ISSN 2582-788X RESEARCH ARTICLE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Page | 46 ESTIMATION OF MICROBIAL CONTENT OF HERBAL DRUGS AVAILABLE IN GWALIOR- CHAMBAL REGION Poonam Bhadauriya a *, Arvind Singh Jadon b , Shailendra Singh Narwariya b a Gurukul Institute of Pharmaceutical Science & Research, Gwalior, India b School of Studies in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jiwaji University, Gwalior, India ____________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Herbal remedies are widely used for the treatment and prevention of various diseases and often contain highly active pharmacological compounds. These products have the potential of contamination with different microorganisms. This is due to raw materials contamination and unhygienic production conditions. The present work was carried out considering the increased use of herbal products as alternative medicines in Madhya Pradesh. It is necessary to set appropriate standards for microorganisms in herbal drugs in order to reduce the risks for consumers' health. The presence of fecal coliform and molds represents a potential risk of contamination. The microbial contamination of herbal drugs both branded and non-branded was determined. Fifteen different herbal solid dosage forms were purchased randomly from identified herbal shops and retail outlets indifferent parts of Gwalior-Chambal Division and were analyzed for percent moisture content, total viable count, spore former (aerobic and anaerobic), mold, yeast and coliforms. Total viable count was found in the samples that may be hazardous if used. The aerobic and anaerobic spore former varied from 1-47/g. Moisture content varied from 6-22%. Non fecal coliform were present in most of the samples but fecal coliforms were also present in few samples. Many aerobic and anaerobic species were predominant in most herbal drugs samples. Keywords: Herbal drugs, microbial assessment, moisture content. _____________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION Herbal drugs are crude preparations of various kinds of medicinal plants. In other words, herbal drug is a dried medicinal plant, or any part thereof, such as leaf, stem, root, flower or seed. Herbal medicine has a long history, probably extending over 2000 years and is quite popular with many people [1]. Crude drugs and herbal medicines play an important role in home health care, health improvement, as alternative medicine and materials for medical products in many countries [2]. The use of medicinal plants is continually expanding worldwide. The increasing search for therapeutic agents derived from plant species is justified by the emergence of diseases, yet without proper treatment, and the growth of scientific knowledge about the herbal medicines as important treatment alternatives. The popularity of natural products is increasing day by day. Natural products do not have any harmful side effects.