Isolation And Characterisation of Microorganisms Contaminating Herbal Infusion Sold in Minna, Nigeria

Abstract

The microbiological assessment of ten herbal infusion samples from ten different locations in Minna, Niger State was investigated. The assessment of the microbial contamination on the herbal products was carried out, using standard methods. Pour plate method was used to cultivate serially diluted portion of the medicinal plant infusion sample. The result revealed that all the herbal preparation had the presence of microbial contamination. The total heterotrophic cunts of the different herbal samples ranged from 0 cfu/ml. The total viable bacteria counts showed that the highest counts of 3 x 106 cfu/ml to 3.5 x108 cfu/ml. The total viable bacterial count showed that the highest count of 25 x 108 cfu/ml was recorded in the sample from bosso and the least count of 0 cfu/ml from Kasuwan-Gwari while the total fungal counts showed that the highest count of 3.5x108 cfu/ml was found in the sample obtained from FUT campus and the least count of 3.0 x 106 cfu/ml in the sample from Mai-Kunkele. One way analysis of variance showed that there was significant diference in the microbial load of the herbal infusion from each location. The microbial isolates identified were E. coli, Staphy;ococcus aureus, Shigella sp, Klebsiella sp., Pseudomonas sp, Micrococcus sp., Salmonella sp., Aspergillus sp., Penicillum sp. And Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Members of the genus Aspergillus were found to be prdominat. This suggest that the herbal infusion harbours microoganisms that could be harzadous to human health and hence producers should maintain the highest possible level of hygiene during the processing and packaging of the products in order to ensure safety of the products