Evaluation of Heavy Metal and Microbial Contamination in Green Tea and Herbal Tea Used for Weight Loss in the Palestinian Market

Overview

Journal Evid Based Complement Alternat Med

Specialty Rehabilitation Medicine

Date 2020 Dec 10

PMID 33299455

Citations 2

Authors

Murad N Abualhasan

Nidal Jaradat

Mohammed Hawash

Rama Khayat

Eman Khatatbeh

Malak Ehmidan

Munir Al-Atrash

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The use of green tea and herbal tea for weight loss is increasing worldwide owing to the rising rates of obesity. There are concerns about the safety and quality of these herbal products owing to their increased consumption worldwide. In this study, we evaluated randomly collected samples of green tea and herbal tea and tested them for heavy metal and microbial contamination. Eighteen samples of green tea or herbal tea of widely used brands in Palestine were tested for heavy metal and microbial contamination. The results showed that 7 of the samples had toxic heavy metals such as chromium (Cr) and lead (Pb), and their concentrations were above the allowable limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Moreover, 6 of the samples that were tested had microbial contamination with high total aerobic microbial count (TAMC) and total yeast and mold count (TYMC). This could be due to improper handling and storage conditions of these herbal products. This study is the first of its kind in Palestine, and its results are forewarning to all the responsible authorities, including the Ministry of Health (MoH), to take immediate corrective actions such as quality control testing, auditing, and registration of marketed tea products.

Citing Articles

Metabolic Profile of (L.) P. Beauv. Rhizome Herbal Tea by HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS/MS Analysis.

Bortolami M, Di Matteo P, Rocco D, Feroci M, Petrucci R Molecules. 2022; 27(15).

PMID: 35956912 PMC: 9370816. DOI: 10.3390/molecules27154962.

Herbal and dietary supplement induced liver injury: Highlights from the recent literature.

Woo S, Davis W, Aggarwal S, Clinton J, Kiparizoska S, Lewis J World J Hepatol. 2021; 13(9):1019-1041.

PMID: 34630872 PMC: 8473494. DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v13.i9.1019.

References

Sharma S . Current status of herbal product: Regulatory overview. J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2015; 7(4):293-6. PMC: 4678984. DOI: 10.4103/0975-7406.168030. View

Farrington R, Musgrave I, Byard R . Evidence for the efficacy and safety of herbal weight loss preparations. J Integr Med. 2019; 17(2):87-92. DOI: 10.1016/j.joim.2019.01.009. View

Kosalec I, Cvek J, Tomic S . Contaminants of medicinal herbs and herbal products. Arh Hig Rada Toksikol. 2010; 60(4):485-501. DOI: 10.2478/10004-1254-60-2009-2005. View

Ekar T, Kreft S . Common risks of adulterated and mislabeled herbal preparations. Food Chem Toxicol. 2018; 123:288-297. DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2018.10.043. View

Khan N, Abbasi A, Dastagir G, Nazir A, Shah G, Shah M . Ethnobotanical and antimicrobial study of some selected medicinal plants used in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) as a potential source to cure infectious diseases. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2014; 14:122. PMC: 3977958. DOI: 10.1186/1472-6882-14-122. View

de Sousa Lima C, Fujishima M, de Paula Lima B, Mastroianni P, Sousa F, da Silva J . Microbial contamination in herbal medicines: a serious health hazard to elderly consumers. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2020; 20(1):17. PMC: 7076889. DOI: 10.1186/s12906-019-2723-1. View

McKay D, Blumberg J . The role of tea in human health: an update. J Am Coll Nutr. 2002; 21(1):1-13. DOI: 10.1080/07315724.2002.10719187. View

Kuriyama S, Shimazu T, Ohmori K, Kikuchi N, Nakaya N, Nishino Y . Green tea consumption and mortality due to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all causes in Japan: the Ohsaki study. JAMA. 2006; 296(10):1255-65. DOI: 10.1001/jama.296.10.1255. View

Abu-Rabia A . Herbs as a food and medicine source in Palestine. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2005; 6(3):404-7. View

10.

Chunilall V, Kindness A, Jonnalagadda S . Heavy metal uptake by two edible Amaranthus herbs grown on soils contaminated with lead, mercury, cadmium, and nickel. J Environ Sci Health B. 2005; 40(2):375-84. DOI: 10.1081/PFC-200045573. View

11.

Rothenberg D, Zhou C, Zhang L . A Review on the Weight-Loss Effects of Oxidized Tea Polyphenols. Molecules. 2018; 23(5). PMC: 6099746. DOI: 10.3390/molecules23051176. View

12.

Walther C, Marwa K, Seni J, Hamis P, Silago V, Mshana S . Microbial contamination of traditional liquid herbal medicinal products marketed in Mwanza city: magnitude and risk factors. Pan Afr Med J. 2016; 23:65. PMC: 4862803. DOI: 10.11604/pamj.2016.23.65.7917. View

13.

Henning S, Yang J, Hsu M, Lee R, Grojean E, Ly A . Decaffeinated green and black tea polyphenols decrease weight gain and alter microbiome populations and function in diet-induced obese mice. Eur J Nutr. 2017; 57(8):2759-2769. PMC: 7367598. DOI: 10.1007/s00394-017-1542-8. View

14.

Abualhasan M, Jaradat N, Sawaftah Z, Mohsen H, Najjar D, Zareer W . Evaluation of Heavy Metals and Microbiological Contamination of Selected Herbals from Palestine. Open Life Sci. 2021; 14:448-453. PMC: 7874764. DOI: 10.1515/biol-2019-0050. View

15.

Yang C, Zhang J, Zhang L, Huang J, Wang Y . Mechanisms of body weight reduction and metabolic syndrome alleviation by tea. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2015; 60(1):160-74. PMC: 4991829. DOI: 10.1002/mnfr.201500428. View

16.

Saad B, Azaizeh H, Abu-Hijleh G, Said O . Safety of traditional arab herbal medicine. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2006; 3(4):433-9. PMC: 1697757. DOI: 10.1093/ecam/nel058. View

17.

Di Bella G, Potorti A, Ben Tekaya A, Beltifa A, Ben Mansour H, Sajia E . Organic contamination of Italian and Tunisian culinary herbs and spices. J Environ Sci Health B. 2019; 54(5):345-356. DOI: 10.1080/03601234.2019.1571364. View

18.

Cabrera C, Artacho R, Gimenez R . Beneficial effects of green tea--a review. J Am Coll Nutr. 2006; 25(2):79-99. DOI: 10.1080/07315724.2006.10719518. View

19.

Graham H . Green tea composition, consumption, and polyphenol chemistry. Prev Med. 1992; 21(3):334-50. DOI: 10.1016/0091-7435(92)90041-f. View

20.

Pullirsch D, Bellemare J, Hackl A, Trottier Y, Mayrhofer A, Schindl H . Microbiological contamination in counterfeit and unapproved drugs. BMC Pharmacol Toxicol. 2014; 15:34. PMC: 4088308. DOI: 10.1186/2050-6511-15-34. View