Spices are any pungent, aromatic plant substances used to flavor food or beverages. Plant foods and agricultural commodities including spices are increasingly subjected to adulteration by design or default. This study aimed to compare home grinded spices against ready locally prepared ones in Libyan market. Chosen spices were compared according to their percentage of yield, organoleptic features, and pharmacognostic parameters as macroscopic and microscopic characteristics, pH measurement, microbial contamination (total viable count and microbial identification), and thin layer chromatography (TLC) chromatogram and diphenyl picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity. From the results, the ready prepared samples showed to have higher percentage of yield compared to home prepared ones. There were no difference in organoleptic test results, macroscopic and microscopic characteristics and pH test results. Bacteria in spices samples were too many to count (TMTC) in most samples, however thyme, rosemary and cinnamon showed better results. The isolated bacteria were identified as Salmonella, Shigella and E. coli species. TLC chromatogram and DPPH scavenging activity test also showed no difference in both sample groups. All these tests indicates that the samples obtained from market as grinded powder and the same samples of spices that was brought as a raw materials and grinded at home had the same characteristics, which indicated that they are of the same quality which not necessary to be a good one. arabic 12 English 75
Sakina Salem Mohammed Saadawi, , , AMAL .A ABOALLA AMMAR, (1-2015)

Metronidazole is an antiprotozoal drug which is also effective against anaerobic bacteria. The availability of several brands of Metronidazole tablets in Libyan pharmacies today places health practitioners and a pharmacist in a problem of drug substitution in case of a particular brand is not available. The aim of the present study was the evaluation and comparison of pharmaceutical equivalence of five different Metronidazole coated tablets 500 mg, which are commercially available in the private pharmacies in Tripoli city, produced by various pharmaceutical companies with different trade names. The pharmaceutical quality of five brands of Metronidazole tablets was analyzed using official and unofficial quality control tests prescribed in different Pharmacopoeia including uniformity of weight, thickness, hardness, disintegration time, drug content as well as dissolution rate and assay. Acceptable external features as well as uniformity in diameter and thickness were revealed for all the tablets. The entire selected brands complied with the official specifications for uniformity of weight, hardness and disintegration, they released more than 75% of their drug content within 45 minutes. It can be concluded that all the brands could be regarded as bioequivalent and therefore can be interchanged in the clinical practice; this sort of study is good indicator for the evaluation of the idealness of commercial products and showed the importance of post marketing investigation for the drugs imported and distributed in Libya.
Sakina Salem Saadawi(12-2021)

Abstract: Ciprofloxacin is a second-generation of fluoroquinolone, broad-spectrum antibiotic with bactericidal activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms. It is one of the most widely used antibiotics, because of its efficacy, safety, and relatively low cost. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is water-soluble monosaccharide antioxidant; it is essentially required by the body for its various biochemical and physiological processes. S. aureus is Gram-positive cocci; widely distributed in the environment, it is a member of the normal flora of the body. S. aureus is not always pathogenic; it is a common cause of skin infections including abscesses, respiratory infections such as sinusitis, and food poisoning. E. coli is Gram-negative bacteria, found in the environment, foods, and intestines. Most E. coli strains are harmless; it is part of the normal microbiota of the gut. However, some serotypes of E. coli cause serious food poisoning in their hosts; it can cause diarrhea, while others cause urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, and other illnesses. Method: Cup cut diffusion method was applied. Experiment I: is carried out to choose the concentration of vitamin C to be used in experiment II. The negative control is normal saline, added in cup in each plate, vitamin C (100 mg/mL, 200 mg/mL, 400 mg/mL) was added, the volume in each cup was 100 μL. Experiment II: Eight groups of treatments were applied. The first is the negative control (1% normal saline), the second group is the positive control of vitamin C (200 mg/mL). The third, fourth and fifth groups are ciprofloxacin with different concentrations (10 mg/mL, 20 mg/mL, 40 mg/mL); the sixth, seventh and eighth are the combination of vitamin C with each concentration of ciprofloxacin (10 mg/mL, 20 mg/mL, 40 mg/mL). Each group includes six petri dishes. Bacterial plates were incubated at 37 o C for 24 h and 48 h. Zone of inhibition is measured in mm. Results and conclusion: Ciprofloxacin produces dose dependent increase in zone of inhibition of S. aureus and E. coli growth, after 24 and 48 hours incubation. While vitamin C in the concentration used produced inhibitory effect on the growth of S. aureus and E. coli, after 24 hours incubation, vitamin C effect was not changed after 48 hours incubation. After 24 hours incubation, vitamin C potentiated the effect of ciprofloxacin at low concentration (10 mg/mL); while vitamin C antagonized the effect of ciprofloxacin at higher concentrations (20 and 40 mg/mL) on S. aureus growth. In the same time, ciprofloxacin antagonized the inhibitory effect of vitamin C on S. aureus growth. After 48 hours incubation, S. aureus produced resistance against ciprofloxacin alone, and that combined with vitamin C compared to zone of inhibition after 24 hours. Ciprofloxacin produced dose dependent inhibition of E. coli growth after incubation for 24 and 48 hours. Vitamin C potentiated the inhibitory effect induced by ciprofloxacin (additive effect). The inhibitory effect of ciprofloxacin, vitamin C and the combination was not changed after 48 hours compared to 24 hours.
Bassma M. Doro, Suhera M. Aburawi(7-2019)