Microbiological status of commercially available medicinal herbal drugs - A screening study

One hundred and thirty-eight medicinal herbal drugs obtained from different suppliers were examined for microbial contaminants and for the detectabili ty of pathogenic microorganisms. For this purpose, several microbiological standard parameters (total aerobic mesophilic count, enterobacteria. colifo rms, aerobic sporeformers, yeasts and moulds, enterococci, lactobacilli, ps eudomonades and aeromades) and selective methods for the detection of indic ator microorganisms and pathogens (E. coli, enterohaemorrhagic E.coli [EHEC ], Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus cereu s, Clostridium perfringens, Listeria, coagulase-positive staphylococci, Can dida albicans, potentially aflatoxigenic moulds) were applied. The microbia l load of the samples varied considerably. While none of the samples contai ned EHEC, Salmonellae, Pseudomonos aeruginosa, Listeriae, Staphylococcus au reus or Candida albicans, four samples were E.coli positive, two samples we re presumptively Campylobacter jejuni positive and nine herbal drugs contai ned a potentially aflatoxigenic mould flora. Further details regarding diff erent viable count classes as well as preparation techniques are discussed.