Aflatoxin contamination of some common medicinal herbs

From ancient time herbal medicines have been used for curing of various fatal diseases in human beings worldwide. In recent studies medicinal values of herbs have been extensively recognized. The potential fungal contamination of medicinal herbs affects its quality due to the presence of mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi identified in many agricultural products and medicinal herbs screened for toxigenic fungi. The ultimate exposure and toxicities of mycotoxins can be diversely influenced by endogenous food components in different commodities of the medicinal herbs. The seed- borne pathogen are one of the major causes of serious diseases in growing crop because of poor health and biodeterioration of seeds. To realize this aspect, the study has been undertaken on five medicinal plants belonging to different families. Alternaria, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Curvularia, Penicillium, Fusarium and Rhizopus fungi have been isolated from the different parts of medicinal plants. After aflatoxins analysis, presence of aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) was confirmed in all samples. The present study suggests that detection of fungi and aflatoxins poses a risk for consumer’s health and it is necessary to check the herbal drugs before allowing distribution for public use.