Mycoflora and mycotoxins in some important stored crude and powdered herbal drugs

Stored samples of crude herbal drugs and processed powders of Emblica officinalis (Amla), Terminalia bellirica (Baheda), and Terminalia chebula (Haritiki) sold in the market of Gwalior, were analyzed on different fungal culture media for the incidence of fungi and their related mycotoxins. During morphological examination of collected samples a remarkable change was observed in the colour and appearance of fruit and powdered samples. About 88% of the fruits and powdered samples were found to be contaminated with 1199 isolates of different fungi belonging to the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium,Helminthosporium, Rhizopus, Syncephalastrum, Alternaria, and Curvularaia. A total of 11 fungal species classified under five different genera were isolated from the fruit samples, whereas, only nine species belonging to five different genera were isolated from the powdered samples. About 25% of fruits and 12.5% of powdered samples were found contaminated with different mycotoxins like aflatoxins, citrinin, and sterigmatocystin. The presence of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins may make these crude as well as powdered herbal drugs hazardous for human health. Therefore, prior to their use, one needs to assure the quality control and decontamination of these herbal drug preparations.