Ayurvedic medicine, a widely used traditional medicinal system in India, seeks to alleviate disease with natural herbal remedies. Due to a burgeoning global market, Ayurvedic formulations are now being bottled with the addition of chemical preservatives instead of being freshly prepared when prescribed. Our study took samples of contaminated bottles of manjistada kashayam obtained directly from Ayurvedic manufacturing units which had been returned from the market due to spoilage. These were then screened and six contaminants were isolated; three fungal strains, Aspergillus flavus, Haplosporangium parvum, Paecilomyces lilacinus and three bacterial strains Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtillus . The shrub Cassia alata was selected as a possible bio preservative. Extractions were done with 75% dry weight of flowers and 25% seeds using ethanol, water and ultrasound. MBC and MFC values were obtained for these against the above isolated contaminants. High activity was seen against the fungal contaminants but action against two of the gram positive bacterial contaminants was low. Further studies involving the conjoint use of the extract with the natural probiotic Nisin, was attempted. The proposed biopreservative using hurdle technology was seen to be an effective way to combat contamination in Ayurvedic formulations.