Forensic Investigations of Antibiotic Adulteration in Herbal Medicinal Products sold in Kumasi Metropolis
| dc.contributor.author | Boahemaah, Linda Akosua | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-02-02T16:42:01Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-02-02T16:42:01Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019-08 | |
| dc.description | A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biosciences, College of Science In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY IN FORENSIC SCIENCES | |
| dc.description.abstract | Adulterated herbal medicines, are threat to public health, consumer safety, and undermine national health policies with serious economic consequences. In Ghana and most other African countries, herbal medications are commonly used as remedies for a wide variety of conditions and are highly patronized nationwide. However, these medications are also prone to adulterations with a variety of chemicals and substances. In light of this, the present study investigated the adulteration of selected antimicrobial herbal medicines sold in the Kumasi metropolis. In all, 21 samples (5 liquid samples, 6 capsules, 3 powdered samples and 7 creams) were analysed for the presence of four antibiotics using HPLC at the Aflatoxin Laboratory, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Results showed that 71.43% of the herbal creams were contaminated with at least one of selected antibiotics (trimethoprim, chloramphenicol, amoxicillin and ciprofloxacillin). Also, 75% of the liquid samples had various concentrations of the four antibiotics. Furthermore, 42.86% of the powdered samples had various concentrations of the selected antibiotics while only 16.67% of the herbal capsules showed adulteration. Thus, some herbal medications on the Ghanaian market contain antibiotics and therefore proper surveillance is needed to avoid antibiotic abuse which may subsequently lead to antibiotic resistance. | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | KNUST | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://ir.knust.edu.gh/handle/123456789/17587 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | KNUST | |
| dc.title | Forensic Investigations of Antibiotic Adulteration in Herbal Medicinal Products sold in Kumasi Metropolis | |
| dc.type | Thesis |