Endemic and indigenous plants from Mauritius as sources of novel antimicrobials

Abstract

Infectious diseases have become a serious public health burden as many pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria and yeasts are becoming progressively resistant to antibiotics. Mauritians have a deep-rooted use of herbal medicines. Undoubtedly, the island is a biodiversity hotspot which can be explored for the development of novel pharmacological leads. Around 246 plant species are endemic to the island while 150 are indigenous to the Mascarene Islands. With the rise of the antibiotic resistance phenomena and the inability of various modern classes of antimicrobial to fully surmount infection, it is primordial to look for novel sources of antimicrobials. In this advent, the antimicrobial potential of the endemic and indigenous plants of Mauritius cannot be overlooked. Scientific databases namely; ScienceDirect, PubMed, EBSCO host, and Google Scholar were browsed to perform the search. Diverse keywords were employed including: ‘antimicrobial’, indigenous plants of Mauritius', ‘in vitro’, ‘in vivo’, ‘endemic plants of Mauritius’, ‘antimicrobial potential’, ‘plants’ and ‘Mauritius’. Articles published from the year 1993 to 2019 were taken into due consideration. The screening processes allowed the inclusion of 62 articles to form part of the study. The extracts from 38 botanical families including 94 plant species exerted antimicrobial potential out of which 12 plant species were highlighted to exert the most potent antibacterial activity against nine different bacterial species. This review article also puts into the limelight the antimicrobial properties of essential oils which can be explored as a novel source of antimicrobials. Alongside, the antimalarial potential of endemic and indigenous plants of Mauritius is also disseminated.