Comparison of Standard and Impedance Methods for the Detection of Enterococci Contamination in Medicinal Herbs in Iran

background: medicinal herbs have a long record of application in therapy throughout the world. today, knowledge and public acceptability of the usage of herbal drugs is on a growing trend. however, medicinal plants may be contaminated with a variety of microorganisms. enterococci are among nosocomial pathogens that are commonly found in large numbers in foods, plant materials, and vegetables. objectives: we aimed to detect enterococci contamination in industrial and traditional medicinal herbs by using standard and impedance methods. methods: eighty samples of industrial and traditional medicinal herb samples (40 per group) were analyzed for the detection of enterococci by using standard and impedimetric techniques. results: in general, enterococcus contamination rate in herb samples was found to be 33.7% and 25% by using standard and impedimetric methods, respectively. mcnemar’s test did not reflect any significant difference between the two methods in identifying enterococcus contamination. comparing the results of enterococci contamination obtained from the two methods, no significant differences were found between the industrial and traditional samples, although contamination was greater in traditional herb samples. conclusions: the current standard methods for detecting enterococci are labor-intensive and time-consuming compared to advanced methods such as impedance. however, based on our results, sensitivity and specificity of impedance method could vary based on the type of samples being evaluated. however, it is recommended to perform further diagnostic tests for confirming our results.