Gamma irradiation effects on microbial inactivation and antioxidant activity of Melissa officinalis
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abstract
"MaisErvas - Aromáticas e Medicinais" company for providing the samples.
Many herbal products are traditionally being used as medicines and nutraceuticals in different regions of the world (Kumar et al., 2010). This increased consumption of natural products has become a public health problem. The concern in the safety of these products is due, in part, to the possible presence of pathogenic bacteria and fungi producing mycotoxins (Prado et al., 2009). The medicinal plant, also known as lemon balm, analysed in the present study is used in traditional medicine to treat or to relieve nervous disturbance of sleep and functional gastrointestinal disorders although there are a great variety of phytopharmaceutical preparations containing this plant or its extracts (Kennedy et al., 2002; López et al., 2009). Consequently the evaluation of the hygienic quality of medicinal plants, as well the use of decontamination methods are significant steps towards the consumer safety and therapeutical efficiency (Soriani et al., 2005). The obtained results suggested that the gamma irradiation treatment could be advantageous in improving microbial safety of M. officinalis with the potential added-benefit of increasing its antioxidant content. The effect of higher irradiation doses on M. officinalis will be further investigated, in an attempt to augment the reduction of the microbial population.
