Irradiation: A technique for microbial decontamination of medicinal plants

Abstract

Nature has bestowed on us a very rich botanical wealth and a large number of diverse types of plants growing in different parts of the world. These plants are used for cosmetics, spices, herbs, and food supplements and referred to as “medicinal plants” in this chapter. Due to their nutritional, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and medicinal properties, these plants can be exploited for widespread applications. Many medicinal plants are grown in developing countries where sanitation and handling practices may not be satisfactory. Plant materials are exposed to microbial contaminants during their cultivation, harvest, processing, storage, distribution, and sale which exert a significant impact on overall quality and shelf life of the products. Therefore, decontamination of medicinal plants is necessary to eliminate pathogenic and reduce the number of spoilage microorganisms. A number of different techniques including fumigation, steaming, and irradiation have been used for microbial decontamination with varying degrees of success. Among all these techniques, irradiation has become the most important technique. In this article, various techniques of decontamination of medicinal plants and regulatory aspects of irradiation are discussed.