Abualhasan Murad N, Hawash Mohammed, Khayat Rama, Khatatbeh Eman, Ehmidan Malak, Al-Atrash Munir
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Pharmacy, An-Najah National University, Nablus, State of Palestine.
Jerusalem Pharmaceutical Company, Quality Control Department, Ramallah, State of Palestine.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020 Nov 10;2020:7631562. doi: 10.1155/2020/7631562. eCollection 2020.
The use of green tea and herbal tea for weight loss is increasing worldwide owing to the rising rates of obesity. There are concerns about the safety and quality of these herbal products owing to their increased consumption worldwide. In this study, we evaluated randomly collected samples of green tea and herbal tea and tested them for heavy metal and microbial contamination. Eighteen samples of green tea or herbal tea of widely used brands in Palestine were tested for heavy metal and microbial contamination. The results showed that 7 of the samples had toxic heavy metals such as chromium (Cr) and lead (Pb), and their concentrations were above the allowable limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Moreover, 6 of the samples that were tested had microbial contamination with high total aerobic microbial count (TAMC) and total yeast and mold count (TYMC). This could be due to improper handling and storage conditions of these herbal products. This study is the first of its kind in Palestine, and its results are forewarning to all the responsible authorities, including the Ministry of Health (MoH), to take immediate corrective actions such as quality control testing, auditing, and registration of marketed tea products.
由于肥胖率不断上升，绿茶和花草茶在全球范围内用于减肥的情况日益增多。由于这些草药产品在全球范围内的消费量增加，人们对其安全性和质量表示担忧。在本研究中，我们对随机收集的绿茶和花草茶样本进行了评估，并检测了它们的重金属和微生物污染情况。对巴勒斯坦广泛使用品牌的18个绿茶或花草茶样本进行了重金属和微生物污染检测。结果显示，其中7个样本含有铬（Cr）和铅（Pb）等有毒重金属，其浓度高于世界卫生组织（WHO）设定的允许限值。此外，在检测的样本中，有6个存在微生物污染，需氧微生物总数（TAMC）和酵母及霉菌总数（TYMC）较高。这可能是由于这些草药产品的处理和储存条件不当所致。本研究在巴勒斯坦尚属首次，其结果为包括卫生部（MoH）在内的所有相关当局敲响了警钟，促使他们立即采取纠正措施，如对上市茶产品进行质量控制检测、审计和注册。
