Research Article

Approaches for the Elimination of Microbial Contaminants from Lippia multiflora Mold. Leaves Intended for Tea Bagging and Evaluation of Formulation

Table 3

Microbial load analyses of tea bags prepared from the air-dried leaves of L. multiflora Mold.

Test conductedLTB1 (cfu/g)LTB2 (cfu/g)LTB3 (cfu/g)LTB4 (cfu/g)Acceptance criterion (BP, 2019)

1TAMC/37 °C/24 hours/PCA8.6 × 108TNTCTNTC7.3 × 109≤5.0 × 107
2TYMC/25 °C/5 days/MEA4.9 × 107TNTCTNTC5.1 × 106≤5.0 × 105
Escherichia coli (E. coli)++Absence
Salmonella spp.Absence
Staphylococcus spp.++Absence

BP, British Pharmacopoeia; 1TAMC: total aerobic microbial counts, 2TYMC: total yeast and mold counts; TNTC: too numerous to count; −: absent; +: present; PCA: plate count agar; MEA: malt extract agar.