Separation of Selected Pathogenic Bacteria from Herbal Products

Authors

  • Anum Khan Jinnah University for Women, Karachi
  • Atifa Kazmi Jinnah University for Women, Karachi

Keywords:

Cosmetics, herbal products, microbial contamination

Abstract

In present era, there is the growing demand of herbal cosmetics because of the irritability and side effects of synthetic products. The study primarily comprised on the consideration of the presence of microorganisms in locally marketed cosmetic products. Unfortunately, these cosmetic products are not suitable for the human usage due to its exceeding microbial limit. The products mainly posses inconsistent quantity of natural material, that supports the microbial growth. Bacteria such as Staphylococcus, E.coli, and Aspergillus were the main contaminants of the herbal products. In this study mehandi (Hina), hand and body lotion, facial cleanser and liquid soaps were analyzed. Mostly bacteria were isolated while one fungal specie was isolated from these marketed cosmetics. In this study also found out that Staphylococcus species is one common contaminant in these lotion and creams. While Pseudomonas aeruginosa was also isolated from two of the samples of herbal face wash and shampoo that is alarming. Herbal cosmetics are more likely samples get contaminated due to the usage of polluted water in these products. Herbal cosmetic products such level of contamination occurred in shampoo. Hence, the study proved that the herbal cosmetics are not suitable for the human usage due to the presence of higher load of microorganisms. Therefore, it is a must that such product to be properly manufactured, packaged and stored.

Author Biographies

Anum Khan, Jinnah University for Women, Karachi

Department of Microbiology

Atifa Kazmi, Jinnah University for Women, Karachi

Department of Microbiology

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Published

2016-07-03