Investigation of Microbial Contamination of Spice Plants Presented in Urmia Herbs markets

Many medicinal plants and spices were supplied by sweetheart in Iran. Most of these plants were not healthy and there is a possibility that the consumer suffers from a microbial disease. Therefore, the evaluation of the health quality of these plants was important as a significant step toward consumer health and the effectiveness of treatment. according to this, two high-yield plants, Mint(cultivated) and Oregano (natural) were collected accidentally from urmia sweethearts and five microbial factors included: total count, Coliform count, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella was investigated by using the bacteriological instruction (Double Repeat). The results showed that in both of the samples all of the E. coli, Coliform, Aureus, and Staphylococcus have existed. The total count of microbial contamination in the cultivated sample (edible mint) was higher than the natural one (Oregano). Comparison of results with international standards of the Bacterial contamination in the Spices shows that the amount of examined contamination was higher than the international standard in both of the samples. The amount of samples contamination of Salmonella was respectively 50% and 30% in natural and cultivated samples.