Assessment Of The Microbial Load And Some Physico-Chemical Parameters Of Some Finished Herbal Liquid Products

Despite the benefits derived from herbal products, they may be contaminated with various impurities. It is therefore important to assess the microbial quality and heavy metal content of herbal preparations, especially liquid preparations and determine their safety profile. Herbal liquid preparations made locally by herbalists and sold to patients in herbal homes were used for this study. One bottle of each of seventeen (17) different liquid herbal preparations was purchased. From each bottle, three aliquot samples were assessed for microbial presence and total viable count. Isolation and identification of the contaminants were also carried out, while other determinations like pH, phytoconstituents, heavy metal and elemental contents were performed using standard methods of analyses. Results showed that, 4 (23.53%) had no microbial contaminants, while 13 (76.47%) were contaminated with various microbes. Of these contaminated preparations, 10 (58.82%) had single contaminants each, of which 1 (10%) had Staphylococcus aureus ; 2 (20%) had Escherichia coli ; 2 (20%) had Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 5 (50%) had C andida albicans . The remaining 3 (17.65%) had 2 contaminants each, of which 1 (33.33%) had E. coli and P. aeruginosa ; 1 (33.33%) had E. coli and Staph. aureus ; and 1 (33.33%) had Klebsiella pneumonia and Candida albicans . Total viable count and pH values of the different preparations ranged from 1.75 x 10 5 – 7.50 x 10 8 organisms/ml and 3.63 – 8.89, respectively. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of useful phytoconstituents while elemental analysis revealed the presence of valuable elements whose values all fall within stipulated limits. Thus, the presence of microbes (above limits specified) in a greater percentage of the preparations despite the presence of useful phytoconstituents and elements, could adversely affect the health status of consumers of such herbal liquid preparations.  Keywords : Assessment, Microbial load, Physico-Chemical parameters, Herbal products.