Chapter 12 - Medicinal plants in antimicrobial resistance—Perspectives towards drug development

Abstract

Golden era of antibiotics started following the accidental discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming. Enormous numbers of antibiotics have been discovered to tackle various types of infections. However, microorganisms are continuing to develop resistance to the existing antibiotics. Because of this antibiotic resistant issue, infectious disease is still considered as the second leading cause of death globally counting approximately 17 million deaths every year. To tackle the antimicrobial resistance (AMR), it is obvious to focus on the natural resources for the discovery and development of safer and effective antimicrobial agents. This chapter starts with a brief history of antibiotics followed by the common methods that can be used systematically for bioassay directed isolation and identification of antimicrobial secondary metabolites. Some examples of nature derived antimicrobial secondary metabolites have also been included in this chapter.