Title:Perspectives on Phytochemicals as Antibacterial Agents: An Outstanding Contribution to Modern Therapeutics
Volume: 16
Issue: 4
Author(s): Savita Khatri, Manish Kumar, Neetu Phougat, Renu Chaudhary and Anil Kumar Chhillar
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Antibacterial, Ayurveda, Bacterial infections, Medicinal plants, Phytochemicals, Secondary metabolites.
Abstract: Despite the considerable advancements in the development of antimicrobial agents,
incidents of epidemics due to multi drug resistance in microorganisms have created a massive hazard
to mankind. Due to increased resistance against conventional antibiotics, researchers and
pharmaceutical industries are more concerned about novel therapeutic agents for the prevention of
bacterial infections. Enormous wealth of traditional system of medicine gains importance in health
therapies over again. With ancient credentials of potent medicinal plants, various herbal remedies
came forward for the management of bacterial infections. The Ayurvedic approach facilitates the
development of new therapeutic agents due to structural and functional diversity among
phytochemicals. The abundance and diversity is responsible for the characterization of new lead structures from medicinal
plants. Industrial interest has increased due to recent research advancements viz. synergistic and high-throughput
screening approach for the evaluation of vast variety of phytochemicals. The review certainly emphasizes on the
traditional medicines as alternatives to conventional chemotherapeutic drugs. The review briefly describes mode of action
of various antibiotics and resistance mechanisms. This review focuses on the chemical diversity and various mechanisms
of action of phytochemicals against bacterial pathogens.
