Chapter 14 - Essential Oils from the Asteraceae Family Active against Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria

Abstract

Natural products have played a pivotal role in antibiotic drug discovery, with most anti-infective drugs being derived from natural products or natural product leads. However, the rapid onset of resistance to most anti-infective drugs considerably diminishes their effectiveness and requires a constant supply of new drugs for the effective treatment of infections. Infectious diseases account for a third of all deaths worldwide. The spread of multidrug-resistant strains of bacteria makes it necessary to identify new classes of antibacterials and compounds that inhibit these resistance mechanisms. Numerous members of the Asteraceae family are important as cut flowers and ornamental crops, as well as being medicinal and aromatic plants, many of which produce essential oils used in folk and modern medicine and in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Essential oils generally have a broad spectrum of bioactivity, owing to the presence of several active ingredients (e.g., terpenes and phenol-derived aromatic and aliphatic components) that have various modes of action. Extensive studies of the chemical components of Asteraceae species have led to the identification of many substances, including essentials oils, with interesting antibacterial activity. This review summarizes some of the main reports on the chemistry and antibacterial activity of Asteraceae essential oils in the recent literature (2005 to May 2012).