Fighting Multidrug Resistance with Herbal Extracts, Essential Oils and Their Components

Mahendra Rai is an internationally recognized scholar with extensive contributions to microbial biotechnology and nanobiotechnology research, particularly in the green synthesis of metal nanoparticles using fungi and their application as nano‑antimicrobials. His work is highly interdisciplinary, bridging microbiology, biotechnology, and nanoscience, and he is an active member of several scientific societies. He has received multiple national and international distinctions, including the Father T.A. Mathias Award from the All-India Association for Christian Higher Education and the Medini Award from the Government of India. Professor Rai has also held numerous visiting scientist and visiting professor positions across Europe, South America, and Asia, contributing to long‑standing research collaborations in countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and the United States. His sustained academic impact is reflected in his inclusion among the global top 2% of scientists in nanoscience and nanotechnology, and recognition as one of India’s leading researchers in biology and biochemistry, including a Biology and Biochemistry India Leader Award from Research.com. Dr. Kateryna Kon, MD, PhD, currently works at the Department of Microbiology, Virology and Immunology at Kharkiv National Medical University, Kharkiv, Ukraine as an Associate Professor. Dr. Kon received the Best Young Scientist of Kharkiv Award in 2007. She has ten years of teaching and fifteen years of research experience. She is an editorial board member of six international peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Kon's scientific contributions include more than 100 publications, 6 books and 18 scientific articles. The main focus of Dr. Kon’s research is antibiotic resistance in bacteria, coping with microbial resistance by plant essential oils and nanoparticles, microbiology of surgical and gynaecological infections, application of different statistical methods to analysis of biomedical data.

"The book is well organized and its 17 chapters cover a host of topics, from basic mechanisms of multidrug resistance to specific plant genera…and select phytochemicals that offer promise…For researchers interested in the current status of phytochemicals for treating multidrug-resistant microorganisms, this book is an invaluable resource." --HerbalGram, Spring 2014

• Preface1 Alternative antimicrobial approaches to fighting multidrug-resistant infections2 Natural agents from plants used against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus3 Bioactivity of plant constituents against vancomycin-resistant enterococci4 The use of natural products as an alternative against Candida species resistant to conventional chemotherapeutics5 Use of plants in the search for drugs to treat tuberculosis6 Use of essential oils and their components against multidrug-resistant bacteria7 Natural products and their perspectives in developing new leishmanicidal molecules8 Natural products with activity against Schistosoma species9 Botanical as adjunct therapy and treatment for multidrug-resistant staphylococcal infections10 Combining essential oils with antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents as a way of coping with multidrug-resistant bacteria11 Antimicrobial potential of some medicinal plants and their synergistic property: an alternative source to fight against multidrug-resistant pathogenic microorganisms12 Perspectives and key factors on the usage of herbal extracts against multidrug-resistant gram-negative microorganisms13 Use of plant-derived extracts and bioactive compound mixtures against multidrug-resistant bacteria affecting animal health and production14 Essential oils from Compositae family against multidrug-resistant bacteria15 Harnessing traditional knowledge in the management of multidrug-resistance and prevention of emerging infectious diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa16 Natural products with activity against multidrug-resistant tumor cells17 Development of new antiherpetic drugs based on plant extracts: a review