ANTIMICROBIALS FROM PLANTS AND THEIR USE IN THERAPEUTICS AND DRUG DISCOVERY

As people are becoming more health conscious, there is a huge worldwide surge in the sale of phytomedicines. Ethnopharmacologists, botanists, microbiologists, and natural products chemists are combing the Earth for phytochemicals which could be developed for the treatment of diseases. This review summarizes the current status of plants used as phytomedicines, alongwth their effectiveness and toxicity. The structure, antimicrobial properties and our own work in the laboratory have also been discussed.