Abstract

MICROBIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF NATURAL THERAPEUTIC HERBAL DRUGS

Bhavya Trivedi* and Padma Singh

Abstract

Worldwide demand for therapeutic herbal and nutraceutical preparations has increased greatly in past few years, so there is a need to put strict regulations over the microbial quality of such preparations since they are consumed internally and safety is of prime concern. This investigation was designed to focus on the microbial status of herbal drugs. Herbal drugs of different pharmacies were collected from market. The samples were examined for their microbial profile. All samples were serially diluted and plated on PDA and NAM and counted cfu/ml. The most prominent fungal genera encountered were Aspergillus, Mucor, Cladosporium, Penicillium , etc and in case of bacteria E.coli and Bacillus cereus were prominent which was identified by 16SrRNA sequencing. These fungi are reported to have ability to produce mycotoxin like aflatoxins etc. It assessed the incidence of microflora in herbal drugs samples in market which used for direct human and pharmaceutical purpose and can be able to cause serious consequences.

Keywords: Therapeutic, Nutraceutical, Herbal drugs, Incidence, Pharmaceutical, Fungal contaminants.