Evaluation of Clostridium spp contamination of herbal medicial products in Tabriz city by world health organization (WHO) method

Abstract

Background: Medicinal herbs¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ are of great value and importance in providing health to communities in terms of both treatment and prevention of diseases. Microbial contamination of herbal products has limited their use in the food , pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries.According to the WHO's guidline, Clostridium strains due to their high and dangerous pathogenicity should not be seen.

Porpuse: present at any time in the herbal medicinal products.In this study,we also investigated the contamination rate of Medicinal plants collected from different herbal stores of Tabriz city.

Materials & methods:The target populations studied in this project were100 sampels of Thymes and Descurainia Sophia collected from different herbal stores from Tabriz.After collecting specimens, we made dillutions of 1 to 10 was prepated in sterile distilled water and placed at Oven of 65 ° C for 30 minutes,so that the probable bacteria in the specimens after the heat shock were destroyed.The prepared samples were then transferred to the Cooked Meat Medium and incubated in an anaerobic Jar for 48 hours.Next, the specimens were cultured in SPS agar media and again transferred to anaerobic Oven for anaerobic conditions and incubated for 72 hours.To confirm the presence of Clostridium,we drew suspicious samples for microscopic examination.

Results: The results of this study showed that from the total of 50 samples of Khakshir,14samples,28% were contaminated with Clostridium.Of the50samples of Avishan powder,16 samples,about 32% were contaminated with Clostridium. Finally, a total of 30 plant products from a total of 100 products ,about 30%, were contaminated with Chlostridium. Conclusion: Worldwide herbal products are developed as home remedies ; these products are used as non-prescription drugs and as raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry,and they represent a significant part of the global market. Therefore, it is essential that internationally recognized guidelines used and evaluated to assess their quality and contamination within the country.