Abstract:
Elimination of microorganisms from herbal products has been a major concern due to its implicated health risk to consumers.
Drying of herbal materials has been employed for centuries to reduce the risk of contamination and spoilage. )e present study
adopted three drying approaches in an attempt to eliminate microorganisms from Lippia multiflora tea bag formulation. )is
study also evaluated the tea bags and optimized the extraction procedure. )e L. multiflora leaves for tea bagging were air-dried
and milled (A), oven-dried and milled (B), and microwaved (the milled air-dried leaves) (C). )e moisture contents were
determined at 105°C ± 2°C for 2 hours to constant weight. Phytochemical parameters such as phytochemical constituents, total
water extractive, and pH were assessed. )e microbial safety and quality of the L. multiflora tea bags were evaluated using the
British Pharmacopoeia 2019 specifications. )e uniformity of the mass of the formulated tea bags was also determined. Extraction
from the Lippia tea bags was optimized. )e results showed that using the approaches (A, B, and C) adopted for drying and
processing, the moisture contents of the formulated tea bags were in the range of 9.75–10.71% w/w. All the formulated tea bags
contained reducing sugars, phenolic compounds, polyuronides, flavonoids, anthracenosides, alkaloids, saponins, and phytos terols. )e pH range of the formulations was 7.11–7.54, whereas the total water extractive values were in the range of 19.12–20.41%
w/w. )e one-way analysis of variance demonstrated no significant difference in the data obtained from the results from A, B, and
C. )e formulation from A was found to be unsafe for consumption due to unacceptable microbial contamination limits.
Microbial load of the formulations from B and C were within the BP specifications. All the batches of the formulations passed the
uniformity of mass test. An optimized extraction procedure was obtained when one tea bag was extracted in 250 mL of hot water
within the specified time. L. multiflora leaves meant for tea bagging should be oven-dried or microwaved before tea bagging for
safe consumption
