Background: The public has increasing concerns about herbal crops owing to insufficient information on biological hazards such as foodborne pathogens. Therefore, the objective of this study is the development of a herbal crop quality control system through monitoring with biological hazard analysis. Today, it is estimated that millions of people become ill every year from food contamination. The public demands agricultural products of stable and consistent quality. Governments have the responsibility of establishing the standards, legislation and enforcement programs necessary to control food quality and safety. However, research on the biosafety of herbal crop products is still insufficient. Therefore, the implementation of monitoring systems with high standards is critical for public safety. Methods and Results: In this study, we collected 52 samples of herbal crop products, and conducted both quantitative and qualitative biological hazard analysis. With biological hazard analysis, aerobic bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Coliforms, and Listeria spp. could be detected. Conclusions: Herbal crops were found to be contaminated with aerobic bacteria at 3.69 ± 0.32 log CFU/g. Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Coliforms, and Listeria spp. were not detected in any of the samples. This research suggests that continuous monitoring of biological hazards is required to improve the quality of herbal crops.

• 이영섭(농촌진흥청 국립원예특작과학원 인삼특작부) | Young Seob Lee
• 이상원(농촌진흥청 국립원예특작과학원 인삼특작부) | Sang Won Lee
• 김연복(농촌진흥청 국립원예특작과학원 인삼특작부) | Yeon Bok Kim
• 김옥태(농촌진흥청 국립원예특작과학원 인삼특작부) | Ok Tae Kim
• 박경훈(농촌진흥청 국립원예특작과학원 인삼특작부) | Kyeong Hun Park
• 이재원(농촌진흥청 국립원예특작과학원 인삼특작부) | Jae Won Lee
• 김금숙(농촌진흥청 국립원예특작과학원 인삼특작부) | Geum Soog Kim
• 권동렬(원광대학교 약학대학 한약학과) | Dong Yeul Kwon
• 한신희(농촌진흥청 국립원예특작과학원 인삼특작부) | Sin Hee Han Corresponding author
• 이대영(농촌진흥청 국립원예특작과학원 인삼특작부) | Dae Young Lee