (virya), taste of the digestion product (vipaka), properties (guna), specific properties (prabhava) and action (karman).

Taste (rasa) is six fold: sweet (madhura), sour (amla), salty (lavana), sharp (tikta), bitter (katu) and astringent (kasaya). Each taste is composed of two of the five elements. The condition of the food substances after digestion is also expressed in terms of taste (vipaka), however it can only be sweet, sour or sharp.

The properties (guna), are grouped in 10 pairs, each one complementary to the other: heavy and light, cold and hot, fat and dry, slow and sharp, stable and labile, soft and hard, clear and slimy, smooth and raw, fine and massive and viscous and liquid.

The potency (virya) Potency of a drug refer to the amount of drug needed to produce a certain response but According to ayurveda potency is refered to the inherent properties of a drug to produce a certain effect.In ayurveda it called virya and each herb can have oly one virya ushna or shitta . Virya of a herb one of the properties bthrough the herb influences the tridosha .

Prabhava :-
Two herb with similsr taste ,potency and after taste (vipaka i.e after digestion ) can be distinguish by a peculiar property called prabhava . This can mean different chemical structure or biotransformation (chemical alteration ) of the drug in the body .

Karma ( pharmacodynamics ) :–
What the drug does to the body which in Ayurveda is expressed by the action of herb on tridosha i.e A herb can increase or decrease any of the dosha depanding upon his innate properties .

The drugs used in Ayurveda are made by several processes from plants ,milk honey and mineral raw materials and in different preparation eg kasayam, asava –arista leham , bsham ,gritham etc . Mostly plant alkaloids are the active ingredients. Obviously barring some chemical changes it is mostly natural deviates.
We hope that you will continue to explore Ayurveda to enhance your health and to gain further insights into this miracle we call life.