Herbal Drugs and Phytomedicines. A Handbook for Practise on a Scientific Basis: M. Wichtl (Ed.), 2004, medpharm Scientific Publishers, Stuttgart and CRC Press, Boca Raton. 3rd English edition translated from the 4th German edition (2002) by J.A. Brinckmann and M.P. Lindenmaier, 704 pp., index, bibliography for each entry, with numerous figures (519 colour photographs of plants, botanical drugs and of

Abstract

The golden era of antibiotics started after the accidental discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming. An enormous number 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-resistance issue, infectious diseases are still considered as the second leading causes of death globally and amount to approximately 17 million deaths every year. To tackle antimicrobial resistance, one has to obviously focus on 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 naturally derived antimicrobial secondary metabolites have also been included in this chapter.