Fungal contamination of raw materials of selected herbal drugs available in retail shops in Matara area

Abstract

As a result of fungal contamination of herbal raw materials, the risk of mycotoxin production, especially aflatoxin, should be taken into consideration in the manufacturing process of herbal drugs. Vortex and ground methods were employed to isolate fungal species contaminating selected herbal raw materials of four different drug plants, Terminalia chebula (Sin. Aralu), Piper longum (Sinh. Thippili), Glycyrriza glabra (Sinh. Valmi) and Terminalia belerica (Sinh. Bulu). These materials stored for 6 to 8 months by local suppliers and imported from India were sampled for selective isolation of fungal species. Fifty microlitre aliquots from 10-fold dilutions were aseptically plated and distributed on the culture medium. Identification of fungal species was done using culture and morphological characteristics.