ANTIBACTERIAL QUALITY AND SENSORY EVALUATION OF INFUSION OF POLY HERBAL TEA PRODUCED FROM DIFFERENT PLANT SOURCES.

This study is aimed to assess the anti-bacteria activity of infusions of Poly herbal Tea F4, F5 and F6 against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and to determine the sensory properties of the poly herbal Teas. About 100g of the tea leaves ( 50g of dried ginger rhizome and 10g of clove buds plant materials was screened for impurities and then ground separately into powder was used for the formulation of poly herbal Tea F4 and F6. A tea bag was randomly selected and placed in 100℃ and allowed to extract with occasional stirring for 30 minutes. Anti bacteria activity was determined using the disk diffusion method while sensory evaluations were carried out using 7 Point Hedonic scale with 17 panelists. The results obtained from the experiment showed that F5 had the highest inhibition zone of F5, 19.33 ± 1 × 53mm followed by F4, 15.67 ± 2.08 mm and F5, 12.00 ± 5.29mm against E.Coli. Formulation 5 infusion showed a significantly high anti bacteria activity against 3.aureus ( 9.33 ± 2.08mm ) followed by F5, 19.33 ± 1.53mm and F6, 8.67 ± 1.15mm. The anti microbial activity of the three formulations did not show significant difference among them. The control ( Ciprofloxacin ) significantly inhibited the bacteria. The study did record significant difference ( P < 0.05 ) in points for appearance, aroma, and taste for the three formulations. The mean of sensory scores obtained for F4 in relation to general acceptance indicates that F4 significantly differed from F5 and F6. However when compared the control ( Lipton ), it showed a significant difference in all four characteristics accessed. The poly herbal formulation prepared by mixing the leaves of four different medicinal plants was found to show good antimicrobial and sensory properties. Therefore we recommend using poly herbal tea after eating in order to prevent possible infection.