In contrast to what has been found in the few accessible
investigations regarding microbial contamination of dried herbs
(Martins et al., 2001; Raman et al., 2004; Tournas et al., 2006), no
moulds were detected in this study. The explanation could be the
inhibition of spore germination during storage, indicating appropriate
drying and packaging methods. Bacterial contamination at
levels close to 6 log CFU/g was observed in other studies, where the
authors conclude that hygiene levels in processing plants are low.