Natural Products: Antibacterial, Anti-fungal, and Anti-viral Agents

The existence of substantial evidence about the development of resistance to a drug among microbes has gained a lot of attention from the scientific world. To address this problem, researchers have been conducting experiments and testing strategies, including screening various molecules and using plant-derived natural products to ascertain if these substances can serve as an untapped source of antibacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal agents. The non-toxic, non-synthetic, causing minimal side effects, and cost-effective nature of these substances make the development of new anti-microbials heavily dependent on the use of many of these existing products and increase the demand for finding new natural products that are yet to be discovered. These plant-based natural products offer great promises to provide the best protection against infections and pathogenesis in many diseases. Furthermore, the biodegradable nature of many of these products increases their chances of being chosen by farmers and plant biologists to use to combat microbial pathogenesis. This chapter covers the current insights on the conflicts and opportunities of popular plant-derived natural anti-microbial compounds containing a reservoir of secondary metabolites, viz.. flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenes, coumarins, phenols and polyphenols. The chapter lists natural vegetable products, which serve as potent anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agents, and describes various plant extracts, which exhibit bacterial quorum sensing, biofilm as well as efflux pump inhibitory activity. Previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of these plant-based natural products in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases as well. This chapter also summarizes the neuroprotective activity of these products and their potential to serve as therapeutic agents to block or delay the progression of disorders.

Keywords: Anti-bacterial, Herbs, Medicinal plants, Phytochemicals, Plantderived natural products, Secondary metabolites.