Challenges and Considerations in the Preparation of Novel Antibiotic Phytochemicals

Drug-resistant pathogenic and opportunistic bacteria pose a global health threat. Plants, particularly those employed in traditional (folk) medicine, may provide a source of antimicrobials compounds possessing novel mechanisms of action with which to combat current and emerging infectious diseases. However, experimental designs in ethnobotanical investigations of this type are complicated by several factors. Among these are chemotype variations among plants and plant parts, and potential antagonistic, additive or synergistic effects between plant compounds. These efforts are further hindered by a lack of standardized applicable chemical extraction methods in the field, which makes assessment and comparison of experimental results difficult. This overview thus seeks to provide insight into these complicating factors, give a brief historical survey of ancient investigations into antibiotics, and identify some of the strengths and weaknesses of the various modern methods and techniques routinely employed in ethnobotanical antibiotic research.