Kamal Kanta Das

PREVALENCE OF MICRO ORGANISMS IN COMMONLY USED COSMETICS SAMPLES IN DHAKA METROPOLIS

Present study attempted to identify and enumerate micro organisms spoiling commonly used cosmetics samples. Among 20 brands of total 6 categories of samples studied (soap, shampoo, lotion, face wash, cream and petroleum), almost all were found to be rigorously contaminated with total viable bacteria within a range of 10 3 – 10

Microbiological quality of pharmaceutical products in Bangladesh: current research perspective

Abstract Pharmaceutical industrialization in Bangladesh, both by multinational and local companies, has increased significantly in the last two decades. Most of the pharmaceutical products are found to be therapeutically competent to meet the demands of general population satisfactorily. However, complaints regarding the compromised quality of the products stored in markets are also reported very often. In order to ensure the overall drug user safety, the present review discussed the prime requirements for maintaining the desired microbiological quality of the commonly used pharmaceutical products in Bangladesh. Information relating to the prevalence of bacteria, fungi and the specific pathogens has been collected mostly from the recent researches conducted on an array of finished pharmaceutical medicaments. All data, achieved by means of traditional microbiological and biochemical analyses as described in the published papers cited in this review, have been further critically analyzed in context to the recommended microbial limits, user safety and the legislative aspects. Microbial contamination usually degrades the product quality as well as the product stability, which in turn creates treatment complications. Moreover, through microbial spoilage within the medicament, active drug constituents may be transformed to less potent or chemically inactive forms. Contamination by bacteria and fungi generally occur either from raw materials, manufacturing environment or at the storage stage which may hinder the consumer safety. This review article presented some valid evidences for microbial contamination in the pharmaceutical finished products in Bangladesh and discusses about possible remedies to improve the overall management of public health.

Microbiological Contamination and Anti-bacterial Traits of Common Oral Herbal Medicinal Products within Dhaka Metropolis

ABSTRACT Aims: Present study endeavored to examine the growth and survival of microorganisms within 6 categories of oral herbal medicines commonly used by the community within Dhaka metropolis. Methodology: Samples were analyzed for the presence of bacteria and fungi up to 14 days. The microbial analysis was conducted by conventional cultural and biochemical methods. The in vitro anti-bacterial activity of the medicines was also detected employing agar well diffusion method. Results: Initially all samples were found to be contaminated with total viable bacteria (10 2 -10 4 cfu/ml); however, the fungal and pathogenic growth was not observed. In course of time, the bacterial and fungal load increased up to 10 6 cfu/ml and 10 3 cfu/ml, respectively in most of the samples up to 14 days. The staphylococcal growth commenced after 48 hours in all samples and vigorously increased in two samples up to 10 5 cfu/ml. Two categories of samples were found to be populated with

Drug-resistant bacterial pathogens in milk and some milk products

Purpose – Current study was carried to detect the presence of pathogenic bacteria including the drug-resistant ones from milk and milk products. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Twenty-six raw milk samples from ten different areas, 28 pasteurized milk samples from 12 different companies and 26 yogurt samples from ten different sources in Dhaka city were microbiologically analyzed through cultural and biochemical identification of the isolates. Drug resistance trait was also determined by the Kirby-Bauer method on Muller-Hinton agar. Findings – Out of 80 samples studied, 74 were found to harbor pathogens within a range of 102-104 cfu/ml, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Vibrio spp. The study of antibiogram revealed that most of the isolates were resistant against most of the commonly used antibiotics. Research limitations/implications – Employment of only cultural/ biochemical tests excluding the molecular detection of virulence an...

Microbiological analysis of common preservatives used in food items and demonstration of their in vitro anti-bacterial activity

Abstract Objective To quantify the microorganisms contaminating the common preservatives used in food as well as to detect their in vitro anti-bacterial traits. Methods A total of 9 preservatives were subjected to conventional cultural and biochemical methods for microbial enumeration. Anti-bacterial activities were demonstrated through the agar well diffusion method. Results All samples were found to be contaminated with bacteria up to 105 CFU/g and with the fungal flora within a range of 101−102 CFU/g. Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp. and Staphylococcus spp. were demonstrated in most of the samples. Sodium sulfite and citric acid possessed the strongest anti-bacterial trait against all of the test bacteria. Acetic acid exhibited activity against 6 out of 8 test bacteria while vinegar exhibited the activity against 4 bacteria. Activity of salt was demonstrated only against Listeria spp. and Bacillus spp., while activity of sugar and honey was found only against Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp., respectively. Conclusions According to the current investigation, sodium sulfite and citric acid samples were found to be satisfactory preservatives both in terms of microbiological criteria and their anti-bacterial traits.

