The Process of Sterilization of Medicinal Plant Raw Materials Origanum Vulgare L. using Controlled Infrared Radiation

Introduction: The purity of plant raw materials is of great importance in pharmaceutical production and in agriculture. The content of microbial purity of raw materials must be brought to the level established by the GF and scientific and technical documentation. Processing of raw materials of plant origin using infrared irradiation (IR irradiation) has a number of advantages: high thermal efficiency, fast processing speed, effective disinfection of the seeded material.

Purpose: The aim is to determine the optimal mode of IR irradiation of Origanum vulgare medicinal raw materials to the required standards, satisfying microbiological purity. The object of the study is Origanum vulgare raw materials contaminated with aerobic bacteria (more than 107 — at a rate of no more than 107), yeast and mold fungi (more than 105 — at a rate of no more than 104), as well as other intestinal bacteria (104 at a rate of 102).

Materials and Methods: Studies of optimal modes of heat treatment of seeded Origanum raw materials were carried out on an IR installation according to 4 parameters: processing time, intensity of IR irradiation, processing temperature, layer thickness of vegetable raw materials. Samples of raw materials were subjected to microbiological and phytochemical analyses at the “Center for certification of quality control of medicines of the Committee for Pharmaceutical Activity and Production of Medicines of the Irkutsk Region Administration and the laboratory of the Irkutsk State Center of Gossanepidnadzor».

Results: During the heat treatment of Origanum raw materials, the temperature on the surface of the raw materials should be within 65–75° with an exposure of 15–45 seconds, the intensity of IR irradiation 7.5 kW/m2. Heating of raw materials to a temperature of 85° and above causes a significant decrease in the content of essential oils (by 76 % of the original). The optimal heating temperature is 65°, at which the content of essential oils meets the requirements for the quality of raw materials. At a power density of 2.5 and 5 kW/ m2, sterilization of raw materials does not occur.

Conclusions: The proposed energy-saving sterilization method allows reducing the level of microbial contamination of Origanum vulgare raw materials to the standards established by the State Pharmacopoeia and sanitary-epidemiological supervision and obtaining highquality raw materials with an optimal composition of essential oils (from 0.25 % in control to 0.13 % after processing). 

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