Incidence of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins in medicinal herbs and herbal drugs

Incidence of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxin contamination studied in medicinal herbs namely Aegle marmelos, Emblica officinalis, Terminalia bellerica, T. chebula, and Syzygium cumini collected from Uttrakhand region under field and storage conditions. Natural contamination of mycotoxins in some commonly used herbal drugs Triphala, Chyawanprash, Isabbel, Amla ambari, Amla sada, Dolabi and Isabgol chaff was also evaluated. Mycotoxin producing fungi like A. flavus, A. ochraceus, F. moniliforme and Penicillium citrinum were recorded on all herb samples under study. Aflatoxins were the most common mycotoxins elaborated by different isolates of A. flavus isolated from samples under study. Mycotoxin contamination in fresh and stored samples of medicinal herbs under study showed aflatoxin B₁ as the most common natural contaminant. The concentration of aflatoxin B₁ in the fresh medicinal samples was quite high i.e. upto 0.45μg/g in A. marmelos followed by T. chebula (0.22μg/g), E. officinalis (0.21μg/g) and T. belerica (0.12μg/g). Aflatoxin B₁ was the most common contaminant in most of the herbal drugs. The concentration of Aflatoxin B₁ in Triphala was quite high (0.62–1.83?g/g) followed by Isabbel (0.59–1.13μg/g), Amla ambari (0.52–1.69μg/g) and Chyawanprash (0.49 - 1.24μg/g).