Antimicrobial Properties of Selected Secondary Plant Metabolites and their Application in Medicine

Abstract

One of the oldest achievements of human thought is the use of plants and plant extracts in therapeutics. Drugs of plant origin are characterized by multi-effects. In recent years, much interest in medicinal plants containing a mixture of biologically active substances with antimicrobial properties has increased. In medicine, Extracted from plants and their secondary metabolites and plant extracts have been used for many years used, but now by the development of organic chemistry, pharmacology and medicine, we can determine which biologically active substances produced by these plants are useful. Antimicrobial activity described selected groups of plant secondary metabolites, which potentially would allow their use as antimicrobial substances in medicine. These substances can be complementary to the basic medical treatment because their main advantage is the lower incidence of side effects. This paper presents an overview of research on the antimicrobial properties of alkaloids, coumarins, flavonoids, essential oils, phytosterols, and phenolic acids. Natural substances that inhibit the growth of microorganisms are becoming an alternative to synthetic compounds, as confirmed by this literature review.