Green Medicine: Advancing Antimicrobial Solutions with Diverse Terrestrial and Marine Plant-Derived Compounds

Infectious diseases continue to cause global morbidity and mortality. The rise of drug-resistant pathogens is a major challenge to modern medicine. Plant-based antimicrobials may solve this issue; hence, this review discussed in detail plant-sourced antimicrobial drugs as an alternative toward bacterial, fungal, and viral pathogens. Plant-derived chemicals from various sources such as marine, medicinal, and non-medicinal sources have diverse antimicrobial properties. Complex chemical profiles from these sources allow these molecules to interact with several targets in the microbial pathogens. Due to their multi-component composition, these compounds are more effective and less likely to acquire resistance than single-target antibiotics. Medicinal herbs have long been used for their antimicrobial properties; however, non-medicinal plants have also been identified for their antimicrobial properties. Other interesting new pathways for the identification of antimicrobials include marine plants, which contain a wide variety of metabolites that are both distinct and varied. We have conducted a thorough literature search for the medicinal, non-medicinal, and marine plant-derived molecules with antimicrobial roles from databases which include Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. The review also discussed the synergistic potential of combining these plant-derived compounds with traditional antimicrobial drugs to attenuate the microbial pathogenesis. Based on the existing research and advancements, the review article emphasizes the importance of continuing research into plant-based antimicrobials from these many sources and integrating them with existing therapies to combat the rising threat of drug-resistant infections.