Anie et al Journal of Drug Delivery & Therapeutics. 2022; 12(5):64-69 ISSN: 2250-1177 [64] CODEN (USA): JDDTAO Available online on 15.09.2022 at http://jddtonline.info Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics Open Access to Pharmaceutical and Medical Research Copyright © 2022 The Author(s): This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial use provided the original author and source are credited Open Access Full Text Article Research Article The Microbial Quality of Herbal Products Anie, Oliseloke Clement 1 * , Egbon, Olukayode Temitope 2 , Enemchukwu, Chizoba Mercy 3 , Adushoke, Eguonor Loveth 1 1. Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Delta State University, Nigeria. 2. Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti. Nigeria. 3. Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology Faculty of Pharmacy Madonna University Elele Rivers State Article Info: _______________________________________________ Article History: Received 17 July 2022 Reviewed 19 August 2022 Accepted 27August 2022 Published 15 Sep 2022 _______________________________________________ Cite this article as: Anie OC, Egbon OT, Enemchukwu CM, Adushoke, EL, The Microbial Quality of Herbal Products, Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics. 2022; 12(5):64-69 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22270/jddt.v12i5.5590 _______________________________________________ *Address for Correspondence: Anie, Oliseloke Clement, Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Delta State University, Nigeria. Abstract ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Background: Consumption of herbal products has increased dramatically during the last few decades. Although there have been allegations that herbal products are made in unsanitary conditions resulting in microbial contamination and health hazards consumed by patients. Aim: The study is aimed at investigating the microbial quality of commonly sold herbal products in Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria. Methods: A total of seven (7) liquid herbal products (AB, GW, EC, IM, DR, GC and BM) were randomly purchased from local herbal shops and pharmacy shops in Abraka. Samples were aseptically measured out around the zones of a Bunsen fame and the total viable bacteria and fungi counts of samples were determined using serial dilution and spread plate method. Results: The total bacterial count in the herbal products ranged from 1.8 x 10 6 to 7.5 x 10 6 . Proteus spp had the highest frequency of occurrence with a percentage of 50% while Staphylococcus spp. occurred the least with a percentage of 10% while Candida spp. had the highest percentage occurrence for fungi isolates and Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus occurs less with percentage occurrence of 10 and 20% respectively. The study also revealed that Tarivid, Streptomycin and Gentamycin were susceptible to all bacterial isolated from the herbal products with average zone of inhibition of 18.25±1.39, 19.75±3.39 and 23.13±2.0.8 respectively. Conclusion: The finding of this study revealed that herbal products sold in Abrakawere contaminated with microorganisms, some of which are pathogenic and thus, these herbal products can serve as a means of spreading infections among the consumers. Keywords: Herbal, microorganism, bacteria, Abraka. INTRODUCTION Herbal medicine is an ancient approach that is commonly used in disease treatment. It is also known as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). It is growing increasingly popular as breakthroughs in analysis and quality control, as well as advances in clinical research, demonstrate the benefits of herbal medicine in the treatment and prevention of diseases. The term "herbal medications" refers to plants and plant components that have been turned into phyto- pharmaceuticals through simple harvesting, drying, and storage methods. 1 Herbal remedies, according to the World Health Organization, contain plant parts or plant material in their raw or processed state as active components and may contain excipients (foreign substances) 2 . Medicinal plant has been defined by World Health Organization (WHO) consultative group as any plant which in one or more of its organs contains substances that can be used for therapeutic purposes or which are precursors for the synthesis of useful drugs. 3 It is essential to highlight that herbal medicines do not include any combination of scientifically determined active compounds or separated elements 4 . Globally, the usage of herbal medicine is expanding. 5 . In poor nations such as Africa, herbal medicine is used by up to 80% of the population as a primary source of therapy. 5 Plants are rich in a wide variety of secondary metabolites such as tannins alkaloids and flavonoids, which have found in vitro to have antimicrobial properties. 6 Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has urged for the incorporation of herbal medical products (HMPs) into developing nations' primary health care systems, herbalists continue to neglect safety concerns with herbal medication formulations. As a result, the safety of herbal products has become a serious public health problem. 7 This is due to the fact that microorganisms of various types are normally adherent to the leaves, stems, flowers, seeds, and roots from which herbal medicine can be prepared, and potential pathogens may also be introduced during harvesting, handling, open-air drying, preserving, manufacturing 7 and the use of contaminated materials for storage. 8 According to certain findings, consumers may become unwell as a result of ingesting herbs contaminated with pathogenic microbes. 9 and the presence of antibiotic resistant microbial isolates in HMPs may result in the transfer of antibiotic resistance strains to consumers. 10 Herbal medicine and preparations have been widely used for thousands of years in both developing and developed countries due to their natural origins and lower negative