viral, and fungal infections. To improve safety and efficacy, these phytoconstituents
have been delivered using nanoformulations such as liposomes, hydrogels, and
nanoparticles for the treatment against different bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites infections. This chapter is attempted to discuss phytochemistry, antimicrobial
mechanisms, and application potential of phytoconstituents from turmeric and
garlic.
Keywords Phytoconstituents Á Antimicrobial activity Á Turmeric Á Garlic Á
Curcumin Á Allicin Á Liposomes Á Nanoparticles Á Helicobacter pylori infection Á
Staphylococcus aureus infection
12.1 Introduction
The demand for plant-based antimicrobial agents has been increased day by day
because of the adverse effect of synthetic antimicrobial agents (Venkatesan and
Karrunakaran 2010). Approximately 250,000 to 50,000 plant varieties are available
on the earth in which only 10% are of therapeutic benefit till now (Prakashet al. 2020).
The traditional system of medicines such as Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathic,
Naturopathy, and Aromatherapy plays an important role to maintain health, hygiene,
proper sanitation, and also increases the longevity of life without affecting their
sensory properties. India is known as the “Kingdom of spices” because it is one of the
biggest producers, exporters, and consumers of herbal medicines (Ansari 2020).
Garlic, turmeric, coriander, black pepper, cardamom, onion, anise, fennel, mustard,
asafoetida, ginger, rauwolfia, basil, nutmeg, ajowan, chirata, long pepper, gokharu,
and pippala, etc., have been directly or indirectly used for the therapeutic benefit
because of the presence of phytochemicals. These species and herbs not only reveal
antimicrobial properties but also used in cancer, diabetes, inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, hypercholesterolemia, arthritis, as carminative, and antioxidants, etc.
(Arora and Kaur 1999). WHO says antimicrobial resistance is one of the major health
threats in the twenty-first century against some pathogens (bacteria, pathogen, fungi,
and virus) and these pathogens are ever-increasing the infections. Antimicrobial
resistance emerges when microbes transform when they are subjected to antimicrobial
drugs (such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, etc.). Such type of microorganism
which develops resistance are generally termed as “superbugs”. Therefore, detection
of natural, resourceful, harmless antimicrobial agents, such as phytoconstituents, has
noticed since the past decades. Among the above-mentioned herbal drugs, both the
turmeric and garlic reveal maximum antimicrobial efficacy against various strains of
microbes (Fig. 12.1).
One of the great challenges is to develop herbal drugs for clinical efficacy due to
poor bioavailability of phytochemicals within the body and various herbal drug
constituents get smashed in the stomach due to high pH before they reached to the
blood (Jain et al. 2019). It can be attributed to their low absorption and high metabolism rate and rapid elimination from the body because of their inability to reach the
410
S. K. Prajapati et al.
have been delivered using nanoformulations such as liposomes, hydrogels, and
nanoparticles for the treatment against different bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites infections. This chapter is attempted to discuss phytochemistry, antimicrobial
mechanisms, and application potential of phytoconstituents from turmeric and
garlic.
Keywords Phytoconstituents Á Antimicrobial activity Á Turmeric Á Garlic Á
Curcumin Á Allicin Á Liposomes Á Nanoparticles Á Helicobacter pylori infection Á
Staphylococcus aureus infection
12.1 Introduction
The demand for plant-based antimicrobial agents has been increased day by day
because of the adverse effect of synthetic antimicrobial agents (Venkatesan and
Karrunakaran 2010). Approximately 250,000 to 50,000 plant varieties are available
on the earth in which only 10% are of therapeutic benefit till now (Prakashet al. 2020).
The traditional system of medicines such as Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathic,
Naturopathy, and Aromatherapy plays an important role to maintain health, hygiene,
proper sanitation, and also increases the longevity of life without affecting their
sensory properties. India is known as the “Kingdom of spices” because it is one of the
biggest producers, exporters, and consumers of herbal medicines (Ansari 2020).
Garlic, turmeric, coriander, black pepper, cardamom, onion, anise, fennel, mustard,
asafoetida, ginger, rauwolfia, basil, nutmeg, ajowan, chirata, long pepper, gokharu,
and pippala, etc., have been directly or indirectly used for the therapeutic benefit
because of the presence of phytochemicals. These species and herbs not only reveal
antimicrobial properties but also used in cancer, diabetes, inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, hypercholesterolemia, arthritis, as carminative, and antioxidants, etc.
(Arora and Kaur 1999). WHO says antimicrobial resistance is one of the major health
threats in the twenty-first century against some pathogens (bacteria, pathogen, fungi,
and virus) and these pathogens are ever-increasing the infections. Antimicrobial
resistance emerges when microbes transform when they are subjected to antimicrobial
drugs (such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, etc.). Such type of microorganism
which develops resistance are generally termed as “superbugs”. Therefore, detection
of natural, resourceful, harmless antimicrobial agents, such as phytoconstituents, has
noticed since the past decades. Among the above-mentioned herbal drugs, both the
turmeric and garlic reveal maximum antimicrobial efficacy against various strains of
microbes (Fig. 12.1).
One of the great challenges is to develop herbal drugs for clinical efficacy due to
poor bioavailability of phytochemicals within the body and various herbal drug
constituents get smashed in the stomach due to high pH before they reached to the
blood (Jain et al. 2019). It can be attributed to their low absorption and high metabolism rate and rapid elimination from the body because of their inability to reach the
410
S. K. Prajapati et al.