Assessment of Pathogenic Contamination and Antimicrobial Activity of Selected Herbal Medicinal Remedies in Mbarara City, South Western Uganda

Abstract

Background: Herbal formulations in Mbarara have been used in the treatment and management of several disease conditions extensively overtime due to low cost compared to empirical synthetic medicine, however evidenced that they can be contaminated with dangerous pathogenic organisms which are all tailored to handling practices, storage, and other environmental conditions thus, the need to further asses these herbs for safety to the consumers.Materials and methods: Forty-five (45) liquid herbal formulations for the treatment and management of communicable infections were purchased on the open market. All Samples were cultured on plate count agar for colony counts and then subcultured on different laboratory media and then analyzed for antimicrobial activity using the agar diffusion method.Results: Out of the 45 herbal formulations, 32(71.1 %) were contaminated while 13 (28.9 %) were not. Out of the organisms isolated from individual formulations, 19 (59.4 %) had Bacillus subtillis and S. aureus, 4(12.5%) had C. freundi and Proteus mirabilis, 2(6.3%), C.divergens, 1(3.1 %) Rhodotorula, 5(15.6%) Aspergillus spp, had E. cloace. 1 (3.1%) had Klebsiella spp. Of these, 29(87.9%) had contaminants within acceptable limits of less than 103CFU/mL, while 12(36.4%) beyond 103 CFU/m. Out of the 45 formulations, not even one could qualify for pharmaceutical use, all MICs all were >1000mcg/mL64.4%) were active while 16(35.6%) had no activity.Conclusion: Herbal formulations in Mbarara are contaminated with various microbes and have very limited antimicrobial activity, herbalists therefore should be trained on good harvesting, safe handling, storage, and good manufacturing practices of these medicinal raw materials and their products, responsible authorities should enact policies and regulations to guide the herbalists and protect the public from adverse effects of consuming these unverified herbal medicinal remedies.