SWA Sifuma¹*, KO Bosire², PC Mutai² and DB Ongarora²

¹PhD Student, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmaceutics and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
²Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmaceutics and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Nairobi, Kenya

*Corresponding Author: SWA Sifuma, PhD Student, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmaceutics and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.

Received: September 06, 2023; Published: November 13, 2023

Abstract

Evaluation of quality of herbal medicine is crucial for their safe use. WHO has recommended that quality of herbal medicinal products should be evaluated with respect to adulterants and contaminants mainly heavy metals, pesticide residues and microbial contamination. This study focused on microbial contamination of herbal medicine used for treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) in Nairobi County, Kenya. The samples were purchased from health stores in Nairobi County and evaluated for microbial contamination by MLT method and specific pathogenic microbes. 84 samples were subjected to Microbial Limit Test (MLT) and specific pathogenic microbes against European Pharmacopeia and USP 31. 46.43% of samples did not comply with TAMC while 31.14% of samples did not comply with TYMC requirements. 8.33% of samples did not comply with requirements for pathogenic microbes. Locally manufactured and samples from Tanzania were majorly contaminated while imported samples were less contaminated. These findings were in agreement with previous studies. The study revealed that herbal medicines used for treatment of ED in Nairobi County were contaminated with microbes. There is need to put a policy in place to evaluate herbal medicine for contamination with microbes before grand of market authorization.

Keywords: Evaluation of quality of herbal medicine is crucial for their safe use. WHO has recommended that quality of herbal medicinal products should be evaluated with respect to adulterants and contaminants mainly heavy metals, pesticide residues and microbial contamination. This study focused on microbial contamination of herbal medicine used for treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) in Nairobi County, Kenya. The samples were purchased from health stores in Nairobi County and evaluated for microbial contamination by MLT method and specific pathogenic microbes. 84 samples were subjected to Microbial Limit Test (MLT) and specific pathogenic microbes against European Pharmacopeia and USP 31. 46.43% of samples did not comply with TAMC while 31.14% of samples did not comply with TYMC requirements. 8.33% of samples did not comply with requirements for pathogenic microbes. Locally manufactured and samples from Tanzania were majorly contaminated while imported samples were less contaminated. These findings were in agreement with previous studies. The study revealed that herbal medicines used for treatment of ED in Nairobi County were contaminated with microbes. There is need to put a policy in place to evaluate herbal medicine for contamination with microbes before grand of market authorization.

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Citation

Citation: SWA Sifuma., et al. “An Investigation into Microbial Contamination of Herbal Medicine Used for the Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction in Nairobi County, Kenya".Acta Scientific Pharmaceutical Sciences 7.12 (2023): 47-58.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 SWA Sifuma., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.