Antimicrobial Activity of Medicinal Plants: A Weapon to Combat Multi-Drug Resistant Pathogens

Abstract

Medicinal plants are extensively used in traditional systems of medicine for the treatment of different ailments. Bio-active compounds of plants and herbs show excellent antimicrobial properties against different pathogens. Plant extracts are known to control microbial growth by their anti-quorum sensing and anti-biofilm formation activities. The emergence and rapid spread of antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens and the evolution of new multi-drug resistant strains of disease-causing microorganisms are of remarkable alarm to the healthcare systems across the globe. Therefore the antimicrobial properties of the plant extract may represent an important alternative therapeutic route to conventional drugs. Phytochemical analysis of extract also exclusively facilitates understanding their biochemical and molecular nature for drug discovery shortly. The article focuses on the antimicrobial activity of some selected medicinal plants against the most common microbial pathogens, including clinical multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria.