ABSTRACT

Liquid herbal medicinal products are crude preparations of various kinds of medicinal plants involving leaves, stems, roots, flowers and seeds. Twenty liquid herbal medicine products sold in Umuahia were evaluated for their Pathogenic Bacterial load. Isolation and identification of pathogenic bacteria was carried out using streaking on blood agar, chocolate agar Mac Conkey agar and mannitol salt agar to identify the isolates. Gram staining procedure and biochemical tests were also carried out. Sixteen (16) out of twenty (20) herbal preparations were contaminated, Escherichia coli was the highest isolate with (21.95%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus (14.63%), Bacillus spp(12.20%), Streptococcus spp (9.76%), Klebsiella spp, Proteus vulgaris, Proteus mirabilis, Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus (7.32%) and Salmonella (4.89%). Most traditionally made liquid herbal drugs in Umuahia are contaminated with a wide variety of potentially pathogenic bacteria. Antibiotics susceptibility pattern was carried out to determine the sensitivity of the isolated microorganism. A greater percentage of the bacteria isolates were resistant to Amoxycillin, Chloramphenicol, Norbactin and Streptomycin while Levofloxacin and Ceftriaxon were very effective.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page - - - - - - - - - i

Certification - - - - - - - - - ii

Dedication - - - - - - - - - iii

Acknowledge - - - - - - - - - iv

Table of contents - - - - - - - - v - vi

List of tables - - - - - - - - - vii

Abstract - - - - - - - - - viii

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 Introduction - - - - - - - - - 1

1.2 Aim and objectives - - - - - - - - 4

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 Literature Review - - - - - - - - 5

2.1 Origin of Liquid Herbal Medicines - - - - - - 5  

2.2 Liquid Herbal Drug Interaction - - - - - - 5

2.3 Mechanism of Herbal Drug Interaction - - - - - 6

2.4 Anatomical Studies - - - - - - - - 7  

2.5 Phytochemistry - - - - - - - - 7

2.6 Phytochemical Screening of Herbal Plants - - - - - 8

2.6.1 Phenolics and Polyphenols - - - - - - - 8

2.6.2 Quinones - - - - - - - - - 9

2.6.3 Flavours, Flavonoids and Flavonols - - - - - - 9

2.6.4 Tannins - - - - - - - - - 10

2.6.5 Alkaloids - - - - - - - - - 10

2.7 Awareness, Control to Regulation of Herbal Drugs - - - - 11

2.8 Benefits of Liquid Herbal Medicine - - - - - - 11

2.9 Role of Pharmacist in the Use of Herbal Medicine - - - - 12

2.10 Advantages of Liquid Herbal Drugs - - - - - - 12

2.11 Disadvantages of Liquid Herbal Drugs - - - - - 12

2.12 Toxicity of Herbal Drugs - - - - - - - 13

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 Materials and Methods - - - - - - - 16

3.1 Materials - - - - - - - - - 16

3.1.1 Sample Collection - - - - - - - - 16

3.1.2 Media Used - - - - - - - - - 16

3.1.3 Sterility - - - - - - - - - 16

3.1.4 Sample Preparation - - - - - - - - 17

3.2 Methods - - - - - - - - - 17

3.2.1 Isolation And Identification Of Pathogenic Bacteria In Liquid Herbal Drugs 17

3.2.2 Total Viable Count - - - - - - - - 17

3.2.3 Characterization Of Microorganism - - - - - - 17

3.2.4 Catalase Test - - - - - - - - - 18

3.2.5 Coagulase Test - - - - - - - - 18

3.2.6 Citrate Test - - - - - - - - - 18

3.2.7 Motility, Indole, Urease Test (Miu) - - - - - - 19

3.2.8 Triple Sugar Iron Test (TSI) - - - - - - - 19

3.2.9     Oxidase Test   -      -      -      -         -       -           -                  -          -           -          20

3.2.10      Antibiotics sensitivity pattern   -      -      -       -      -        -         -          -        -      20

CHAPTER FOUR 

4.0 Results - - - - - - - - - 21

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 Discussion - - - - - - - - - 30

5.1 Conclusion - - - - - - - - - 31

REFERENCES - - - - - - - - - 32 

LIST OF TABLES

Table Title Page

1 Identification of Drugs Based on Their Life Cycle, Colour, Odour Composition and Supposed Cure.

2 Bacterial Isolates from Different Drugs 25

3 Number and Percentage of Bacterial Isolates from the Drugs Analyzed 26

4 Gram and Biochemical Characterization of the Isolates 27

5 Total Viable Count 28

6 Antibiotic Susceptibility Profile of the Bacterial Isolates from Liquid Herbal Drugs in Umuahia 29