Microbial Quality Assurance of Dried Roots of Chlorophytum borivilianum Sant F (Safed Musli)

Aim: To assess total bacterial load and detect E. coli and Salmonella in Chlorophytum borivilianum (Safed Musli), cultivated and processed in the Bundelkhand region.

Study Design: Quality assurance of medicinal plant raw material is essential for the preparation of good quality herbal medicines. The dried roots of Safed Musli were collected from different regions of the Bundelkhand and total aerobic microbial count was measured.

Methodology: We collected 10 samples of Safed Musli dried roots from different regions of Bundelkhand. A stock suspension was prepared using sterile peptone water and plated on a nutrient agar medium which was used to calculate total aerobic bacterial load as colony-forming units per gram (CFU/g). Further, biochemical tests were performed to confirm the identification of E. coli and Salmonella.

Results: The total aerobic bacteria count in dried roots of Safed Musli was within the permissible limit (105-107CFU/g of dried raw material) as per globally recognized pharmacopoeia and other regulatory agencies such as the Central Council of Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India, United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), Brazilian Pharmacopoeia (BP), European Pharmacopoeia (EP), World Health Organization (WHO), American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) and National Science Foundation/American National Standards Institute (NSF/ANSI). Although 2 out of 10 samples were found to have contamination of E. coli and Salmonella within the permissible limit of WHO, EP and NSF/ANSI.

Conclusion: The results indicated that the Safed Musli cultivated and processed in the Bundelkhand region is suitable for the preparation of herbal medicines and food supplements.