Antimicrobial Resistance Properties of Staphylococcus Aureus Isolates From Powdered Packaged Medicinal Plants and Bottle Herbal Distillates

Background: Human involvement in the production and processing of medicinal plants and herbal distillates caused a potential risk of microbial contamination, particularly with Staphylococcus aureus . The present research was performed to assess the prevalence and phenotypic and genotypic properties of antibiotic resistance of S. aureus bacteria isolated from diverse kinds of powdered packaged medicinal plant and bottle herbal distillate samples. MethodsThree-hundred different powdered packaged medicinal plant and bottle herbal distillate samples produced in traditional conditions were collected and examined by the culture method. Phenotypic and genotypic patterns of antibiotic resistance of S. aureus isolates were examined using disk diffusion and PCR techniques. ResultsThirty out of three-hundred (10%) powdered packaged medicinal plant and bottle herbal distillate samples were contaminated with S. aureus . The prevalence of S. aureus amongst the powdered packaged medicinal plant and bottle herbal distillate samples were 8.33% and 11.11%, respectively. A. citrodora (10%) and R. damascene (10%) powdered packed medicinal plants and A. maurorum (16.66%) bottle herbal distillate had the highest contamination rate with S. aureus . S. aureus isolates harbored the highest prevalence of resistance toward penicillin (93.33%), tetracycline (90%), gentamicin (86.66%), erythromycin (70%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (63.33%) and ciprofloxacin (53.33%). Totally, 13.33% of the S. aureus isolates harbored resistance toward more than 7 antibiotic agents. blaZ (63.33%), tetK (60%), ermA (46.66%), msrA (43.33%), aacA-D (43.33%), and mecA (43.33%) were the most frequent antibiotic resistance genes. ConclusionsPowdered packaged medicinal plant and bottle herbal distillate samples may be sources of multidrug resistant- S. aureus, which poses a hygienic threat concerning the consumption of these therapeutic options in Iran. Nevertheless, further research is compulsory to understand other epidemiological features of S. aureus in powdered packaged medicinal plant and bottle herbal distillate samples.