Abstract

Background: Antimicrobial resistance represents a serious threat to human health across the globe. The cost of bringing a new antibiotic from discovery to market is high and return on investment is low. Furthermore, the development of new antibiotics has slowed dramatically since the 1950s’ golden age of discovery. Plants produce a variety of bioactive secondary metabolites that could be used to fuel the future discovery pipeline. While many studies have focused on specific aspects of plants and plant natural products with antibacterial properties, a comprehensive review of the antibacterial potential of plants has never before been attempted. Objectives: This systematic review aims to evaluate reports on plants with significant antibacterial activities. Methods: Following the PRISMA model, we searched three electronic databases: Web of Science, PubMed and SciFinder by using specific keywords: “plant,” “antibacterial,” “inhibitory concentration.” Results: We identified a total of 6,083 articles published between 1946 and 2019 and then reviewed 66% of these (4,024) focusing on articles published between 2012 and 2019. A rigorous selection process was implemented using clear inclusion and exclusion criteria, yielding data on 958 plant species derived from 483 scientific articles. Antibacterial activity is found in 51 of 79 vascular plant orders throughout the phylogenetic tree. Most are reported within eudicots, with the bulk of species being asterids. Antibacterial activity is not prominent in monocotyledons. Phylogenetic distribution strongly supports the concept of chemical evolution across plant clades, especially in more derived eudicot families. The Lamiaceae, Fabaceae and Asteraceae were the most represented plant families, while Cinnamomum verum, Rosmarinus vulgaris and Thymus vulgaris were the most studied species. South Africa was the most represented site of plant collection. Crude extraction in methanol was the most represented type of extraction and leaves were the main plant tissue investigated. Finally, Staphylococcus aureus was the most targeted pathogenic bacteria in these studies. We closely examine 70 prominent medicinal plant species from the 15 families most studied in the literature. Conclusion: This review depicts the current state of knowledge regarding antibacterials from plants and provides powerful recommendations for future research directions.

Highlights

  • Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the ability to successfully treat infectious diseases across the globe (McEwen and Collignon, 2018)

  • The number of publications related to plants with antibacterial activity has increased significantly in the last decade. In accordance with these trends and the broad application of standardized methods for the antibacterial assessment of extracts, the present review focuses on studies published from January 1, 2012 to September 3, 2019, representing 4,024 articles, or 66% of all papers published under these search criteria since 1946

  • We have reported the antibacterial activities of 958 plants by reviewing the literature published from 2012 to 2019, which represents 66% of the total literature on this subject since 1946

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Summary

Introduction

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the ability to successfully treat infectious diseases across the globe (McEwen and Collignon, 2018). Plant secondary metabolites can help the plant to cope with abiotic stresses (e.g., UV radiation) and to communicate with other organisms (e.g., herbivores, pathogens, neighboring plants, pollinators and fruit dispersers), so they are important for growth and development (Kessler and Kalske, 2018; Zaynab et al, 2018; Wink, 2020). These compounds usually belong to one of three large chemical classes known for biological activity: terpenoids, phenolics and alkaloids. While many studies have focused on specific aspects of plants and plant natural products with antibacterial properties, a comprehensive review of the antibacterial potential of plants has never before been attempted

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Conclusion

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