Efficacy of Spices, Peptides, and Essential Oils Against Resistant Microbes from Plant-Derived Antimicrobials – A Review
Saira Sameen 1*, Kausar Hussain Shah 2, Tariq Rasheed 1, M. Usama Khalil 1, M. Bilal Khalil 1
Australian Herbal Insight 7(1) 1-11 https://doi.org/10.25163/ahi.719894
Submitted: 12 February 2024 Revised: 05 April 2024 Published: 09 April 2024
Abstract
Microbial resistance to antibiotics has become a significant challenge due to factors such as excessive exposure to antibiotics, which leads to genetic mutations, decreased permeability, and other adaptive mechanisms in microbes. Plants, with their rich array of anti-infective compounds, offer promising alternatives for addressing this issue. This review highlights the antimicrobial potential of various plant-derived substances, including antimicrobial peptides, spices, and essential oils. Spices, in particular, have demonstrated considerable antimicrobial efficacy owing to their unique structural components. For example, methanol extracts from certain spices have shown effectiveness against a range of pathogens, including Candida albicans, Penicillium notatum, Aspergillus niger, and Fusarium oxysporum, as well as diverse gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, and Staphylococcus aureus. The antimicrobial properties of these extracts, oils, polyphenols, and proteins suggest their potential utility in pharmaceutical applications for combating bacterial, viral, and fungal infections.
Keywords: Antimicrobial peptides, Essential oils, Plant-derived antimicrobials, Spices, Methanol extract,
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