Farrukh Sobia
Jazan University, KSA
Title: Plant natural products: Promising resource for future antimicrobial agents
Biography
Biography: Farrukh Sobia
Abstract
Due to increase in usage and selection pressure, bacteria have started expressing resistance to the existing antimicrobial agents. Drug-resistant bacterial infections are becoming more prevalent and it is a major health issue that we are facing today. This rise in resistance has limited our repertoire of effective antimicrobials, creating a problematic situation which has been worsening by the small number of new antibiotics introduced in recent years. Several plant-derived natural products can be a potential material that can be developed as antimicrobial agent because of its much more beneficial aspects as compared to synthetic antimicrobial chemotherapeutic drugs. Among plant-derived peptides, thionines were found to have toxic effects on different gram-positive and gram-negative pathogenic bacteria. Fabatins were proved to be effective in inhibition of E. coli and P. aeruginosa growth. Plant-derived phytoalexins, isothiocynates, allicins, anthocyanins, essential oils, tannins and terpenoids have been demonstrated to be responsible for antibacterial activity. These compounds are either bactericidal or bacteriostatic. Recently, many investigators have reported the effect of several plant-products in preventing infectious diseases also. The potent antimicrobial action of flavonoids and some phenolic acids against bacterial strains affecting respiratory and urinary tract of human. In recent years more research has been performed exploring the newer plant natural products, isolating newer and more novel substances with antimicrobial potential. However further research is required to validate their antibacterial potential on a battery of clinical and multidrug-resistant bacteria.