Microbial and heavy metal contamination in commonly consumed traditional Chinese herbal medicines

OBJECTIVE： The increasing popularity and widespread use of traditional Chinese herbs as alterna- tive medicine have sparked an interest in understanding their biosafety, especially in decoctions that are consumed. This study aimed to assess the level of microbial and heavy metal contamination in commonly consumed herbal medicine in Malay- sia and the effects of boiling on these contamination levels. METHODS： Four commonly consumed Chinese herbal medicine in Malaysia-＂Eight Treasure Herbal Tea＂, ＂Herbal Tea＂, Xiyangshen （Radix Panacis Quin- quefolii） and Dangshen （Radix Codonopsis） were evaluated in this study. Herbal medicines were pre- pared as boiled and non-boiled decoctions, and their microbial enumeration and heavy metal detection were conducted with plate assay and atom- ic absorption spectroscopy, respectively. RESULTS： Findings revealed that herbal medicines generally had 6 Iogl0cfu/mL microbial cells and that boiling had significantly reduced microbial contaminants, where no Bacillus spp., Staphylococcus spp. and Clostridium spp. were recovered. Heavy metals such as Mn, Cu, Cd, Pb, Fe and Zn were also detect- ed from all the samples, generally in low concentra- tions （〈1 mg/L） except for Mn （18.545 mg/L）. All de- coctions （after boiling） have reduced concentra- tions of Cu, while others were not significantly dif- ferent. Comparisons between samples with single and multi-herbs suggest level of microbial and metal contamination is not influenced by number of herbs in sample. CONCLUSION： Herbal medicines generally have microbial and heavy metal contaminants. However, the boiling process to generate decoctions was able to successfully reduce the number of microbes and Cu, ensuring safety of herbal medicines for consumption.

Studies on metals and pesticide content in some Ayurvedic formulations containing Bacopa monnieri L.

OBJECTIVE： Ayurvedic formulations are preferred over other formulations as well as commercialized on broad level to treat various ailments. The World Health Organization has established certain guidelines for quality control of heavy metals and pesticide residues. Bacopa monnieri, a popular herb with immunomodulator and memory-enhancing properties is the chief constituent of several Ayurvedic formulations, which include Brahmi Vati （BV）, Brahmi Ghrita （BG） and Saraswat Churna （SC）, etc. In view of the World Health Organization guidelines, two products of each formulation from six different manufacturers were purchased from Ayurvedic Pharmacy, Bulanala-Varanasi, India for testing heavy metal and pesticide residue. METHODS： In the present study, all the formulations--BY, BG and SC--were selected for estimation of four heavy metals namely lead （Pb）, cadmium （Cd）, chromium （Cr） and nickel （Ni） by a plasma emission spectrophotometer. Organochlorine pesticidal residues were estimated for dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane, isomers of hexachlorocyclohexane （HCH） and a-endosulfan, etc. in total 12 samples of test formulations containing Bacopa monnieri L. using gas chromatography technique. RESULTS： Out of 12 samples, Pb, Cd, Cr and Ni were present in all samples but below the permissible limit. Although atrazine, aldrin, dialdrin were in below detection limit, but other pesticides were detected in some samples as oxamyl, hexachlorocyclohexanes （α-HCH, β-HCH and y-HCH）, dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene. CONCLUSION： The presence of heavy metals in evaluation of heavy metals and pesticide residue the formulations was low to cause toxicity. However n every batch is necessary.

Characterization of Bacillus amyloliquefacien contaminating 75%alcohol disinfectant

The clinical characterization of Bacillus amy-loliquefacien contaminating 75%alcohol disinfectants were studied.The bacteria were cultured and observed by using bacterial examination under the hospital infec-tion monitor.According to the regulations,the resistance of bacterial to physical and chemical factors was tested.Drug sensitivity tests for 20 commonly used medicines were carried out using a K-B method.The bacterial plas-mids were analyzed using the Birnboim method.The bac-teria were found after being cultured in the clinically-used 75%alcohol disinfectant fluid.Their total number was more than 800 cfu/mL and they were identified as Bacillus amyloliquefacien.The bacteria were also found to be resistant to boiling for 5 min.It grew well in 95%alcohol disinfectant and was insensitive to 84 disinfectant fluids containing chlorine(1000 mg/L)and such disinfec-tants as ozone.They were able to be sterilized better through routine ultraviolet exposure for 30 min or gas pressure.The bacteria contained a 2.5 kb plasmid and were sensitive to 13 drugs and insensitive to 7 drugs of the 20 drugs tested.It was suggested that alcohol dis-infectant fluid was easily contaminated by Bacillus amy-loliquefacien,and the bacteria was resistant to disinfectant fluids such as alcohol and 84 disinfectants.