Microbiological and Physicochemical Analyses of Pharmaceutical Raw Materials Used in Some Pharmaceutical Products

This study was carried out to investigate the microbiological and physicochemical characteristics of  pharmaceutical raw materials used in some non-sterile preparations. A total of 16samples of pharmaceutical raw materials and 3 formulated non sterile preparations were subjected to microbial limit test, isolation and characterization of microbial  contaminants and physicochemical analysis. From the result there were no bacterial contamination in all samples analyzed  but 7 out of the 16 raw materials had fungal count ranging from 0.30±1.50 x10² cfu/ml (glycerol) to 1.61±0.83 x 102 cfu/ml (raspberry juice) The formulated paracetamol elixir recorded the highest fungal count (3.33 ± 1.43 x 102
cfu/ml) while pediatric ferrous sulphate mixture had the least fungal count (0.33 ± 0.04 x 102 cfu/ml). The fungal isolates and their frequency of occurrence in the raw materials were Aspergillus niger (25%),