Abstract
Current strategies of combating bacterial infections are limited and involve the use of antibiotics and preservatives. Each of these agents has generally inadequate efficacy and a number of serious adverse effects. Thus, there is an urgent need for new antimicrobial drugs and food preservatives with higher efficacy and lower toxicity. Edible plants have been used in medicine since ancient times and are well known for their successful antimicrobial activity. Often photosensitizers are present in many edible plants; they could be a promising source for a new generation of drugs and food preservatives. The use of photodynamic therapy allows enhancement of antimicrobial properties in plant photosensitizers. The purpose of this review is to present the verified data on the antimicrobial activities of photodynamic phytochemicals in edible species of the world’s flora, including the various mechanisms of their actions.
Highlights
Processes 2021, 9, 2089. https:// plants are able to treat many pathological conditions [1], only 15% have been investigated phytochemically, and 6% have been screened for biological activity [2].It is widely acknowledged that many antimicrobial compounds identified and isolated from medicinal plants are very active against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria [3,4,5,6,7]
Higher antimicrobial activity was related to the presence of hydroxyl groups, whereas hydrocarbons reduced that activity [67]
These results showed that curcumin at low concentrations exhibited sonodynamic antibacterial effects on B. cereus, while in the case of E. coli a higher concentration of curcumin and longer sonication time were needed to inhibit the cell growth
Summary
Plants are able to treat many pathological conditions [1], only 15% have been investigated phytochemically, and 6% have been screened for biological activity [2]. Many aspects of PSs were covered by numerous reviews [11,12,13,14,15,16], edible plants and their PSs were not seriously considered as sources of new drugs and preservatives They deserve special attention, because actively cultivated edible plants are already available which are rich in useful phytochemicals. There is an urgent need for new natural agents that are more effective and less toxic than the currently popular compounds, such as sodium benzoate; acetic, lactic, benzoic, and sorbic acids; hydrogen peroxide, and chelators They are used in many cases because of their ability to inhibit the activity of various microorganisms [17]. The aim of this review is to provide verified data on plant-based antimicrobial activities, and discuss the various mechanisms of their actions
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