Exploring the Indian Himalayan Plants with Antimicrobial Activity: A Comprehensive Review
Main Article Content
Abstract
Introduction: The emergence of multidrug resistant bacteria has become a serious global concern. This is mainly because of the irrational use of antibiotics in both community and hospital settings which have led to the need for the development of new antimicrobials to combat the multidrug resistant bacteria. However, only limited antimicrobials are in the pipeline. This is mainly because of various scientific challenges, financial risks, many regulatory hurdles, and antibiotic stewardship. Also, the high toxic effect of the new drugs has necessitated effective antimicrobial agents with low toxicity. The Indian Himalayan region has a diverse range of plant species with extensive medicinal and antimicrobial property. In the recent years significant awareness has been gained due to the threat of multidrug resistant bacteria and the limited reserve drugs with higher toxicity. The phytochemical compounds from these Himalayan plants have gained attention in targeting the cellular activities and acts similarly as that of the antibiotics. The natural plant-based antimicrobials have shown promising results with a greater cost-effectiveness. This effort of discovering plant-based antimicrobials has brought out several novel plants from the Himalayan region. The current review will help to explore the efficacy of plants in the Himalayan region, its phytochemical constituents and scientific evidence supporting their antimicrobial property.