Microbiological contamination sources of freshly cultivated vegetables

– The purpose of the paper is to emphasize on contamination sources of freshly cultivated vegetables commonly consumed by the Bangladeshi people. Several local studies have been conducted to detect the microbial contamination within fresh vegetables, plantation lands and the irrigation waters separately; however, the correlation of microbial contamination between the fresh produces and the surrounding environment has not been clarified. , – Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo), radish (Raphanus sativus) and eggplant (Solanum melongena); their plantations soils and the fertilizers applied across the agricultural lands; and, finally, the irrigation waters used were analyzed from nine districts of Bangladesh using conventional microbiological and biochemical methods. , – Almost all vegetable samples studied were found to be immensely contaminated with bacteria and fungi. Among the pathogens, Klebsiella spp., Staphylococcus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. were found to be dominant. Besides, massive microbial growth was also observed in the plantation soils and fertilizers, including Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus spp., Listeria spp., Escherichia coli and Vibrio spp. Existence of the fecal coliforms, E. coli, Klebsiella spp., Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp., was noticed in the irrigation waters. , – Although the present study revealed the combined results connecting the vegetable contamination aspect with the knowledge on microbiology ultimately in the food chain, implementation of molecular studies detecting the virulence genes both in the fresh produces and the plantation soils, fertilizers and the irrigation waters would further clarify the microbial dissemination mechanism. , – Earlier studies demonstrated the ability of water bodies to disseminate numerous microorganisms into the plantation soils, and to some extent unraveled the ability of organic fertilizers to propagate pathogenic bacteria into the vegetation objects. These microorganisms may pose as a threat to vegetables, particularly by limiting crop production as well as the shelf life of the fresh produces. , – The scenario of microbial divergence not only in the vegetables but also within the surroundings is gradually being heightened in Bangladesh principally due to the malpractice of sanitation, dumping the agricultural lands with feces, improperly controlled septic systems, waste water runoff across the agricultural lands, etc. Therefore, the preliminary and replicable experimental approach described in the current study would be feasible for all other developing countries to maintain the public health safety. , – Growth and proliferation of microorganisms both in the vegetable samples and the environmental samples nearly to a similar extent indeed projected for the first time in Bangladesh, the agricultural perspective of the contamination sources of vegetables. Such knowledge would aid in the existing knowledge on the hygienic processing during crop production and harvesting for the sake of better consumer safety management.

Safe usage of cosmetics in Bangladesh: a quality perspective based on microbiological attributes

The present review attempted to emphasize on the microbiological quality of the commonly used cosmetics item by the majority of the Bangladeshi community. The abundance of contaminating microorganisms has been quantitatively discussed and the possible health risk has been focused upon usage of these items. Only a very few research efforts have been conducted on the cosmetic items in Bangladesh so far. The microbiological contamination aspects have been portrayed in this review using the information collected from a substantial number of cosmetic items which were earlier subjected to extensive microbiological and biochemical analyses. The prevalence of bacteria, fungi and the specific pathogenic microorganisms has been discussed based on research so far locally conducted on the finished items sold in markets, especially within the Dhaka metropolis. The laboratory scale experiments revealed the presence of enormous number of bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi within the commonly used cosmetics. Conversely, the anti-bacterial activity was noticed in some of the products which might be in favor of the user safety. The prevalence of pathogenic microorganisms in the cosmetic items certainly raises a substantial public health issue. The necessity of the routine microbiological testing of the commonly used cosmetic items as well as the legislative measures to mitigate the contamination problem is thus of great significance.

Demonstration of in vitro antibacterial activity of the popular cosmetics items used by the Dhaka locality

Abstract Objective To demonstrate the antibacterial activity of cosmetic products commonly used by the community of Dhaka metropolis. Methods A total of 10 categories of cosmetic samples (with a subtotal of 30 brands) were subjected to microbiological analysis through conventional culture and biochemical tests. Agar well diffusion method was used to determine the antibacterial trait in the tested samples which was further confirmed by the minimum inhibitory concentration method. Results All samples were found to be populated with bacteria and fungi up to 10 CFU/g and 103 CFU/g, respectively. Growth of Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Klebsiella spp. was recorded as well. Conversely, 7 out of 30 items were found to exhibit the in vitro antibacterial activity against an array of laboratory test bacterial species including Staphylococcus spp., E. coli, Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Klebsiella spp. and Listeria spp. Consequently, all the samples showed antibacterial activity below the concentration of 0.46 mg/mL as found in the minimum inhibitory concentration test. Conclusions Overall, the presence of huge microbial population in cosmetic products is not acceptable from the point microbiological contamination level. The antibacterial trait of these items, in contrary, may draw an overall public health impact.