Żukiewicz-Sobczak Wioletta, Sobczak Paweł, Wróblewska Paula, Adamczuk Piotr, Cholewa Grażyna, Zawiślak Kazimierz, Mazur Jacek, Panasiewicz Marian, Wojciechowska Małgorzata
Department of Allergology and Environmental Hazards, Institute of Rural Health, Lublin, Poland.
Department of Food Engineering and Machines, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland.
Ann Agric Environ Med. 2013;20(4):812-5.
Herbs are commonly used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Their vast use is connected with their antibacterial or antioxidising properties, as well as numerous pro-health properties. The aim of the presented research was assessment of the quantitative and qualitative composition of moulds which contaminate samples of dried herbs: Sage (Salvia officinalis L.), Camomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) and Melissa (Mellisa officinalis L.) with different degrees of resource fragmentation. The dried herbs investigated had a characteristic mould content below 1•10(6) CFU/g according to the recommendations of the European Herbal Infusions Association (EHIA). The most contaminated resource turned out to be Camomile, the least--Melissa. The most often isolated moulds were: Aspergillus, Penicillium, Ulocladium, Alternaria. Moreover, it was observed that more fragmented dried herbs were characteristic of lower--by approx. 40-55% microbiological contamination--depending on the type of tested herb, which might be connected with the time of dried herbs' processing, higher aeration, moisture changes or mechanical damaging of fungi's fragments in the case of a resource with higher fragmentation. High contamination of a herbal resource might be harmful for a consumer, and moulds and their metabolites in the form of mitotoxins might constitute a threat for human health. To keep all the sensory features and activity of herbs' active substances, it is extremely important to secure their high microbiological quality.
草药在食品和制药行业中普遍使用。它们的广泛应用与其抗菌或抗氧化特性以及众多有益健康的特性有关。本研究的目的是评估污染不同资源碎片化程度的干草药样本（鼠尾草（Salvia officinalis L.）、洋甘菊（Matricaria chamomilla L.）和蜜蜂花（Mellisa officinalis L.））中霉菌的定量和定性组成。根据欧洲草药浸剂协会（EHIA）的建议，所研究的干草药霉菌含量特征低于1•10(6) CFU/g。污染最严重的资源是洋甘菊，最少的是蜜蜂花。最常分离出的霉菌有：曲霉属、青霉属、格孢腔菌属、链格孢属。此外，观察到资源碎片化程度越高的干草药，其微生物污染程度越低（约低40 - 55%），这取决于所测试草药的类型，这可能与干草药的加工时间、更高的通气性、水分变化或在资源碎片化程度较高的情况下真菌碎片的机械损伤有关。草药资源的高污染可能对消费者有害，霉菌及其以霉菌毒素形式存在的代谢产物可能对人类健康构成威胁。为保持草药活性物质的所有感官特性和活性，确保其高微生物质量极其重要。
