Abstract

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Use of herbal medicines for health management in developing countries like Nigeria no doubt remains an integral part of their life style and because of its wide acceptance; Quality of herbal medicines being produced in these communities requires an urgent attention. Twenty herbal preparations manufactured and marketed in Northeastern Nigeria were randomly collected in Gombe metropolis and analyzed for microbiological quality assessment according to United States Pharmacopeia (USP). Samples were tested for microbial contamination by dilution technique in Tryptic Soy agar and broth (for bacterial count) and Sabouraud dextrose agar and broth (for fungal count) and incubated at 35oC. Post incubation all the microbial contaminants were characterized at least to genera level. The results show that most of the herbal medicines were heavily contaminated with bacteria and fungi at levels far above permissible limit stipulated for oral pharmaceutical preparations and those within acceptable limit have contaminants that are of health concern. A total of 26 bacteria species including Bacillus subtilis (23%), Shigella spp (4%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (11%), Staphylococcus aureus (35%), Proteus (4%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (8%), Enterococcus feacalis (11%) and Escherichia coli (4%) and 28 fungal including Alterneria spp (3%), Aspergillus niger (43%), Aspergillus flavus (18%), Aspergillus fumigatus (14), Cladosporium cladosporius (4%), Mucor (11%) spp and Rhizopus arrhizus (7%) species were isolated from the preparations. These products are in liquid (L), powder (P), soap (S) and ointment (O) and powdered products (sample P1 P7) were found to be contaminated with the highest number of bacteria and fungi. In conclusion, 85% of the herbal products studied were found to contain microorganisms that are of health concern; most of the organisms are indicators of poor hygiene and environmental contamination and have compromised the safety of the products. It is recommended that Manufacturers adhere to principle of Good Manufacturing Practice to guarantee safety of herbal medicines marketed in Gombe metropolis.

Keywords: Sterility, Herbal Medicine, Contamination, Bacteria, Fungi