Microbial contamination in herbal medicines available in Bangladesh

Authors

  • R Noor Department of Microbiology, Stamford University Bangladesh, Dhaka
  • N Huda Department of Microbiology, Stamford University Bangladesh, Dhaka
  • F Rahman Department of Microbiology, Stamford University Bangladesh, Dhaka
  • T Bashar Department of Pharmacology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka
  • SK Munshi Department of Pharmacology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3329/bmrcb.v39i3.20313

Abstract

Plants have long been used as herbal medicines in many countries. However, microbial contamination of these medicines may affect human health. Present study was performed to assess the pathogenic proliferation in the locally available commercial herbal oral medicines. The pathogenic load was compared with the microbiological standard given by the British Pharmacopoeia. Out of 85 oral liquid samples, 2 were found to be highly contaminated with a total aerobic bacterial load of 1.24×105 cfu/ml, 10 samples were contaminated with fungi (1.2×104-6.3×104 cfu/ml). Tests for specific pathogens were carried out. One sample showed contamination by coliforms but none of the samples were contaminated by Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp. Among 40 semisolid samples, one showed to be contaminated with bacteria (1.93×105 cfu/g) and 5 samples consisted of fungal load ranging between 1.5×104-2.2×104 cfu/g. The presence of bacteria and fungi in these samples thus suggest the fact that aseptic handling is necessary during processing of oral herbal medicines.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bmrcb.v39i3.20313

Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull 2013; 39: 124-129

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Published

2014-09-04

How to Cite

Noor, R., Huda, N., Rahman, F., Bashar, T., & Munshi, S. (2014). Microbial contamination in herbal medicines available in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Medical Research Council Bulletin, 39(3), 124–129. https://doi.org/10.3329/bmrcb.v39i3.20313

Issue

Vol. 39 No. 3 (2013)

Section

Research Papers

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