Studies on Microbiological Assessment of Some Commercial Herbal Drugs and Spices

Abstract

ABSTRACT
The issue of quality, safety and efficacy of herbal formulations remains always of great concern while considering the genuineness and presence or absence of pathogens in medicinal plants. In the present study, five commercial herbal commodities used as drug and spice, viz. samples Capsicum frutescens L. Cuminum cyminum L., Piper longum L., Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels and Terminalia chebula Retz., (Figure 1) were subjected to microbiological analysis. The findings from this study emphasized the need for constant quality assessment of herbal drugs or spices on sale in order to ensure the production of therapeutic products suitable for human consumption
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Keywords: Herbal drugs, medicinal plant, microorganisms, spice