Contamination of herbal medicinal products marketed in Kaduna Metropolis with selected pathogenic bacteria.

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate the bacterial contamination of powdered herbal medicinal preparations sourced from identified herbal retail outlets in different parts of Kaduna metropolis. The assessments of the contamination of the herbal products were carried out using standard procedures: total aerobic bacterial plate count, measurement of some physical parameters, isolation and characterization of selected bacterial pathogens etc. The results showed that out of a total of 150, 70 (46.67%) herbal remedies were contaminated with Salmonella typhi, twenty nine (19.33%) with Shigella spp. Eighty eight (58.67%) and 98 (65.33%) were contaminated with Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. The total aerobic plate count results showed that the highest average count of > 5×10 7 cfu/g was found in 89 (59.33%) of the preparations, while average plate count of ≤5×10 7 cfu/g was found in 42 (28%) and no bacterial count was obtained in 19 (12.67%) of the preparations. Correlation was positive (P = 0.01; r = +0.109) between the physical parameters tested and the bacterial load. Antibacterial activities result of some common antibiotics showed that all the antibiotics had activities on the test bacterial isolates at various minimum inhibitory concentrations. Most traditionally prepared herbal medications in Kaduna state are likely to be contaminated with a wide variety of potentially pathogenic bacteria. The quality assurance of these products should be thoroughly enforced and monitored in the production and distribution of herbal preparations.

Bacteria Contaminants and their Antibiotic Sensitivity from Selected Herbal Medicinal Products from Eldoret and Mombasa, Kenya

“…The limits of bacterial contamination according to the WHO and the European Pharmacopoeia for total aerobic bacteria is 10 7 CFU/g or ml for herbal products to which boiling water is added before use and 10 5 CFU/g or ml for those which boiling water is not added before use (WHO, 2007;EP, 2007). Most of the herbal products (84%) in this study did not meet these specifications and similar findings have been reported (Abba et al, 2008;Okunlola et al, 2007).…”

“…The THPs sampled in this study claimed that they could treat a wide range of illnesses such as malaria, typhoid, amoebiasis, high blood pressure, blood toxins, colon toxins, pneumonia, kidney disease, allergies, heart infections, sexually transmitted diseases, epilepsy, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, sterility, impotence, wound infections, skin infection, urinary tract infections and HIV among others. Abba et al (2008) in their study on herbal products in Kaduma reported that the THPs claim to treat similar diseases and conditions as observed in this study. Although some of the hawkers/street vendors were generous in sharing the knowledge on the plants they use to prepare their products, most of the THPs were not willing to reveal the plants used to prepare their products.…”

“…The samples were transferred into the culture media and incubated as outlined above. Bacteria isolates were presumptively identified using Gram stain reagents and biochemical tests (WHO, 2007;Abba et al, 2008). …”

Microbiological analysis and detection of anti-bacterial activity of Centella asiatica and Aloe vera samples collected from different areas of Dhaka city, Bangladesh

“…Researchers investigated the microbial load of medicinal plants & spices and found the presence of different contamination including pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella spp., Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, fungi, molds, mesophilic aerobic bacteria (total count) and Enterobacteriaceae (36,38,39). In this study, all herbal samples (C. asiatica & Aloe vera) were found to exhibit huge load of total viable bacteria within the range of 10 3 to 10 8 cfu/g as shown in Table 1 (Table 1).…”

Control of natural microorganisms in chamomile (Chamomilla recutita L.) by gamma ray and electron beam irradiation

“…In order to improve the purity and safety of the herb products, monitoring of basic hygiene during preparation and standardization of some physical characteristics such as moisture are desirable (Abba et al, 2009). Drying is the most common and fundamental method for post-harvest preservation of medicinal plants, because it allows for the quick conservation of the medicinal qualities of the plant material in an uncomplicated manner (Rocha et al, 2011).…”