Pharmacologia 2044-4648 2044-4656 Science International 10.3923/pharmacologia.2013.469.480 Pandey A.K. Kumar Shashank 7 2013 4 7 Background: The use of plants for healing purposes predates recorded history and forms the origin of much of modern medicine. Many conventional drugs originated from plant sources. Since new and re-emerging infectious diseases are rising very rapidly, there is an urgent need to discover newer antimicrobial compounds having diverse chemical structures and novel mechanisms of action. The emergence of multiple drug resistant strains in human pathogenic organisms has further necessitated the search for new antimicrobial substances from natural sources including plants. This review deals with the phytomedicine usage, the emergence of resistance in the microorganisms, the chemistry and biological activity of the plant based antimicrobial compounds. Results: Medicinal plants have drawn the attention of the researchers worldwide and numerous publications have documented the therapeutic potential of phytochemicals to validate claims of their biological activity. Plants have limitless ability to synthesize aromatic substances, most of which are secondary metabolites including phenols, flavonoids, coumarins, alkaloids and terpenoids etc. These compounds serve as plant defense mechanisms against predation by herbivores, insects and microorganisms. Many plant products have ability to overcome resistance in organisms and thereby combat infectious diseases. This has led researchers to isolate active compounds, investigate their mechanisms of action and provide molecular mechanism of overcoming resistance in microorganisms. Antimicrobial agents are compounds capable of destroying or inhibiting micro-organisms even at low concentrations. They vary in their spectrum of activity and can be classified as antibacterial, antifungal or antiviral agents. Conclusion: Phytomedicines have shown great promise in the treatment of infectious diseases including opportunistic infections. The diversity of phytochemicals present in plants including secondary metabolites provide drug leads for the development of novel therapeutic antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral agents. The review also sheds light on the future development of combination therapy involving plant-derived agents which is indeed very promising.

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